Tourist arrested for feeding fish

[snoop1130]

Tourist arrested for feeding fish
Kongleaphy Keam

PHUKET: -- A Chinese tourist was arrested yesterday for feeding fish at Koh Kai.

The arrest of Hongzhi Zhou, 45, was the first time a tourist has been detained after emergency powers were granted to law enforcement officials by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Region 6 on May 24 to protect marine life.

The measures, referred to as Article 17, grant additional powers to law enforcement officials, including the ability to arrest anyone thought to be interfering with marine life.

Full Story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Tourist-arrested-feeding-fish/63952?desktopversion

-- Phuket Gazette 2016-05-26

[tracker1]

Yeah don't feed then pesky fish ! oh my anchor just destroyed more coral oh well but 100,000 baht fine he must have killed a lot because if you kill someone the fine is what 30,000 dam expensive fish !!!!!

[tracker1]

Will do wonders for tourism !

[Stray]

Next month's headlines:

"Thai Authorities Puzzled Over Scores of Dead Fish"

"Initial investigations into the cause of dead fish washing up onto the beaches of Koh Kai, Kai Nok and Kai Noi may be due to a lack of food in the natural marine environment . . ."

Not condoning the feeding of fish in a natural environment but to arrest someone for it?!?

Edited May 26, 2016 by Stray

[ameadi]

I don't believe in these news

[chowny77]

Another news item I can show my Thai hotel and Tourism students. I wonder what their feedback will be.................arai wah is most likely the answer in the LOS!

[OttoPollmann]

If fish feeding falls under the DMCR article 17 to protect marine life, what about all the littering of the beaches across Thailand and the overfishing of the sea?

Maybe, because the enforcement of this law applies only to foreigner and it is just a new way to print money?

[slapout]

Some people are just not mentally ready nor mature enough to be given authority over others nor to determine good from bad.

Is it just me or does it seem way to many want to be chiefs before they have even counted coup.

[Happy Grumpy]

More likely they asked him to stop.

He laughed at them and told them to F Off.

Thais don't take too kindly to that.

[tandor]

Will do wonders for tourism !

...on a scale of 1 to 100,000.

Edited May 26, 2016 by tandor

[Thechook]

Prayuth and his goons

[KarenBravo]

Yeah don't feed then pesky fish ! oh my anchor just destroyed more coral oh well but 100,000 baht fine he must have killed a lot because if you kill someone the fine is what 30,000 dam expensive fish !!!!!

Maybe you should read the article. The 100,000 Bt is bail money, not a fine.

[stevenl]

Excellent, something is being done.

[sebastion]

Amazing. Wipe out a family riding a motorbike and youll pay less bail money.

The court will fine him and it will scare the chinese into line. I think its nothing but a scare tactic which will probably work.

[gandalf12]

This has to be a joke right? No? OMG what stupidity is this? Maybe they should arrest the hotels who dump raw sewage into the sea and the ships that flush their tanks close to shore.

Every day it gets more and more like Saudi

LOS = Land of Stupidity

Edited May 26, 2016 by gandalf12

[huuwi]

If fish feeding falls under the DMCR article 17 to protect marine life, what about all the littering of the beaches across Thailand and the overfishing of the sea?

Maybe, because the enforcement of this law applies only to foreigner and it is just a new way to print money?

it applies only to easy targets

[ggt]

Here is the problem...and it is a bit complicated...you see...we are so insecure that we create inane laws that no one knows who is to enforce them or when to enforce them...and just about the time officials have decided not to do anything since no one understands the law anyway...the law changes...you then have some officials trying to enforce the old law...while some will attempt to enforce the new law...and then there are the others that use the laws to make a handsome little extra income...

So, it is not enforcing law that really matters...it is the interpretation of the law...which depends entirely upon the individual official...his integrity...his ethics and his need for extra income...which is subject to change on a daily basis...

Did I get that about right for those that could follow this gibberish?

[stevenl]

Afaik there is s standard 20k fine for this. He probably did not have the money on him.

[Maggusoil]

Was the fish hungry? Was the food OK? Did the fish get sick? Did it die?

ggt gets it right. Opportunism. We are all opportunists. Its just the opportunity that exists.

[loong]

So all sea fishermen are going to be arrested? They most definitely interefere with marine life.

[wabothai]

hiding again kobkarn?

[steelepulse]

Maybe they should arrest the Thai operators that allow this to happen. It seems every tour boat hands out bread to the punters to feed the fish. Why not stop this practice where it actually comes from, the tour operators!

[madmitch]

Afaik there is s standard 20k fine for this. He probably did not have the money on him.

20k fine for feeding fish, 500 baht fine for causing actual bodily harm to a person. It's time the Thai law books were rewritten.

[amykat]

Maybe they should arrest the Thai operators that allow this to happen. It seems every tour boat hands out bread to the punters to feed the fish. Why not stop this practice where it actually comes from, the tour operators!

I would tend to agree with this, but we all know how Thai people are with saying "no" ...either they can't do it at all, or they have to attack you in a life threatening manner ...

but really, I think when Thailand starts to crack down on something with a real penalty, we have to be supportive, they cannot rewrite the fines for everything in one day, so they match up.

[Thaddeus]

Afaik there is s standard 20k fine for this. He probably did not have the money on him.

20k fine for feeding fish, 500 baht fine for causing actual bodily harm to a person. It's time the Thai law books were rewritten.

They are rewritten, daily.

Just depends on who has committed what crime.

[stevenl]

Afaik there is s standard 20k fine for this. He probably did not have the money on him.

20k fine for feeding fish, 500 baht fine for causing actual bodily harm to a person. It's time the Thai law books were rewritten.

Sorry, correction to my earlier post. Maximum fine is 20k, I think he'll be fined 2k.

Still strange compared to a fine of 500 Baht for causing bodily harm, I agree.

[stevenl]

This is btw one of the islands being closed, http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/920534-more-tourist-hotspots-close-as-thailand-addresses-environmental-concerns/. All the structures there are illegal, so no real surprise.

[Srikcir]

If it's illegal for humans to feed sealife, should it not also be illegal for sealife to feed humans?

Karma my friends.

[impulse]

Wonder what he was feeding them? Perhaps they just couldn't find a law on the books against pooping in the ocean... (yes, that's me taking the piss for anyone wondering)

On a more serious note (but not too serious- it's Friday after all), the logistics of being on a defined term visa and out on 100K bail intrigue me. If they wait him out, can they guaranty a 100K penalty when he has to leave or face immigration violations?

If the court date doesn't come up before his visa expires, can he stay legally so as not to forfeit the bail money?

If so, can he get extension after extension and stay pretty much as long as he likes before finally paying the 2,000 baht expected fine? And if that's the case, I wonder how many TVF posters will be "feeding the fish" as a low cost alternative to the now discredited visa runs?

Edited May 27, 2016 by impulse

[madmitch]

Wonder what he was feeding them? Perhaps they just couldn't find a law on the books against pooping in the ocean... (yes, that's me taking the piss for anyone wondering)

On a more serious note (but not too serious- it's Friday after all), the logistics of being on a defined term visa and out on 100K bail intrigue me. If they wait him out, can they guaranty a 100K penalty when he has to leave or face immigration violations?

If the court date doesn't come up before his visa expires, can he stay legally so as not to forfeit the bail money?

If so, can he get extension after extension and stay pretty much as long as he likes before finally paying the 2,000 baht expected fine? And if that's the case, I wonder how many TVF posters will be "feeding the fish" as a low cost alternative to the now discredited visa runs?

There are special extensions available at Immigration. When someone I knew was on bail for a minor drugs possession offence, the police kept his passport, though the bail was deposited with the court. When he had to extend, the court supplied a letter for Immigration, the police just handed him his passport and told him to return it when he had the extension stamp. The temptation to run to the border was very strong, especially as we knew he'd be deported anyway, but just in case he was on the Immigration computer he resisted the temptation, got his stamp (I can't remember if he had to pay) and duly returned the passport to the police.