Sawangjit Kosoognern charged with illegal possession after video showing animal being driven around Pattaya gains 2.6m views

A Thai woman has been charged with illegal possession of a lion cub, police said on Friday, after a video of the animal cruising in a Bentley went viral online.

The police ordered an investigation after a video showing a lion cub riding around the raucous Thai resort town of Pattaya in a Bentley gained more than 2.6m views online.

Sawangjit Kosoognern was charged with breaking environmental and natural resources law by “possessing a protected wildlife without authorisation”, the central investigation bureau announced on its official Facebook page. “We have arrested her, using the Wild Animal Conservation and Protection Act 2019,” the police statement said.