Buyers beware. Thailand is taking action following a report by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora regarding illegal ivory trade. Foreigners visiting Thailand face arrest if they are caught carrying elephant tusks or ivory trinkets — even if they believe the purchase was legal.

“You will be arrested at the airport in Thailand or in your original country if we find you are trying to carry ivory products outside the Kingdom,” said Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy director general of Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

The crackdown is in response to findings presented during a recent CITES-related global conservation gathering in Bangkok that identified Thailand as one of eight countries most involved in the illegal killing of elephants and the ivory trade. Other countries on the watch list are Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and China. Each of the eight countries must produce a plan of action to reduce ivory trafficking.

The situation is tricky in Thailand where it is legal to trade in ivory products produced from the tusks of elephants that have died of natural causes. The catch is there is no reliable way to track the source of the ivory. Going forward, Thailand’s DNP will require ivory traders to provide a report of all tusks harvested from domestic elephants. State agencies possessing ivory products must also produce details about them.