When, in the early hours of December 9 Pol Maj Narongwet Ohn-sungnen, an Inspector with the Amnat Charoen Highway Police, acquired a tip-off that a pickup truck with a cargo of illegally obtained wildlife was heading his way, he acted swiftly. He ordered road blocks to be set up and at three:30 am an previous bronze Mazda pickup – exactly matching the outline given by the informant – turned up at one of them. The game was not up so easily, however. Instead of stopping, the motive force sped via the checkpoint. All models have been mobilized to give chase and eventually the suspects were caught near Baan Kai Kham. Crammed behind the truck, police found eighty five long-tailed macaques, all in a pitiful situation. The driver of the truck, Pramot Seupsing, 30, and his confederate, Sompot Phlaphon, also 30, presumably realizing that claiming the monkeys climbed in by themselves wouldn’t fool the fine minds of the Highway Police, promptly confessed that that they had snatched the animals from close by Don Pu Ta wildlife sanctuary. Big in itself isn’t so uncommon a story; the smuggling of protected wildlife for food, fur or the pet trade is a worldwide problem. However, according to the two suspects, the monkeys in question were not destined for a Chinese or Korean banquet, but had been ordered by monks in Central Thailand. The males admitted that this was not the primary time they’d been concerned in monkey rustling and that the animals were highly valued at temples as they’re popular among villagers and encourage locals to come back to temple fairs and donate generously. They additionally solid the temples in a good mild as they’re seen to be caring for wild animals, the rustlers claimed. A few days later this seemingly wild allegation was given substance by no much less an individual than Phra Khru Kittiphachakhun, the Lord Abbot of Chondaen District, Phetchabun, who admitted that a monk in his district had previously been accused of receiving stolen monkeys and may properly be concerned in this case. The Lord Abbot explained that in previous cases, the monk in qu