Thai PBS airs audio clip of Thungyai arrest

Park officials stand near carcasses and other items found after the arrest of Italian-Thai Development Plc president Premchai Kanasuta and three other persons in the western part of the Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in Thong Pha Phum district in Kanchaburi. (Photo by Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary)

A sound clip aired by Thai PBS apparently recorded during the arrest of Premchai Karnasuta and three other persons has become the talk of the town.

Thai PBS said it obtained the clip from one of the people speaking during a conversation that occurred when park rangers arrested the Italian-Thai Development Plc and three other persons.

Wichien Chinnawong, the chief of the Western Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, arrested the four on Saturday and found carcasses of protected wild animals. All were sent to face charges at Thong Pha Phum police station in Thong Pha Phum district in Kanchanaburi on Sunday.

The clip - lasting about one minutes - involves about three persons. It was widely shared on the mainstream and social media.

During the clip a man apparently tries to convince officials to stop the arrest. If you "want anything, I will ask my subordinates to send it over by truck," the man on the clip says.

"Firearms will be seized? Hope not. All are registered," the same man said, adding that he "will ask phu yai to settle this".

Another person says: "Firearms are here. (They) are not for self-defence. They are for shooting wild animals."

Video: The Thai PBS news story (in Thai) that includes an audio clip apparently recorded during the arrest in the Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary.

(ThaiPBS video)