The abbot of a temple in Thailand’s northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom has admitted that the temple committee, with the consent of people in the community, decided to sell a 200-year old Payoong (Siamese rosewood) tree to a timber merchant for 1.2 million baht because the temple could not protect the tree from loggers, who had been trying to fell the tree for the precious timber which is highly prized in Vietnam and China.

The six Payoong logs, which originated from Wat Supararam forest temple in Tambon Si Songkram, Si Songkram district, were seized by border patrol police at a checkpoint in Tha Uthen district on the night of June 12th. The logs were about to be smuggled through Laos to a buyer in Vietnam.

Full story: thaipbsworld.com

By Thai PBS World