Hungarian Man Facing Legal Action After Touching Pipefish While Diving at Pha Ngan Island

[PremiumLane]

12 hours ago, steven100 said:

99% of Thai's wouldn't even know a pipefish from a puffer fish ..    outraged ... what BS , who makes this up ?

 

12 hours ago, steven100 said:

how stupid is he ..

throw his sorry ass in jail for a month ... 

 

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

a video clip was posted on a YouTube channel this week with the message “Scuba Diving in Paradise, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand”.

Paradise is very subjective,as the diver is about to find out.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

Maybe the fish filed a complaint for assault?????

[Gashead]

I went on an island hopping boat trip off Rayong a few weeks ago.  We stopped to do some snorkeling where the Thai guy in charge of the boat was encouraging people to stand on the coral so he could take pictures.  My wife asked him if it could damage the coral, he just laughed and said never mind!  I didn't participate.

[Grumpy one]

I wonder if the same outrage would be voiced if the diver touched a Salt Water Crocodile or a Great White Shark, or would the headlines simply read Eaten while patting a smiling shark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

gGGGgG

[Sig]

O.H. M.Y. G.O.D.!!! He touched a fish!!! This is definitely an offense worthy of red-faced, explosive anger and indignation that he would dare commit such an affront against Thai law!! No wonder at all that "many Thai nationals are outraged"!  I sure would like to know what their definition of "many" is. I can barely fathom more than 10 (who are probably worthy of being institutionalized in a nuthouse or maybe of becoming a politician) being outraged over this act, unless of course they knew it was a foreigner who committed such an atrocity, showing his disrespect for Thailand, then perhaps that number of outraged righteous citizenry could be exponentially larger. The guy must be quite the dodgy character though, since they confiscated his passport and deemed him a flight risk! Certifiably insane.
Yep... sounds like a news story expressly written by those who are clamoring for the tourist industry to get back on its feet. Good luck with that one... I almost never recommend anyone come to visit me anymore, let alone come for tourism. Why?

Edited May 12, 2023 by Sig
improved my pitiful grammar :P

[Cake Monster]

13 hours ago, steven100 said:

99% of Thai's wouldn't even know a pipefish from a puffer fish ..    outraged ... what BS , who makes this up ?

Of course they are outraged !

How dare a Falang perform such a heinous crime

[Sir Swagman]

Whilst touching any fish with bare skin can potentially introduce disease to the fish, this is something Thai are quite rightly outraged about. Don't, whatever you do, get upset about pair trawling (outlawed in almost the entire world) that absolutely destroys the ocean floor and all on it, poisoning reefs to stun fish and destroy the coral in the process, anchoring wherever you feel like it and dropping the pick on coral indiscriminately or using the ocean as a dumping ground for sewage and plastic bags. Quite right, hang the Hungarian, or shooting at dawn is well deserved......This place.....................

[kidneyw]

Thai hypocrisy.

[SoilSpoil]

If he were to buy cyanide to 'repel' these fish, he wouldnt have a problem apparently.

[bob smith]

...they are so sensitive about foreigners 'touching' a fish in the sea, but drugging tigers in a temple for a photo op is just business as usual....

 

the hypocrisy in this country stinks to high heaven!

[VocalNeal]

15 hours ago, anchadian said:

Tourist or expat, this Hungarian I'm sure didn't know that touching a pipefish was illegal.

 

 

Is his hovercraft full of eels????

[Pink Mist]

Off topic post removed. The OP is not about another country's citizens visiting.

[smedly]

ridiculous nonsense

[jesimps]

I reckon that the huge amount of garbage chucked into the sea each day by the "outraged" Thais does a lot more harm to these fish than a guy touching them. 

[ourmanflint]

Utter ballcrap, why is touching a fish in the sea illegal? Who says so? Under what law is it written?

[Maejo Man]

Same family as a seahorse and available at the local aquarium market for 100 baht! Buy one and touch it in the privacy of you own home. That's if you are into touching fish :)

[BritScot]

In early 2000's I was a scuba diving instructor with over 300 dives in the gulf of Thailand and I find this over reaction crazy and the only people this will hurt are eventually going to be Thai. I could see the out rage if he had killed it oh I forgot that's a job reserved for Thai's like ripping up coral reefs with anchors and leaving discarded nets oh let's not forget pumping millions of gallons of untreated sewage or worse directly into the sea. Just look at the visibility in that water! From what I remember from the few dives I did off Pattaya it's disgusting with raw sewage, corals dead and very, very little sea life (seeing a fish was a talking point when you got back to the boat)... Please Thailand stop going after tourists/expats or you might wake up one day with none.

[Drop the dead donkey]

More crazy Thailand laws.

’Touch a fish, and go to jail.’

wow, I am never going to a seafood restaurant again in Thailand !

 

[dannyb123]

No one is outraged they've just jumped at the opportunity to extort another farang out of a few baht... would we be reading about it if he was Thai?

[Guderian]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

with many Thai nationals outraged

Of course. Never mind the rampant corruption in all walks of life here, no need to worry about the huge income inequalities and poverty, and the school system is just perfect, no cause for concern at all. The very real prospect of another military coup in the next few weeks, if the army decides it doesn't like the election result, is also clearly way down peoples' list of worries. Just protect the poor little pipe fish at all costs!!! ????

[off road pat]

19 hours ago, anchadian said:

Tourist or expat, this Hungarian I'm sure didn't know that touching a pipefish was illegal.

 

 

Hm,..He's a expat living in Thailand, they have him by the balls and are going to squeeze a lot of money out of him... I'm so sorry for him.

[Frankie baby]

Could be time for a list of all these prohibited goings on in Thailand, starting with the dos & don'ts of the Royal Household through to the "topless forbidden on beaches" and ending way at the bottom with "don't touch the Pipe fish".  The list should then be printed in every Thai holiday broacher along with the penalties. The tourist can then decide is this the holiday for me.  end-of

[smew]

Absurd, great for TAT future,  Thai money grab plot  

[roo860]

20 hours ago, steven100 said:

I think you misunderstood what I meant .....  in my opinion,   touch, kiss, handle,  rub...  any thing you like under the water while diving ....  just don't put it on social media .....       we don't know all the silly rules in Thailand.

Can I fondle this please!

[steven100]

10 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Can I fondle this please!

yes .... but your gf might have something to say about that  !!    haha

[steven100]

3 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

Utter ballcrap, why is touching a fish in the sea illegal? Who says so? Under what law is it written?

it's the Thai law .....  don't you know they just make it up as they go along  !     haha ...      no sex on the beach !!

[Bundooman]

On 5/11/2023 at 6:32 PM, simon43 said:

[quote]

...

with many Thai nationals outraged.

...

[/quote]

 

Oh please, were many Thai nationals really outraged? This seems to be a stock phrase often used in news reports about events in Thailand.  I assume that it's The Pattaya News that is the guilty party.  Quite frankly, I expect most Thai nationals couldn't give a fig.....

99.99999999999% of Thai nationals have absolutely no idea what a pipefish is - neither does the government, the police or most of the people in the world. 

Thai scam!

[IslandLover]

22 hours ago, StefanBBK said:

Judging by the picture, the fish was a willing participant, and rather inquisitive. Illegal it may be, but certainly not malicious. 

I had a similar-looking fish attach itself to me when I was snorkeling in Malaysia many years ago.  I thought at the time is was a baby sea snake (yikes!) but it could well have been a pipefish.  I didn't touch it, it touched me.  All I know is, it wouldn't leave me alone!

Edited May 12, 2023 by IslandLover

[IslandLover]

23 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

yeah, the world is hard to understand sometimes, isn't it? Ever hear the phrase protected/endangered species? Look it up and you'll find explanations why no one is allowed to approach or interact with them. Might be over your head, though. Like climate change. 

There's gentle interaction and then there's harassment.  Two entirely different things.  I've witnessed harassment of wildlife first hand and those that do it deserve to be prosecuted. ????