Paveena Phromphuck and
Penpat Watphaenlam have been arrested for possessing and exploiting an
endangered species.
Theerarak
Suthathiwong
Two women were arrested for using endangered animals
to make money on Walking Street.
Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division
and Tourist Police officers as well as employees from the Freeland
Foundation animal rights group apprehended Paveena Phromphuck, 21, and
Penpat Watphaenlam, 29, shortly after midnight March 15. Two slow
lorises were seized.
Police said the women confessed to offering tourists
a chance to pose with a cute loris for 100 baht a photo. They had bought
the endangered animals from a friend, the women told police.
The arrests came after a tipoff from the Freeland
Foundation.
Both suspects were jailed at Pattaya Police Station
and the animals were taken to the Banglamung Wildlife Breeding Center.
