I used to work in sales. I actually didn’t have any experience or education working with animals. My knowledge comes from personal experiences and the internet.

I’ve loved pets since I was a child, and have long been interested in exotic pets like iguanas and sugar gliders [a type of possum]. About seven or eight years ago I began breeding animals that cost about B2,000 or 3,000 and would keep the beautiful ones while selling the rest on Pantip to gain profit. After that I began a reptile shop here at Chatuchak, then about four years ago I turned it into an exotic pet shop.

Most of our animals are quite highend, like raccoons or monkeys, which cost over B10,000, so we aim for people who have high incomes and really want to have this kind of pet to distinguish themselves. However, teenagers are becoming target customers as well, because they have purchasing power and are quite impulsive—we offer them things like baby squirrels.

Fennec foxes and meerkats are big hits. You cannot buy these animals all year round, but right now is the meerkat season. The season for fennec foxes is around April. If you want to buy animals that are not in season, you have to deposit the money first to get the privilege of choosing the best ones when they come into the shop. Pet owners usually want to buy babies but customers from zoos and cafes usually go for adults.

Not exactly. I might ask some people but it’s not our policy. Animals don’t come with a guarantee so we make sure that people are informed and ready to buy these pets because they cannot return them. I’m happy to help if customers have any problems taking care of their animals.

We only breed animals that are difficult to import like fennec foxes, which have recently been banned from importation because of the issue of Ebola in Africa. We have a facility on Vibhavadi Road where we breed animals and keep the larger ones that don’t fit in the shop.

Not really. We’re registered as a breeding center and we’ve done everything legally. We’re licensed to trade in animals listed in the CITES treaty (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Other animals that are not included in the list are also imported properly according to regulations. All of our animals are bred and are not taken from the forest. We also only trade in foreign animals, which are less complicated to deal with than animals from inside the country.

Officials come to Chatuchak quite regularly to check if there’s any illegal trade. With the story about tiger trafficking, they might feel more eager to do their job, but they usually leave us alone because they know that imported animal shops have licenses.

Yes, of course. People have this image of mothers being killed and their babies snatched away in the wild or authorities being bribed. Comments usually come from foreigners who don’t actually have much knowledge about selling exotic animals in Thailand.