At the opening of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pledged to start a legislative process to end ivory trade in Thailand.

This came after more than 1.5 million signatures were collected calling on Thailand to ban its trade in ivory, and is the first time the Thai government has made a public statement on the matter.

As a next step we will forward amending the national legislation with the goal of putting an end on ivory trade and to be in line with international norms. This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand’s wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa. – Prime Minster Shinawatra 

Thailand is the worlds largest unregulated trader in ivory products, and this stance will go a long way in reducing the slaughter of tens of thousands of elephant each year.

 The fight to stop wildlife crime and shut down Thailand’s ivory markets is not over. Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure that it takes place as a matter of urgency, because the slaughter of elephants continues. –  Carlos Drews, head of WWF’s delegation to SITES

Article reworked from worldwildlife.org