French tourists arrested for catching protected parrotfish off Promthep Cape in Phuket

[stevenl]

3 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Actually Phromthep is famous for being the most westerly place in Thailand.

Strange, since looking at maps shows areas of Kata and Karon and also places further North more to the west.

[sammieuk1]

Poly put the kettle on our tea money has arrived.

[LivinginKata]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Strange, since looking at maps shows areas of Kata and Karon and also places further North more to the west.

 

Yes I agree. But for some reason the Thais think this is the last place that the sun sets in Thailand. 

[Wake Up]

Probably not their first time so someone turned them in. Happy they were caught illegally fishing protected species. Hope they are punished appropriately. If not their first time hope they are banned from Thailand permanently. 

[sawadee1947]

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

oh dear   !    they could all die in prison .....  

and.....where is the problem....everybody has to die once. Better to stay and die in a warm country than in a cold cell in Paris, isn't it?

[WHYWHY]

It's okay people can just select who is fined and what amount 

Turn a blind eye to real issues long as someone is in the News 

[off road pat]

5 hours ago, toughlove said:

600k for a fish... JACKPOT!

You didn't read the article in full did you,...6 French Tourists, + 8 parrot-fish !!! now let's think how are they going to calculate this ? 6X100 000. or 6X100 000.X8 !?...???? anyway this is going to be very expensive for the French side and  vely vely lucrative for the Thai Side !!!! ($$$$)

I guess they're going to put this on one of the French who would be responsible for spearing the 8 parrot-fish !?!

And as to avoid any jail time ? this will also depend of the negotiating skills of there lawyer ?!?! and the French embassy representative !!! in the Back-room.. ($$$$) Let us assume that there will be no long jail time regarding there age and for tourism sake !

 

[off road pat]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

Probably not their first time so someone turned them in. Happy they were caught illegally fishing protected species. Hope they are punished appropriately. If not their first time hope they are banned from Thailand permanently. 

there boat Driver/captain,..probably phoned the police. and get a reward at the same time.

[capasso]

6 hours ago, steven100 said:

oh dear   !    they could all die in prison .....  

why not???Ah Ah

[toughlove]

You didn't read the article in full did you,...6 French Tourists, + 8 parrot-fish !!! now let's think how are they going to calculate this ? 6X100 000. or 6X100 000.X8 !?...???? anyway this is going to be very expensive for the French side and  vely vely lucrative for the Thai Side !!!! ($$$$)

I guess they're going to put this on one of the French who would be responsible for spearing the 8 parrot-fish !?!

And as to avoid any jail time ? this will also depend of the negotiating skills of there lawyer ?!?! and the French embassy representative !!! in the Back-room.. ($$$$) Let us assume that there will be no long jail time regarding there age and for tourism sake !

 

But only 5 harpoon guns. one of the tourist had a multiple strike but the question is will the frogs roll over and finger him?

 

History shows that its very likely [emoji3]

 

[manarak]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

Probably not their first time so someone turned them in. Happy they were caught illegally fishing protected species. Hope they are punished appropriately. If not their first time hope they are banned from Thailand permanently. 

yes... but at the same time, thousands of Thais doing much worse things are left alone by police.

 

the authorities here are quick to make an example by throwing the book at foreign tourists, yet Thais cause much more damage to the local environment.

[Seeker1953]

Forgive me for being dense, but exactly how is a tourist to know a particular fish is protected? Maybe the 'captain' of the charter had a bit of a responsibility to tell them? 
Are there signs anywhere? 
I'm not a fishing person, but if I were, how would I know this in a country I'm only visiting? 

And I agree with the comments about the authorities going after 'little fish' and leaving the slave boats alone. 

Okay, fire away...

[Russell17au]

18 minutes ago, Seeker1953 said:

Forgive me for being dense, but exactly how is a tourist to know a particular fish is protected? Maybe the 'captain' of the charter had a bit of a responsibility to tell them? 
Are there signs anywhere? 
I'm not a fishing person, but if I were, how would I know this in a country I'm only visiting? 

And I agree with the comments about the authorities going after 'little fish' and leaving the slave boats alone. 

Okay, fire away...

It is quite simple, if you are a driver you check the road laws, if you are a fisherman then you check the fishing laws.

[mindfulness]

... interesting fish;

 

 

 

[rollrunna]

So what is so special about this fish apart from its confusion with its role in life.... if protected why are they not taught to repeat " stop it .. i am protected, i am protected... and pretty  " .. ?

[BradinAsia]

9 hours ago, toughlove said:

600k for a fish... JACKPOT!

 

Seems the penalty for catching this fish is more than for killing humans. 

[overherebc]

They're ok to eat but keep repeating on you.

[toughlove]

yes... but at the same time, thousands of Thais doing much worse things are left alone by police.

 

the authorities here are quick to make an example by throwing the book at foreign tourists, yet Thais cause much more damage to the local environment.

That's the thing, they don't care about examples. Some thai dude with a hand line and a piece of bread bait won't have a lazy 100k under his bed.

 

Fishing trawlers may snag the odd small parrot fish but That is not the surface feeding fish they want

 

[Just Weird]

6 hours ago, Maejo Man said:

So no photos of the undersized parrotfish? I real missed photo op for some wallopers!

Maybe the evidence was cooked and consumed already.

No, no photos, oh, except for the photos that accompanied the article that you're commenting on, they're all there for you to see.

[Just Weird]

3 hours ago, manarak said:

yes... but at the same time, thousands of Thais doing much worse things are left alone by police.

 

the authorities here are quick to make an example by throwing the book at foreign tourists, yet Thais cause much more damage to the local environment.

Are the Thais harpooning protected fish?  What are the much worse things that Thais do that the police allow them to carry on with?

[b2bme]

9 hours ago, Darcula said:

If they tried this in Paris, it would be in seine.

Very witty. Well done

[dfdgfdfdgs]

I snorkeled off Phuket and saw a Thai spearfishing, he'd caught a few cuttlefish and a parrotfish, I've no idea if the parrotfish was one of the protected ones or not.  You get the feeling that these guys were targeted because they were foreign, but maybe the Thais know how to do it more discreetly (i.e. spearfishing in remote areas, not harpooning off the most photographed cape in Thailand).

[sirineou]

 The same people who complain about severity of the fine , in another thread about the destruction of wildlife in Thailand would complain that there is lax enforcement.

For some, nothing done in Thailand by Thais can ever be right. 

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

Sounds like a set up.
Geezers playing at Jacques Cousteau at that age in budgie smugglers with illegal fishing gear.

An expensive lesson that will send them back to the fish counter at Tops market.

[Old Croc]

12 hours ago, stevenl said:

That Russian woman a few years ago was illegally working as a tourguide. The bail money was provided by the company she was working for. The story was she was fined for feeding the fish, the real reason was she was working illegally.

 

These people arrested now were spearfishing with self made harpoons, so I very much doubt they were tourists.

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/972281-phuket-court-fines-russian-tourist-b1k-for-feeding-fish-woman-faces-immigration-next/?page=3&tab=comments#comment-11687734

I was going with the version as reported.

 

I didn't state they were tourists, In fact my thoughts were very similar to yours.

 

[Old Croc]

12 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

I dont think they were diving Old Crock--They were "Harpooning fish",

(-Harpooning-A barbed spear attached to a rope and thrown or fired from a gun,) If they had been diving, I wouldn't think they could have been reported by --whoever, & these harpoons were DIY ones.

Although the boat they were in was chartered , so they dont say it came with an operator ..but they usually do in which case he should certainly shoulder some of the blame.

 

When you don't know what you're talking about it's usually a good idea to keep quiet.

These guys were diving or snorkeling (see the pic of the weight belts), and I'm fairly sure not one of them had a peg leg or the name Capt Ahab, nor were they harpooning from the bow of the longtail!

When you've spent as much of your life boating, fishing, diving and spearfishing as me you could then try the little lecture.

Incidentally, in nearly 13 years on this forum you are the 738th wit to spell my nik that way in a pathetic attempt to insult. 

[lucifer666]

It never ceases to amaze me how many morons think that they can get away with anything here

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, Old Croc said:

Again selective enforcement of fishing laws. Protected species are often pictured on these pages displayed in fish markets and at restaurants yet police rarely race to make arrests at these locations.

And who can forget the Russian woman a few years back who was locked up at the Chalong police station for feeding breadcrumbs to reef fish, The corrupt denizens of that station thought it reasonable to seek bail money at the maximum fine rate!

While a bit careless for bagging a protected species, kudos to these miscreants who are still able to dive/snorkel at an age when most of us can only reminisce. 

Along with double pricing comes double standards.

[ChrisY1]

Probably be fined more that a dealer caught with 10kg coke!

[stevenl]

38 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

Probably be fined more that a dealer caught with 10kg coke!

Comment that shows you have no idea.