Surayud opened the WildAid campaign against illegal animal trafficking at Bangkok's Chatu-chak Weekend Market.

The prime minister declared that trade in wildlife was a crisis destroying the Kingdom's bio-diversity. Criminal trading of animals and plant life in Asia receives international attention.

Government policy aims to create a balance between conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It prohibits the movement of animals outside their natural habitat, Surayud said.

United States Ambassador Ralph Boyce told the campaign launch that illegal wildlife trading was a worldwide, multi-billion-baht criminal activity.

The threat cannot be ignored and is regarded as a trans-national crime which both Thailand and the US governments were working to halt, Boyce said.

Washington supports the Southeast Asian illegal wildlife trade crackdown that Thailand spearheads.