BANGKOK: Illegally felled smuggled phayung (Siamese rosewood) logs worth about 2 million baht were seized from a vehicle in Prachin Buri here the other day.
Highway police made the discovery on Sunday after they stopped a modified Isuzu MU-7 passenger vehicle with a Bangkok licence plate at a checkpoint on the Kabin Buri-Pak Thong Chai road.
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Upon seeing the officers, the driver suddenly changed direction before abandoning the vehicle near Khunsri village in Kabin Buri district and fleeing into a nearby forest.
Police gave a chase but failed to find the driver. They found 16 phayung logs inside the abandoned vehicle.
The seizure followed a tip-off that the suspected vehicle had left the Thap Lan forest in Pak Thong Chai district of Nakhon Ratchasima and was heading to Na Di in Prachin Buri.
Authorities said the logs, weighing about two tonnes, were worth 2 million baht and could fetch up to 6 million if sold abroad, particularly in China.
Pol Lt Col Pairoj Niewnorathai, a highway police inspector, said log smugglers lately had switched to using luxury vehicles as they tend to attract less suspicion than trucks or vans.
