Two western tourists to be deported for catching protected marine species

[RichardColeman]

Considering Thailand is eating seafood at an unbelievable and unsustainable rate, I think it very over the top. One wonders how they would react if their own tourists were deported for the same

[stevenl]

29 minutes ago, Pottinger said:

....and keyboard warriors who take it upon themselves to justify the laws of countries not their own.

And keyboard warriors who only online disagree with the laws of the country they're living in.

[CorpusChristie]

9 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Considering Thailand is eating seafood at an unbelievable and unsustainable rate, I think it very over the top. One wonders how they would react if their own tourists were deported for the same

These were not tourists though , they seemed to advertising their business by taking photos of the fish

[Destiny1990]

What happened with the 200 bht fine?

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, geriatrickid said:

Suggest you have a look at the  BBQ restaurant and the dive shop.  IMO, nothing of value. In any case, each has the convenience of a Thai spouse/domestic partners, so  assets won't be lost right away.

Can't imagine any tourist business in Phuket has value at the moment.

Just wasted rent.

[rvaviator]

1 hour ago, Pottinger said:

....and keyboard warriors who take it upon themselves to justify the laws of countries not their own.

or the keyboard warriors who does not like the laws and say they are 'stupid' .. ???? ... Same same .. Just a different point of view ...

[userabcd]

45 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Considering Thailand is eating seafood at an unbelievable and unsustainable rate, I think it very over the top. One wonders how they would react if their own tourists were deported for the same

Not only Thailand, 70% of the worlds marine fish stocks are overfished.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, geriatrickid said:

disappearance of a dive operator who  cannot follow the code that the other responsible dive operators follow  is no loss either. Most of the dive shop people try very hard to be good responsible operations. Along comes  this guy and  destroys their reputations.

No dive operator in Thailand bothers with any codes, safety or otherwise.

Diving by it's very nature is destructive, as is fishing.

They have no reputation to destroy ....... and their business already all destroyed by COVID.

[fdsa]

 

2 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

In respect to sea creatures, to correct the factually incorrect statements made in the thread, the following  marine wildlife are protected  under the highest classification of "Reserved".   Dugong; Whale shark; Bryde's whale; Omura's whale; Leatherback turtle 

Could you share any document that states Bryde's whale, Omura's whale, and Leatherback turtle are protected, please? AFAIK only Dugong and Whale shark are protected.

[2long]

51 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

No dive operator in Thailand bothers with any codes, safety or otherwise.

 

Really? ????????

 

54 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Can't imagine any tourist business in Phuket has value at the moment.

 

And there was me thinking this happened on the other side of the country.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Can't imagine any tourist business in Phuket has value at the moment.

Just wasted rent.

Phuket?

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

No dive operator in Thailand bothers with any codes, safety or otherwise.

<snip>

Utter nonsense.

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The pair were identified as Attila Ott, a Hungarian national, and Francesco Simonetti, an Italian citizen.  Mr. Ott is a diving instructor who also owns a restaurant and a scuba club on Pha-ngan Island, in Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani,while Mr. Simonetti is a chef at the Barracuda restaurant and owner of a speed boat, also on Pha-ngan Island.

Ouchhhh that's gonna hurt.

Tourist visa holders both owners of businesses, kiss all that goodbye and the good days.

 

[ukrules]

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Look mom, I found a starfish!

You're a risk to the nation, "OUT!" ????

 

The locals probably stir fry those things every day.

[Bender Rodriguez]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Two western tourists, who took a selfie of themselves holding one of Thailand’s species of protected marine wildlife while scuba diving, are to be deported after their tourist visas were revoked.

djees, they did not torture them, did they ?

[Raphael54]

Yes, it is becoming less attractive to be a farang in Thailand with the various racist and discriminatory nonsense going on.

Thank god the first local Covid-19 case of 3 September was a Thai person.  If it had been a farang then farangs would have had to repatriate right away, otherwise deported.

My medium-term plan is to return to my home country in Europe.

[Foghorn]

Who gets the restaurant and who gets the boat

[newnative]

Totally brain-dead.  Not the tourists--the authorities.

[NeoDinosaw]

6 hours ago, userabcd said:

If protected species, could you not report it?

I think the term 'protected species' is being used wrongly here.  Many marine species are protected by the CITES rules. But that is not the offence here. The fact is that they were up to no good in a  protected area.  Thailand , like many other nations has delimited some marine areas as 'no-go' for anything other than looking. The marine life here must not be disturbed.  

[xtrnuno41]

I remember a story about a Thai, owning land which he couldnt own and a rare black panter was killed in that land

Was he deported? Did he go to jail? did he get a fine? Never heard the end of it.

What happened with the monks who had tigers they drugged and had also dead tigers laying in the temple?

Probably trading to Vietnam where you can eat tiger, arranged by a high ranked general. And if you even pay more, you can have rhino horn, form that same general. What happened to those monks, deported?

These guys were stupid, doing the tings they did and sharing these things on internet. 

You know you can loose your job and in this case way more. Especially when other things also pops up.

Should you also deport all Thai, as they dont take care of their waters and plastic is freely floating int these waters?

In which they kill all those animals? Sewers which arent cleaned and all kind of waste is coming in the

oceans? Calling the kettle black.      

[NeoDinosaw]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

You're a risk to the nation, "OUT!" ????

 

The locals probably stir fry those things every day.

There's not much to eat in a sea-star.    But some regular echinoids and holothurians (sea-cucumbers) are very tasty

[Pedrogaz]

How do you 'own' a speedboat if you have no visa?

[BritManToo]

51 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

How do you 'own' a speedboat if you have no visa?

You do the purchase, but keep the signed sales forms from the previous owner without registering the sale.

It's the best way of owning many vehicles as a foreigner, it's the way many car dealers work their sales/purchases.

[oneton]

8 hours ago, trucking said:

Meanwhile , in Bangkok you can still eat at a sharks fin soup restaurant.

 

Totally over the top from the authorities.

Indeed at least one restaurant in Bangkok serves up Shark Fin and Sea Cucumber according to a well known travel advise website. 

[MRToMRT]

I suppose what we all really need to know to understand this is what type of visa are they on?

 

If they are on a legit visa this case is overkill. If they are bona fide immigration issues (beyond the TM30) then it is what it is.

[ratcatcher]

8 hours ago, fdsa said:

widely abundand crabs, crinoids, sea stars and sea cucumbers are protected????‍♂️

fresh Zebra sharks hanging on a hook at sea markets - mai pin rai ????

The World Conservation Union has assessed this species as Endangered worldwide, as it is taken by commercial fisheries across most of its range (except off Australia) for meat, fins, and liver oil. There is evidence that its numbers are dwindling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_shark

[ratcatcher]

1 hour ago, xtrnuno41 said:

I remember a story about a Thai, owning land which he couldnt own and a rare black panter was killed in that land

Was he deported? Did he go to jail? did he get a fine? Never heard the end of it.

What happened with the monks who had tigers they drugged and had also dead tigers laying in the temple?

Probably trading to Vietnam where you can eat tiger, arranged by a high ranked general. And if you even pay more, you can have rhino horn, form that same general. What happened to those monks, deported?

These guys were stupid, doing the tings they did and sharing these things on internet. 

You know you can loose your job and in this case way more. Especially when other things also pops up.

Should you also deport all Thai, as they dont take care of their waters and plastic is freely floating int these waters?

In which they kill all those animals? Sewers which arent cleaned and all kind of waste is coming in the

oceans? Calling the kettle black.      

Well said, but, as you should know, you cannot deport citizens from their own country. 

[dieter1]

for those, who didnt get it yet, this is another case for you to learn, under what kind of conditions you live , while staying in Thailand

(I know, many of you prefer to deny it)

Thailand is NOT a state of law by western definition (what ever that means...)

Foreigners (to make it easier I exclude permanent residence ) do  NOT have the same rights like Thai citizen have.

All visas give no RIGHT to stay in Thailand. It only make it legal to TRY to pass the Border. It is at every second the right  executed by the police (especially the immigration department, which is just a  department of the Thai police) to let you enter Thailand, stay in Thailand, or revoke you the status of legally staying in Thailand. You have no "right" of staying in Thailand . The Thai police do not need a court decision to put you in jail (for deportation) and you can not (normally) go to a court to fight against this decision).

There is no need to "prove", that you have actually done something criminal. Which, by western standard would need a court decision. I think, they actually dont need to tell you why they revoke you the status of staying legal in Thailand.

just look at the  information, given in this case by the police:

"According to the Thai immigration police, the two men are considered to be a “social threat”

"social threat"  this means nothing or everything and this is why they use  this term. With this justification they can do what they want and this is exactly what they do and what they can do by law.

 

Do you really believe, that you can control, that this did not happen do you? There is no "prove" needed for the Thai Police doing it. Just an neighbour, who dont like you, an ex-girlfriend/wife or whoever going to the  immigration police and telling some unpleasant fantasy accusation. And yes, these folks who are actually working in Thailand (no f.. old men with big "savings" or big pensions with no need to work) ,creating jobs for Thai people trying to get their (and their families) daily bread are mostly vulnerable, because they have many points of contacts with Thai people and Thai authorities. F.e. foreigners having restaurants or diving services are much needed attractions for tourists and helping a lot to expand tourisms in Thailand. If they were not helpful for the Thai economy, the Thai authorities would not allow them to exist (that s for sure!)  And, if you brake a law by doing this (as could easily happen - and we are not talking about killing someone) this could lead to the end of your life in Thailand (incl. family and business). In western countries, authorities in the same case would maybe let you pay a fine and in every case you can go to a court or the authorities need a court a decision to execute their  decision. But never would the police being allowed to put you in jail and decide you will be deported without  you having the right to go to a court. Deportation  (very rare) are only  done after sentence with long stay in prison (murder, repeat offender ...).

 

[impulse]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

The pair were identified as Attila Ott, a Hungarian national...

 

Attila the Hungarian?

 

[The Theory]

Farang should be careful with what they do, if do something not really acceptable by the country at least "do not publish it" keep it for yourself and won't be a black listed club member.