The illegal bird trade is starting to pick up in Phuket where I recently uncovered a shop with three Banded Woodpecker, five Chestnut napped Forktails, 12 White crested Laughingthrush, a pair of Golden crested Mynas, three Lesser Green Leafbirds, six Asian Fairy Bluebirds and a variety of barbets, all in such bad condition I can’t tell what they are (Gold whiskered perhaps). The shop is closed most of the time and police do come and look into the shop but I think they are more interested in buying rather than confiscating the birds.

The shop is located in Chatuchak (does that name sound familiar to you?) near the Honda and Mazda showrooms.

The illegal wildlife trade has been curbed in Phuket due to the influx of foreigners who are often more compassionate to animals than locals. The once-popular parade of vendors hawking gibbons and iguanas on the streets of Patong have pretty much disapeared, thanks to the protests of tourists to Phuket. Now it seems the traders have targeted a new group of people: Thais.

Thankfully the economy is still sluggish and many Thais are not financially able to afford pets (would you pay 4500 baht for a Asian Fairy Bluebird at this time, esp. one that is not tame and could die at any moment?) so the shop has been rather deviod of customers. Lets hope that the trader gets the point and decides to stop selling birds and just stick to his fish.

-Does anyone know if there is a hotline for this kind of stuff in the south?