Man tried to board plane with three suitcases full of wild life

A man who went on a wildlife shopping spree in Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market was detained by authorities at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport as he tried to smuggle his haul that included live snakes, tortoises, squirrels, spiders, lizards and even a parrot out of Thailand inside three suitcases.

The Indonesian man was stopped after the regular luggage scanning process at the airport showed images of an array of animals stuffed inside his three black bags. The Airports of Thailand officer who noticed the suspicious items alerted a National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department officer who checked the bags and detained the suspect.



The 34-year old had stuffed 88 Indian Star Tortoises, 33 Elongated Tortoises, seven Radiated Tortoises, six Mata Mata Turtles, four Southeast Asian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle, three Aldabra Tortoises, one Pig-nosed Turtle and even one Ploughshare Tortoise, the worlds’ rarest tortoise. Alongside these, he packed 34 Ball Pythons, two Boa Constrictors, several Milk Snakes, Corn Snakes and King Snakes as well as a Hog-nosed Snake.

The suspect also had 19 Bearded Dragons, four Spiny-tailed Lizards, two Sunda Plated Lizards, six Argentine Horned Frogs. He also managed to fit in 18 Baboon Spiders, each in its own plastic container, 22 Common Squirrels and one African Grey Parrot into his luggage. The suspect, from Surabaya in Indonesia, admitted to authorities that he had purchased the animals from Chatuchak Market. He was scheduled to board an Air Asia flight home when his illegal loot was discovered. He is in police custody and is expected to face charges.