Chiang Mai Airport Confiscates Souvenir Coral, Reminds People Not to Take Coral From Thai Beaches

by CityNews

 

 

CityNews – Chiang Mai International Airport warns tourists not to collect coral as a souvenir.

 

On March 30th, Deputy director of Chiang Mai International Airport clarified the case of the seizure of tourist’s coral that occurred two days ago and was reported on by the media. The Deputy Director stated that airport’s officer only have the authority to seize harmful items at the airport: however; inappropriate item such as coral, the officer may negotiate with the carrier to turn the item over. There have been several coral seizures in the past mostly from Chinese tourists travelling from the southern part of Thailand. The coral was handed over to the fisheries inspection office which will pass them on to an educational institution.

 

Full Story: http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/news/chiang-mai-airport-confiscates-souvenir-coral-reminds-people-not-take-coral-thai-beaches/

 

-- © Copyright Chiang City News 2018-3-30

Wow what a relief.....

Yet another threat to national security has been hindered by the always ready custom officers...!!

 

What a day for the watch-dinosaur (he is in charge of national security)....

First he wins (or at least declared himself the winner) the watch match.....and now this...international coral smugglers caught ....

This calls for lottery tickets...

In Jomtiem there's a store right on beach road that sells large seaschells

This is dead Coral and it is not doing any harm to the Environment to collect it.   Oh how i wish they were as good at catching people throwing rubbish everywhere in the country....which does cause harm to the Environment !

this is washed ashore ,washed ashore...its a wonder anyone comes to Thailand anymore

8 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

This is dead Coral and it is not doing any harm to the Environment to collect it.   Oh how i wish they were as good at catching people throwing rubbish everywhere in the country....which does cause harm to the Environment !

Dead coral is part of the environment, among other things it is reprocessed into sand, which  is a rather valuable commodity. It's the same reason why dead wood should stay in the forest.

So yes, it is doing harm to collect it, and most countries forbid it.

 

I do agree with you that it seems there would be higher priorities when enforcing the law, but I won't complain if "they" start somewhere.

2 hours ago, arithai12 said:

Dead coral is part of the environment, among other things it is reprocessed into sand, which  is a rather valuable commodity. It's the same reason why dead wood should stay in the forest.

So yes, it is doing harm to collect it, and most countries forbid it.

 

 

Dead wood left on the forest floor quickly biodegrades into valuable minerals, replenishing nutrients in the soil for future growth, usually withing 2-3 years. This serves as food for the growing forest community.   Dead coral, on the other hand, takes several million years to break down into sand, and does virtually nothing for the beach except look pretty. True, there is some calcium released too, but nothing that lives in the sand makes use of it. Beach sand has no commercial value, only cosmetic value, and removing broken bits of dead coral will not detract from that. In most tropical waters, the sea bed is covered with tons of dead, broken coral to a depth of several feet. 

 

While I'm in favor of high fines for people removing any 'live' coral from the seas,  dead coral is just that; dead.

Dead coral used to be readily available at Chiang Mai fancy fish suppliers, for use as tank filter material. I would guess elsewhere in Thailand too, especially in the south after the tsunami. There will be hundreds of customers using the stuff now in their carp ponds or aquariums. Is it illegal to possess it now? So what are they to do with the stuff?

The land snail shown on the picture is one of the 100 most invasive species in the world.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissachatina_fulica

The dead corals have been taken inland and used for thousands of years by the indigenous population with not issues for the environment.

That problem has been solved by the super sleuths at TV. We will wait until you are running the country for your thoughts to become law.

Fresh coral taken from the Northern mountain seas.....

On 3/31/2018 at 8:54 AM, FolkGuitar said:

 Dead coral, on the other hand, takes several million years to break down into sand, and does virtually nothing for the beach except look pretty.

Sorry I show only part of your reply, we agree on the rest.

 

Several million years?? I think marine biologist would be thrilled to lay their hands on dead corals which are that old! Are you confusing them with rocks maybe?

If you dive, you will have seen that in addition to sit and wait to be converted into future sand, dead corals also offer habitat (eg hiding places) for many species. And they can be a substrate for new growth, e.g. by algae.

 

I don't mind having a prettier beach! Sand is in a delicate balance, it gets washed away, it doesn't stay forever unless new comes in. Granted, it doesn't happen on the time scale of our brief visits to the beach, but it does happen. A beautiful 5km-long beach where I grew up was eroded over about 30 years, last time I went back it had been replenished with sand taken from the bottom of the sea a few hundreds meter out, and it was simply awful in comparison.

 

 

On 3/31/2018 at 11:23 AM, AL said:

The land snail shown on the picture is one of the 100 most invasive species in the world.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissachatina_fulica

The dead corals have been taken inland and used for thousands of years by the indigenous population with not issues for the environment.

Also the bisons were roaming the north american plains by the zillions, while the indians were killing them for food. All in balance. Came the white men to hunt them, they became nearly extinct.

 

 

How about the Thai authorities using the same energy to keep the water and the beaches in Hua Hin, Pattaya and Phuket, spotlessly unpolluted and clean ????....without always blaming others (thai's or farangs) for all their misfortunes ?

4 hours ago, arithai12 said:

Sorry I show only part of your reply, we agree on the rest.

 

Several million years?? I think marine biologist would be thrilled to lay their hands on dead corals which are that old! Are you confusing them with rocks maybe?

 

 

I agree with the parts of your post that I clipped, but this part quoted above is incorrect.  Corals (as we think of them) are 600 million years old, and date back to the late Cambrian period, during the Paleozoic era. Prior to that, the little critters didn't form colonies, but did exist going back approximately 3.5 billion years ago microbialites (calcareous organo-sedimentary deposits) and began to appear in the fossil record. 

Coral Reef evolution over the last 600 million years (the Phanerozoic era - gr. "visible life") can be divided into three cycles, each separated by a significant extinction event. All reef extinctions appear to coincide with mass marine extinctions.

The first cycle, from the pre-Cambrian (>600 Mya) to the mid Cambrian (540 Mya), was dominated by Archaeocyathids (sponge-like animals), stromatolites, and calcareous cyanobacteria and algae.

The second cycle, from the mid-Cambrian to the late Devonian (350 Mya) was dominated by algae-sponge-coral tripartite associations. The corals involved in these associations were ancient (non-scleractinian) tetracorals called rugose corals (e.g., Favistellata tabulata). Cyanobacteria, stromatoporoids (sponge-like animals) were also present, as well as unusual bivalve molluscs called rudists. These communities were complex and diverse.

The third cycle, from the late Devonian to the the late Permian/Triassic (220 Mya), was dominated by algae-bryozoan-coral assemblages. Also present were cyanobacteria, phylloid algae, tubiphytes, foraminifera (still around today), sponges, stromatoporoids and rudist bivalves.

Since the Triassic (i.e., over the last 220 million years), scleractinian corals have become increasingly dominant as reef-builders. Diverse (molecular, stable isotopic, ecological) evidence suggests scleractinian corals formed symbioses with algae soon after their appearance in the fossil record.

 

Yes, I do dive. I was certified as 'Dive Master' in 1995  and 'Master Scuba Diver' in 1996.  I delight in studying Marine Biology.