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Published on October 30, 2007

Kasem Jandam, who conducted a study on the bird's nest business in southern Thailand, found illegal collecting of bird'' nests at sites on 66 islands in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.

He said these were apart from the 104 islands where concessions for collecting nests can be granted under the 1942 Swiftlet Birds' Nest Tax Act.

The government could be losing tax revenue of more than Bt100 million per year per site in eight provinces in southern Thailand - Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Phatthalung, Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang and Satun.

Kasem believed the companies that hold concessions for these areas conceal the number of sites they have because they do not want to pay tax to the government.

The total bids for nest concessions in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea from 2003 to 2007 amounted to Bt3.56 billion

Kasem said the birds' nest business in Thailand could be a front for money laundering. He said a bank officer had told him that one client who was in the business made regular deposits of Bt40 million to Bt50 million per month.

The officer suspected that this money came from the black market in nests.

Moreover, many businessmen from other provinces had bid for concessions to collect nests and had invested a lot of money - up to Bt500 million in some cases. Kasem suspected that these people were laundering illegal money through the birds' nest business.

He said the investors, police and local politicians were working together in the black market. Some investors had lobbied politicians to help them to exploit the birds' nest sites.

The illegal nest business has resulted in frequent killings due to conflicts of interest, with the total deaths running into the hundreds, he said.

Kasem said police suspected an administrative official of Koh Mak who was killed on Sunday had been involved in the black market in birds' nests.

Meanwhile the birds' nest business had caused environmental problems such the destruction of other species that are a danger to the swifts that build the nests. One such predator is an owl that is on the Category 1 list of protected wildlife.

Kasem suggested that the government come up with new regulations to control the nest trade and find sustainable ways to manage the business.

Pongphon Sarnsamak

 The Nation