A sniffer dog of the Livestock Development Department found smoked bats being smuggled into Thailand from China in a passenger's bag at Suvarnabhumi airport.
The department said an "Inspector Beagle" from its Quarantine and Inspection Canine Unit working at the airport detected the smoked bat and other meat in luggage on a flight from Kunming.
The dead bats were in a small bag weighing 2.5 kilogrammes. It was packed along with a bag of smoked ham of the same weight and another bag of smoked bacon weighing 4.5kg.
The goods were seized for laboratory examination and disposal. Bat meat could carry the fatal Nipah virus and the pork could carry the African swine fever virus, the department said.
The department said that Inspector Beagles are on duty to detect such products being smuggled in arriving luggage, especially on flights from countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Laos, Vietnam and China.
