The only country where you can buy tropical round logs legally in South-East Asian countries is Eastern part of Malaysia, i.e. Sabah and Sarawak states. Papua New Guinea and Solomon Island are the other two non-ASEAN round logs exporting countries but these two countries are already out of South-East Asia logistic zone and they normally produce mixed species and high density logs only.
There were reports saying that some desperate buyers from East Asian countries bearing the risk of paying by cash hoping to bring out exotic species of logs from Eastern part of Indonesia (Irian Jaya province) but it is not advisable to do so unless those of you really like to gamble off your investment with the local custom authority and military force.
In IndoChina region, Myanmar (formally known as Burma) and Cambodia are also not an ideal place to shop around because you would probably ended up dealing with a bunch of militants or their cronies who have no knowledge about international trade. However, if you do not expect to buy large quantity of logs regularly there are still chances of buying small parcel of square logs through some Singaporean, Malaysian or Thai traders but it is absolutely no guarantee on continuous supply even though some people might have done several deals successfully previously. Laos, on the other hand, produced very good Keruing logs but most sellers preferred payment by cash, as a result keeping away many potential buyers and the country itself is actually lack of logistic infrastructure to support the trade.
In short, the best place for any buyer who wants to purchase tropical round logs is still Eastern part of Malaysian states - Sabah and Sarawak. There are also many places in Malaysia producing good Acacia round logs, in fact, both East and West Malaysia suppliers are able to export Acacia round logs legally (quota based).
Most countries in South-East Asia are based on USD/m3 for the round logs trade, whereas only West Malaysia loggers are still practicing on their RM/ton calculation. However, Acacia round logs calculation is based on weighting instead of measuring.
The mode and system of measurement is based on Brereton Style Metric System (with the exception of West Malaysia - logs supplier measuring at the smaller end of the round logs).
