Recently, Thailand has received lots of negative press when it comes to animal rights and protections in the Kingdom, from its infamous poaching problem to its thriving exotic animal marketplaces on Facebook.
But, fortunately, there is some positive news coming out of the Southeast Asian country as it was recently removed from the list of countries where the illegal ivory trade is a “primary concern”.
The decision made The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), lauded Thailand’s efforts to crack down on its problematic ivory trade, which they said had made real progress.
In 2013, CITES petitioned Thailand and eight other nations to stop the transit of elephant tusks in and out of their countries, but as of now, Thailand is the only country to have its name removed from the list.
According to Thailand attorneys, the victory comes down to stronger enforcement of existing wildlife protection laws that punish illegal traders as well as upgraded regulations.
In particular, the Thai government altered the 1992 Wildlife Conservation Act to include African elephants as a protected species and also passed the 2015 Elephant Ivory Tusks Act, which increases penalties for trading ivory illegally and provides procedures for elephant registration.
The other eight countries still currently on the ivory trade watch list are China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Uganda, Tanzania, and Vietnam.
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