The Customs Department looks set to propose that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha use Section 44 of the interim constitution to remove obstacles preventing the sale of seized phayung logs (Siamese rosewood) and other illegally cut trees worth over 4 billion baht.
Department director-general Somchai Sujjapongse said on Friday the use of Section 44 would enable the department to sell off 318,000 stockpiled seized logs.
Of these, about 127,000 were precious phayung logs. The logs had a combined value of about four billion baht if sold.
There are so many logs the department does not have enough space to store them all and legal proceedings in cases involving log seizures take a long time, he said.
Normally, seized wood is sold to state agencies first. Any timber left is sold to private firms.
Customs laws authorise the department chief to sell seized items pending legal proceedings of cases, Mr Somchai said. However, several cabinet resolutions prohibit commercial trade of phayung logs, he added.
To remove the obstacles, he will propose the prime minister use the special law to allow the sale of the seized phayung logs. The sale would generate billions of baht in revenue for the state, he said.