Eight killed on Thai border in October

12 November 2011
The Cambodia Daily
Environment and natural resources / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Human rights / Land / Logging and timber / Social development
Adhoc / Chinese aid / dead / furniture / human rights workers / illegal logging / rosewood / shot / Thai-Cambodian border / Thailand

Eight Cambodian suspected of illegally logging along the Thai-Cambodian border have been shot dead by Thai soldiers, and three others have been wounded in the month of October alone, human rights workers and officials said Friday. The latest figure brings the death toll so far this year to 11 - two more than the total number of recorded deaths on the border in 2010 and the same number as all of the cases in 2009, according to figures provided by rights group Adhoc. "There were a lot of cases of Cambodian civilians sneaking into the jungle for logging rosewood in Thailand's territory in October," Adhoc's Chan Soveth said, "which is why the number of shooting incidents was extremely high last month." The figures provided by Adhoc demonstrate just how far people are willing to go to get their hands on sought-after rosewood, which is used in high-end furniture, particularly in China, some items of which can cost $1 million...