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Sell tigers
on the web, says breeder A provincial zoo owner wants to sell
tigers over the Internet. Chuvit Pitakpornpallop admits the law will have to be
changed first, but insists commercial breeding and trade could help save the
species from extinction. It would
also help wipe out the black market trade. Mr Chuvit floated the idea at a seminar organised by the
Thai Rak Thai party at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre yesterday. he said the law should be amended to allow commercial
breeding and trade, in the same way crocodiles and deer can be sold openly.
Mr Chavit, a Thai Rak Thai candidate in Ubon Ratchatani said he began
raising a pair of cubs in 1992. Today
he has 30 tigers and believes this will grow to 100 in 2003 and 200 in 2005.
he said a tiger cub sells for 50,000 - 100,000 Baht on the black market.
About 1,000 cubs, worth 50-100 million Baht, are traded annually. "If we can amend the law, about 20,000 tigers could
be raised domestically over the next 5-10 years," he said.
Also introduced at the seminar was a soap made from vegetable oil and
herbs with the brand name "Fong".
This was produced by architect Wuthichai Harnpanich.
Pramon Gunakasem, a candidate for Bangkok, also introduced his product,
dog perfume. he said he developed
the cologne to earn extra money studying in new York.
he claimed his perfume makes dogs more " loveable"
Monkhood
'shut eyes' to sex-capades He liked it when women jostled to be first to offer him
food. For at least 10 years while
in the monkhood, he had sex with countless followers who were either charmed or
cheated by him. Donated money was used to buy himself a top of the line
Mercedes. And when a senior monk
warned him against such behaviour, he threatened to kill him.
Even so, what lies behind the religious camouflage of Wanchai Oonsap, the
latest monk to be exposed as a sex-crazed swindler, is anything but shocking. To dismayed Thai Buddhists, what is really upsetting are
the reports that Wanchai's double life was hardly a secret, yet nothing was done
about it until he was caught red handed by a television news camera. "Everbody knew what he is," said a monk at the
Maharat Yuwaratrangsarit temple, where Wanchai was hated and feared.
"Nobody could do anything about it." About four years ago, Wanchai was "expelled"
from the temple after making a death threat against the abbot, Phra
Sumethatibodi, who had become fed up with complaints about his womanising and
abuse of donations. Wanchai agreed
to leave, but he refused to return the key to his living quarters.
He returned whenever he felt like it, which was often. " He always came back and used his living quarters as
a business office, receiving donations and arranging fund-raising
activities", said the same source. "Nobody
could do anything about it." That his defiance in the wake of the expulsion was
tolerated is incomprehensible, given the clout of Wat Mahathat Yuwarartrangsarit.
And Wanchai's subsequent appointment as an abbot of Wat Tha Chang, a
major temple in Suphan Buri, is nothing but scandalous. It is becoming more and more apparent that the
ecclesiastical hierarchy must have been aware, more or less, of Wanchai's crimes
and influence. That nothing was
done means could mean three things : The monastic governing body is too weak and
ineffectual, or is itself being corroded by the evil that possesses Wanchai.
Or both. It was reported yesterday that Wanchai hinted at exposing
other senior monks. This
development has prompted speculation that he could try to blackmail his way out
of trouble. If that's true
- that he's unwilling to go down alone - the Buddhist community will have
to brace itself for fresh blows. As the scandal unfolds a grandmother summed up the fragile situation of the Thai monastic community: " I have been with many temples long enough o know that senior monks having sex with followers is common. It's not a secret. Everybody just turns a blind eye."
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