Illegally felled phayung (Siamese rosewood) logs worth about 2 million baht were seized from a vehicle in PrachinBuri on Saturday.
Highway police made the discovery on Saturday after they stopped a modified Isuzu MU-7 passenger vehicle with a Bangkok licence plate at a checkpoint on the KabinBuri-Pak Thong Chai road.
Upon seeing the officers, the driver suddenly changed direction before abandoning the vehicle near Khunsri village in KabinBuri district and fleeing into a nearby forest.
Police gave a chase but failed to find the driver. They found 16 phayung logs inside the abandoned vehicle.
The seizure followed a tip-off that the suspected vehicle had left the ThapLan forest in Pak Thong Chai district of NakhonRatchasima and was heading to Na Di in PrachinBuri.
Authorities said the logs, weighing about two tonnes, were worth 2 million baht and could fetch up to 6 million if sold abroad, particularly in China.
Pol Lt Col PairojNiewnorathai, a highway police inspector, said log smugglers lately had switched to using luxury vehicles as they tend to attract less suspicion than trucks or vans.
Police plan to summon the owner of the Isuzu MU-7 for questioning.