The Chaimat network operated a sophisticated timber smuggling operation in Thailand that primarily trafficked protected Siamese rosewood to China via Laos and Vietnam. Their operation was highly organised - they used convoys of five vehicles where one scouted ahead for police checkpoints, three transported the illegally logged and trafficked timber, and another served as a decoy. Drivers were paid 20,000 baht (US$620) per trip, and a used-car dealership called "Big Car" owned by Kampanart's ex-wife Ketsirin supplied rotating vehicles to avoid detection. The network laundered nearly 1 billion baht (US$29 million) from Vietnam through currency exchangers in Laos into Thai bank accounts, with rosewood increasing in value by up to 900% when smuggled across borders, ultimately fetching up to US$80,000 per ton in China's booming hongmu furniture market. In 2014, Kampanart was on his way back from an abortive attempt to purchase Siamese rosewood when he was intercepted at a mobile checkpoint in what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. Police found 4.7 million bhat (about US$150 000), seven bank deposit books in Kampanart’s name and 10 ATM cards, as well as a book recording past transactions of Siamese rosewood and tiger body parts. A corresponding financial investigation which concluded in 2021 found that the crimes Kampanart had committed over the years were evidence that his assets had not been acquired honestly or legally. However, it proved more difficult to pursue a successful criminal prosecution for each of the cases owing to insufficient evidence, even though several individuals associated with the investigation had been arrested multiple times for possession of pangolins, ivory and Siamese rosewood and for breaches of wildlife and forestry legislation. Ultimately, the investigation was successful in identifying 115 assets accumulated by the family network that would be subject to forfeiture and become property of the state.