Wildlife Trade in the Digital Age: The Role of the Internet in Monitoring the Trade in Wild Plants and Animals in Thailand

The legal and illegal trade in wildlife is a multi-dollar industry that has detrimental impacts on species biodiversity, especially exacerbated in the 21st century as a result of increased globalisation and Internet accessibility. In this thesis, I aim to develop the understanding of wildlife trade in the digital age by examining the role of the Internet in monitoring trade in wild plants and animals in Thailand. The first chapter focuses on using open-sourced legal trade of wildlife using the decadal trade data of reptiles and amphibians from the CITES trade database. I demonstrate that while the volume of traded reptiles and amphibians are constantly growing for a vibrant exotic pet and most likely leather market, there also an increasing trend for captive-bred individuals. Subsequently, I demonstrate the shift from traditional markets to online platforms by evaluating the trade in birds of prey and owls. I found that there though there is a drastic shift in volume of birds for sale in markets as recorded in surveys conducted since the 1960s compared to online markets today, there was no clear statistical difference in species composition. It is also notable that the sales most likely illicit as they are mostly of native birds. The third chapter focuses on Facebook as a key platform and examines factors that influence price in a virtual market trade of primates and carnivores. I find a combination of illegal and legal animals for sale. Price and availability are not always explained in predicted ways, i.e. illegal native animals are cheaper than legal non-native animals. These relationships imply that there are degrees of ‘perceived or realised’ rarity associated as a key selling point and these values influence demand and prices. The final content chapter uses open-sourced seizure data through media news reports to monitor the rosewood trade. I found that the rosewood trade is geographically dispersed throughout Thailand, with most of the trade movement intended towards international markets. There was a decrease in rosewood seizure activity over the six-year period from 2013 to 2019. This chapter crucially demonstrates the ability to gather information to map out seizure hotspots, as well as illustrate modus operandi and trade pathways of timber moving in and out of Thailand. Despite progresses made, current domestic and international policies are still insufficient, even after the 2019 legislative reform. Social media is central in the modern-day wildlife trade: as a trade platform, a monitoring tool, and if utilised correctly, an awareness tool. The outcomes in this thesis provide opportunities for policy change at local, domestic and international levels with interventions targeting law enforcement.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2020

Author dc:creator

• Siriwat, Penthai

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nijman, Vincent
• Nekaris, Anna

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/srnq-4720

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:3b04e907-81a8-4fba-bcef-d070268f99c9:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1