Tourist faces jail after sitting on coral - says he thought it was just rocks

[kaneko86]

And the moral of the story is... don't over use social media.

[DaveE13]

4 minutes ago, kaneko86 said:

And the moral of the story is... don't over use social media.

Mate of mine is a copper in London.  He said If they are looking for someone all they need to do is search Facebook or twitter. No brains modern day villains 

[KannikaP]

7 hours ago, robblok said:

IF it is gone tourist wont come back.

Just how many tourists come to Thailand to look at coral?

[rudi49jr]

It always amazes me how the authorities in Thailand make a mountain out of a mole hill over relatively trivial matters (like picking mushrooms in a national park, or public nudity, or buying/selling sex toys, things like that) and go very hard after these ‘perpetrators’, while real crime goes mainly unpunished. Not to mention the 70+ deaths on the roads every day, that the authorities, including the RTP, seem to have very little interest in as far as efforts to substantially lower that number are concerned. 

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Just how many tourists come to Thailand to look at coral?

Quite a few mate not everyone is here for the ladies. I go to the south of Thailand for diving and snorkeling and the majority of tourist in those areas are there for the ocean and marine life. 

 

[cardinalblue]

I see it as a great offense he doesn’t know what a swimsuit is….

 

what’s next….

[rudi49jr]

16 minutes ago, kaneko86 said:

And the moral of the story is... don't over use social media.

I’m guessing a lot of stupid people (Jan. 6th insurrectionists come to mind) are now wishing they hadn’t live streamed their ridiculous actions on Facebook, or plastered videos, photos and/or live comments of it all over Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat or whatever. Boggles the mind.

[paul1804]

Thai authorities should warn tourists about caring & conserving for marine life which includes coral, meanwhile Thai fisherman damage the reefs daily and thats ok!! It should be the same rule for all but thats probably too much to ask! If only people realised how important conserving the marine life really is for the planet!!!

[Thunglom]

It is the ignorance of tourists on land and sea that contributes so much to the damage to Thailand's wildlife.

[kingstonkid]

Who the hell goes swimming fully dressed?  

 

Simple solution is hang him.  But probably he will wai and say sorry and get slapped.

[rudi49jr]

10 minutes ago, Thunglom said:

It is the ignorance of tourists on land and sea that contributes so much to the damage to Thailand's wildlife.

I don’t think it’s tourists so much as the fishing industry, wild life poaching, encroachment on national parks, illegal logging, pollution, very little or no support for environmental groups, the authorities that really don’t give a toss, other than making a token arrest every now and then to set an easy example.  And that’s jut for starters.

[Orinoco]

8 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Ha, ha. You aint seen nothing. 

 

You want to spend a bit of time in Australia. 

 

Been there done that in the offshore oil and gas business,

won't ever return. even for a holiday.

No way.

[Thingamabob]

While the laws regarding coral in Thailand, and elsewhere, are not applied with any consistency, it is a fact that corals are alive and very precious, and need protection if they are to survive.

[EricTh]

It is dangerous to take selfie nowadays.

[jak2002003]

1 hour ago, DaveE13 said:

Mate of mine is a copper in London.  He said If they are looking for someone all they need to do is search Facebook or twitter. No brains modern day villains 

I have no face book or Twitter or tiktok or anything.  Only have this forum.  Mind you I am not a criminal either.

[mushroomdave]

They always have an excuse don't they? No matter last year or Saturday, either day IT WAS ILLEGAL!!

(P.S. and your fault you posted it!!)

[Thunglom]

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

I don’t think it’s tourists so much as the fishing industry, wild life poaching, encroachment on national parks, illegal logging, pollution, very little or no support for environmental groups, the authorities that really don’t give a toss, other than making a token arrest every now and then to set an easy example.  And that’s jut for starters.

As I Said "contributes" - Commercial fishing certainly has an impact as does poaching. but encroachment is not just agriculture, it is resorts of all kinds that take up NP land and then spread effluent into land and sea - this is tourism based.

Dams attract tourists and also give access for poachers and illegal logging. 

however it is tours=ism that supports animal farms, zoos, exploitation of elephants, tigers and other wildlife. The bad design of access to national parks - especially the marine national parks - lets face it, it got so bd at the Similans even te Thai authorities had to sit up and take noti=ce.

At its peak 40 million people were visiting Thailand mostly to beaches and islands - they need hotels etc few have the proper drainage / sewage infrastructure and the run-off into the sea is dreadful. On top of that they go snorkelling in their droves and do untold damage to corals and marine wildlife etc. 

It is the gullibility and ignorance of these people that facilitates such wholesale damage and contributes to Thailand pooping in their own nest by doing so little about it.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Thunglom

[Thunglom]

1 hour ago, kingstonkid said:

 

Who the hell goes swimming fully dressed?  

 

Virtually every Thai person I've ever met!

[Bangkok Barry]

They really know how to attract foreigners to Thailand, don't they. I assume there were signs clearly posted close by that touching coral could land you 10 years in jail?

[The Hammer2021]

7 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Except if you are a fishing company...then you can drag your nets and anchor through the reef or use poison or explosions to catch the fish..... or speed boat driver full of tourists, throwing trash into the sea, oh, or oil companies having oil spills, or hotels pumping sewerage and grey water into the sea... That's all ok.   But don't pick up a sea slug or accidently sit on a lump of coral....that's obviously much worse for the reef and marine wildlife. 

 

'Poison to catch fish'

'Explosions'

I call BS on the unpunished destruction of coral..sure it happens especially in Australia but here in Thailand ignorance has been countered by education and punitive laws even though it happens its severely taboo..

[tgw]

let's see if this is a repeat of this:

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/russian-tourist-borrows-100000-baht-bail-feeding-fish-off-phuket/

 

the Russian lady spent 2 nights in a police cell for feeding the fish !

 

why isn't this kind of overreaction prosecuted for "tarnishing Thailand's image" and "damaging Thailand's tourism business" ?

Edited February 14, 2022 by tgw

[NeoDinosaw]

*Quoted text edited out*

 

Corals have a habit of dying quite often  and their soft tissue (the polyps) are not more. What remains is a large lump of calcite.  To the uninitiated this look just like a limestone block.  This may be the case here.  The lump he is sitting on appears white whilst the surrounding lumps  are greenish.   This is either due the the lighting or the difference between dead and alive coral heads.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Scott

[NeoDinosaw]

11 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Some sea urchins are edible and are not endangered, so probably not illegal.

In some Mediterranean countries the gonads of some echinoids are a delicacy. I have never seen them on a menu in Thailand - maybe I cannot afford to eat where they are served.   They maybe being collected to  sell to tourists  either as complete  tests ('shells')  or the large spines of some species.

[PuaYai]

20 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Bureaucracy gone mad .........!!!!

Agreed............

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

The environment minister Varawut Silpa-archa has frequently got involved to throw the book at people damaging his country's natural resources, reports ASEAN NOW. 

 

How many of those Thais involved in the destruction of Maya Bay faced any legal consequences?

 

How many fishermen are penalised for destroying coral?

 

Perhaps it's more about looking as though he's doing something than actually doing something.

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

While the laws regarding coral in Thailand, and elsewhere, are not applied with any consistency, it is a fact that corals are alive and very precious, and need protection if they are to survive.

Then they should take cops off fining farangs for not wearing helmets on m'bikes and send them on boats to protect the coral.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, Thunglom said:

It is the ignorance of tourists on land and sea that contributes so much to the damage to Thailand's wildlife.

Thou jest assuredly. IMO the VAST majority of damage to Thailand's environment is done by THAIS, even if it's done to provide facilities and tours for tourists.

 

BTW, if tourists are ignorant, why are the THAIS that take them on tours not informing them of the regulations? No tourist can get to such places without the assistance of Thais in some form. I reckon none of them walked there.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, robblok said:

Quite a few mate not everyone is here for the ladies. I go to the south of Thailand for diving and snorkeling and the majority of tourist in those areas are there for the ocean and marine life. 

 

Given that most tourists are only there for a couple of weeks or even just a few days, I agree that the vast majority are not there for the ladies, even if they partake incidentally when not on a tour.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

It always amazes me how the authorities in Thailand make a mountain out of a mole hill over relatively trivial matters (like picking mushrooms in a national park, or public nudity, or buying/selling sex toys, things like that) and go very hard after these ‘perpetrators’, while real crime goes mainly unpunished. Not to mention the 70+ deaths on the roads every day, that the authorities, including the RTP, seem to have very little interest in as far as efforts to substantially lower that number are concerned. 

IMO there is nothing amazing about it if one has been in LOS long enough to have some idea of how the system works. Image is everything IMO.

[dallen52]

Times are tough.

Just show me the money...