Shark-petting pix near Phuket spark Net outrage

[webfact]

Baby shark chokes and flops for amusement of tourists
By Coconuts Bangkok



PHUKET: -- Photos of super-excited Thai tourists ignorant enough to pet a baby shark pulled from the waters of Koh Phi Phi has enraged the online community this week after a marine activist helped spread the word.

Following viral photos of tourists touching star fish – not to mention former beauty queens mugging with kidnapped babies – marine activist Thon Thamrongnawasawat condemned the tour group and its operator online yesterday and encouraged officials to intervene.

"So now they catch baby sharks for tourists?” he wrote. “They let her suffocate on the land while humans rubbed and took selfies with her. I don't even know what to say.”

The post was shared nearly 2,000 times.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/05/19/baby-shark-chokes-and-flops-amusement-tourists


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-05-19

[Nayet]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

[sweatalot]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

So you think one cruelty justifies the other?

[Happy Grumpy]

Surprised it wasn't whipped off to the local markets so some Chinese could eat its brains while still alive.

[DavisH]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

So you think one cruelty justifies the other?

No. It means Mr Thon should take more of an interest in what is happening right at his doorstep, but perhaps Thais have a different view of fish as a food source. Making those fish suffer seems ok.

[h90]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

So you think one cruelty justifies the other?

No. It means Mr Thon should take more of an interest in what is happening right at his doorstep, but perhaps Thais have a different view of fish as a food source. Making those fish suffer seems ok.

didn't read it in detail but if Mr. Thon is Dr. Thon...He wrote a lot books to educate Thais and addressing really every aspect. He is surely not biased....

[Nayet]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

So you think one cruelty justifies the other?

No, but the outrage should be proportional to the cruelty being commited.

[technologybytes]

Shocking to think that people in the photos are just thinking that the shark is cute, and are oblivious to the fact that the shark is suffering by being out of the water.

I guess the tourists are not to blame, they are obviously uneducated and don't know better.

[NickJ]

All life is cheap in SEA.

[impulse]

If it still has fins when it gets released...

That's progress.

If tourists and locals get to see the shark as a living, breathing, feeling critter- (and think it's cute), maybe fewer sharks will get finned and released.

On sum, I think it's a good thing.

Edited May 20, 2015 by impulse

[canuckamuck]

Was it heavy petting or just an exploratory grope?

[DoctorG]

If you want to touch a shark, put your hand in the water.

[dragonfly94]

Oh the bleeding hearts again- from all those fish eaters!

[WitawatWatawit]

How about those tubs full of living, writhing, suffering frogs with their bellies slit open at Klong Toey markets, Rama IV? Maybe if I picked one up, tickled its cute little tummy and massaged its yummy legs, someone might take notice.

[Johnny S]

Just another example of beeing total clueless to nature and how to preserve it but T.i.T.

[Oziex1]

You like to play with sharks come to Australia we have some friendly sharks.

[maidee]

what? fish no breath above water ?

you must be CHOCKING me !

[mogo51]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

So you think one cruelty justifies the other?

No. It means Mr Thon should take more of an interest in what is happening right at his doorstep, but perhaps Thais have a different view of fish as a food source. Making those fish suffer seems ok.

Are you serious, Get a life.

[slipperylobster]

I don't know....

but i think it would be ok to have some beauty queens fiddling with my kidnapped fins.

[Monkeyrobot]

That shark will remember , wait till he gets older.

[AlQaholic]

Come on guys! fish and seafood do not suffer. Surely larger animals such as dolphins, whales and maybe Sharks have the ability to suffer, but fish?? come on!

Edited May 20, 2015 by AlQaholic

[Lupatria]

Looks like they drag the wrong species back to the ocean around here...

[Thaddeus]

I'm obviously not smart enough to understand how watching any living creature suffer is amusing.

[Tchooptip]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

What is so different about them?​

A question of principe, as you said before they are sold as food, not as toys!

Sorry but I see a difference between killing for eating or killing to play.

[impulse]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

What is so different about them?​

A question of principe, as you said before they are sold as food, not as toys!

Sorry but I see a difference between killing for eating or killing to play.

I think the shark in the photo would disagree with the implications.

Bottom line, if it had no value as a tourist draw, it would probably end up in the pot.

Instead, I'm sure it was released, to the the oohs and aahs of some people who probably feel differently about sharks now that they've seen and interacted with one up close.

Kind of sucks for that one shark for a few scary minutes. But he's taking one for the team.

And the benefits for the species could be significant if just one of those tourists says "no" to the shark fin soup when he gets back home.

Edited May 20, 2015 by impulse

[Cabra]

Shocking to think that people in the photos are just thinking that the shark is cute, and are oblivious to the fact that the shark is suffering by being out of the water.

I guess the tourists are not to blame, they are obviously uneducated and don't know better.

Sad....but very True......

Slainte

[fareastguy]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

So you think one cruelty justifies the other?

No. It means Mr Thon should take more of an interest in what is happening right at his doorstep, but perhaps Thais have a different view of fish as a food source. Making those fish suffer seems ok.

didn't read it in detail but if Mr. Thon is Dr. Thon...He wrote a lot books to educate Thais and addressing really every aspect. He is surely not biased....

He may indeed have published a lot of books trying to educate the Thai population... but it's no good if the marketing strategy is wrong...

Thai people---- books ???? I've never seen one read a book yet... except for a cartoon comic !!

[wabothai]

Shocking to think that people in the photos are just thinking that the shark is cute, and are oblivious to the fact that the shark is suffering by being out of the water.

I guess the tourists are not to blame, they are obviously uneducated and don't know better.

Moron tourists out of touch with the world they live in.

[easybullet3]

Meanwhile, at markets around the country, hundreds of thousands of fish are being kept (barely) alive in little plastic tubs before they are sold as food. What is so different about them?

So you think one cruelty justifies the other?

of course one cruelty does NOT justify another.

he is simply making a very valid point, which is a good one.

its pointing out the MASS bad-treatment of animals goes un-noticed, while a small offence on an unusual animal gets Mass attention.

its ironic.

[impulse]

Shocking to think that people in the photos are just thinking that the shark is cute, and are oblivious to the fact that the shark is suffering by being out of the water.

I guess the tourists are not to blame, they are obviously uneducated and don't know better.

Moron tourists out of touch with the world they live in.

Maybe. But exactly how do you educate them? Maybe a few will go back and Google "shark". Maybe they'll learn about the horrors unleashed on millions of sharks every year. Maybe they'll become shark researchers and save thousands of sharks in their lives. Or maybe just a few or a few dozen as they decline shark fin soup back home.

I suspect if you interviewed every naturalist you see on Nat Geo, Discovery, BBC, and in zoos and sanctuaries around the world, for most of them, their career took a whole different direction as a result of a contact just like this one.

And it all starts with a little discomfort on the part of a scared little critter.