‘Crocodile Feeding’ Pattaya Park Owner Ignores Suspension Order

[rooster59]

‘Crocodile Feeding’ Pattaya Park Owner Ignores Suspension Order

Story by Albert Jack

PATTAYA -- Last week police officers, fishery officials and soldiers raided the Anujak Chang (Elephant Territory) in Pattaya after pictures emerged online of a group of Chinese tourists feeding crocodiles from an unsafe looking raft.

The owner, Uthen Yangprapakorn, appeared to try and distract officials with a guided tour of all the wild animals, including tigers and leopards, and they had to insist on being shown the crocodile lakes.

Mr Yangprapakorn then presented his self-designed passenger rafts which he insisted are ‘100% safe.’ Officials were less certain and felt safety measures were inadequate and ordered a further inspection by safety experts.

Yesterday (Saturday July 16) the Department of Fisheries’ Director General announced to the press that he had ordered the temporary suspension of the Zoo and Elephant Territory license until improved safety measures can be implemented, accordingly to ministerial regulation no. 9 Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act BE 2535.

However, later in the day Pattaya One reporters went to the park and found it open for business as usual and fully operational. The entire venue appeared to be as busy as ever and filled with Chinese tour groups.

Staff informed reporters that Mr Yangprapakorn was ‘away up country’ and could not be contacted. Photographers were then physically prevented from recording some scenes.

However, we telephoned Mr Yangprapakorn ourselves and he explained that although he had been informed of the license suspension by telephone he had not received any official documents and could not explain the reason for the suspension.

We suggested that this might be because he had disappeared ‘up country.’

Full story: http://pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/crime/227595/crocodile-feeding-pattaya-park-owner-ignores-suspension-order/

-- Pattaya One 2016-07-17

[cockatoowho]

Arrest the arrogant son of a prick on the spot and get the army to close the whole park immediately, I am sure that might get his attention.

[Woody1]

Arrest the arrogant son of a prick on the spot and get the army to close the whole park immediately, I am sure that might get his attention.

Arrogant yes, and also a very dangerous individual!!

Since when was anyone allowed to self design passenger rafts for use in crocodile infested lakes, and also deem them 100% safe??? Is this guy a qualified structural or marine engineer?? I very much doubt it!!!!

This is a disaster waiting to happen if allowed to continue.

[trainman34014]

Well; the owner obviously thinks it is cheaper to feed live Chinese tourists to the Croc's than chicken !

Edited July 17, 2016 by trainman34014

[scorecard]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

Have there been any inspections of anything at this venue? If not why not? Someone should get punished.

Does it have any certifications, any licence to operate, if yes what is the allowed scope of operation?

Edited July 17, 2016 by scorecard

[Dexlowe]

There seem to be an awful lot of "instant" tourism attractions being opened just for Chinese tourists - at least two "ancient and traditional" floating markets have opened, or about to be, in the Wat Yansangwararam area. I've noticed other attractions being swiftly opened around the place, with no English writing, just Thai and Chinese. They are notable for having huge car parks to handle the scores of buses, gaudy entrances and rows of souvenir shops at the entrances and exits.

It is becoming clear that there is a race on to build "genuine and authentic Thai tourist attractions" (some of which look like a poor man's Disney, and are 100% fake) that cater exclusively to the new Chinese tourist invasion.

In terms of expediency, corruption and what-have-you, make of that what you will.

[trainman34014]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

''Trust me...I am Thai '' !

[Dexlowe]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

Brilliant. The Chinese VT-4 battle tank weighs 52 tons - I'd like to see 15 of those piled on top of one of those flimsy rafts. Might scare the sh!t out of the crocs, though.

[Briggsy]

Anyone familiar with auditing of any nature will be familiar with the self-review threat to objectivity.

This states that objectivity cannot be assured when one is reviewing and assessing one's own work.

In this case, the safety aspects of the raft designed by the park owner, allegedly, cannot be assessed by the park owner.

In addition, you have the self-interest threat to objectivity as well.

Objectivity cannot be assured when it is in the interest of the assessor to prefer a certain conclusion over another one.

Solution : The attraction should be stopped with immediate effect. The safety or lack of it should be assessed by an independent and qualified body. The Anujak Chang should be referred to the relevant body for breach of Health and Safety Law in endangering the lives of its guests and employees.

[giddyup]

The way the tourists, Chinese or whatever, continually tease the crocodiles by dangling the chicken near their jaws then quickly pulling it away, over and over again, it might be kind of karmic if the raft did tip over and dump the lot in the water.

[WhizBang]

Solution : The attraction should be stopped with immediate effect. The safety or lack of it should be assessed by an independent and qualified body. The Anujak Chang should be referred to the relevant body for breach of Health and Safety Law in endangering the lives of its guests and employees.

I see the flaw in your solution. Finding a truely independent body is hard enough in Thailand, but also QUALIFIED? Now THAT is almost impossible.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Rimmer
Altered quote

[waldroj]

The Department of Fisheries certainly needs to strictly enforce its temporary suspension of the Zoo and Elephant Territory license according to ministerial regulation no. 9 Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act BE 2535!

Can you imagine if one of Yangprapakorn's self-designed ‘100% safe’ passenger rafts full of Chinese tourists were to capsize in the crocodile enclosure?

I would have grave concerns for the safety of the crocodiles!

[Bung]

I almost want that boat to capsize and see the video.

[little mary sunshine]

Send over 10 soldiers, close the place down

And arrest this ass h..e before He kills someone

With those unsafe rafts. Proof of safety....reopen

But fine Him B100,000....

[denkiblue555]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

Brilliant. The Chinese VT-4 battle tank weighs 52 tons - I'd like to see 15 of those piled on top of one of those flimsy rafts. Might scare the sh!t out of the crocs, though.

I thought that I remember reading 8 tonnes, not 800. But obviously even that is not going to happen.

Maybe the designer could prove their strength by sitting on top of one of his rafts loaded with his claimed max load!

[gdgbb]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

Have there been any inspections of anything at this venue? If not why not? Someone should get punished.

Does it have any certifications, any licence to operate, if yes what is the allowed scope of operation?

"Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight."

Jesus, the nonsense some people post.

800 tons capacity, yet the number of passengers is limited to 15? Nowhere was 800 tones quoted, 8 tonnes was mentioned a number if times though.

Try keeping up with the reports that have said quite clearly that the venue is licenced. It seems to have escaped your notice that the main point of this OP is that that licence now appears to have been suspended.

[ChrisY1]

My guess is that there are no lifejackets on board.......and of course, no loo........!

[GAZZPA]

Why do these people just deny everything and run. Why doesn't he just comply and say he wants the park open but with no crocodile feeding rafts until he agrees on a safe version, that way everyone ones.

So, utterly stupid and frankly cowardly. Just another one of those "face" things again,, will never deal with anything head on and get it resolved.

[giddyup]

My guess is that there are no lifejackets on board.......and of course, no loo........!

Wearing a lifejacket if you fell in that water would be totally superfluous, you'd be eaten alive long before you had a chance to drown.

[gdgbb]

Send over 10 soldiers, close the place down

And arrest this ass h..e before He kills someone

With those unsafe rafts. Proof of safety....reopen

But fine Him B100,000....

Close the place down on the basis of not having any safety related incidents and being 100% in compliance with the law? I think there's a flaw in that suggestion somewhere.

Arrest him before he kills someone? What? Have you ever killed anyone, I assume not? So let's apply your logic to everyone and arrest you and the rest of the non-murdering population before you and the rest of us start killing, eh?

[scorecard]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

Brilliant. The Chinese VT-4 battle tank weighs 52 tons - I'd like to see 15 of those piled on top of one of those flimsy rafts. Might scare the sh!t out of the crocs, though.

I thought that I remember reading 8 tonnes, not 800. But obviously even that is not going to happen.

Maybe the designer could prove their strength by sitting on top of one of his rafts loaded with his claimed max load!

I found the previous article, you are correct, he said 8 tonnes, not 800, I stand corrected.

[Chang_paarp]

My guess is that there are no lifejackets on board.......and of course, no loo........!

If one of those devises overturns in the croc pond a lifejacket will be of little use as the passengers attempt to walk on the water, and as for a toilet, the pond will full of something brown and floating.

[scorecard]

Why do these people just deny everything and run. Why doesn't he just comply and say he wants the park open but with no crocodile feeding rafts until he agrees on a safe version, that way everyone ones.

So, utterly stupid and frankly cowardly. Just another one of those "face" things again,, will never deal with anything head on and get it resolved.

Good points. No doubt he (and others) think 'other people get way with things like this, stealing large tracts of public forest land, massive corruption right in front of your eyes, so why shouldn't I give it a try.

Ultimately not valid of course but I'm sure many folks do think like this.

[Woody1]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

Have there been any inspections of anything at this venue? If not why not? Someone should get punished.

Does it have any certifications, any licence to operate, if yes what is the allowed scope of operation?

"Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight."

Jesus, the nonsense some people post.

800 tons capacity, yet the number of passengers is limited to 15? Nowhere was 800 tones quoted, 8 tonnes was mentioned a number if times though.

Try keeping up with the reports that have said quite clearly that the venue is licenced. It seems to have escaped your notice that the main point of this OP is that that licence now appears to have been suspended.

Try knowing what you're talking about before posting!! This has nothing to do with a license that more than likely can be, "purchased". Whether it's quoted as 8 tons or 800 is also irrelevant.

What is relevant is the design (of passenger carrying rafts in crocodile infested lakes) has been carried out by a suitably qualified engineer, reviewed and approved by an independent and qualified body to ensure that all functionality and safety factors have been built into the design.

Following that all fabrication drawings and materials for the construction would need to be reviewed and approved in accordance with the approved design criteria.

Prior to fabrication procedures (for welding, NDT, etc) would need to be approved, as would all fabrication personnels cerificates.

Apart, from the above basics, I haven't even touched on the raft operators (captains) credentials or maintenance requirements of the rafts!

[wvavin]

No guessing as to what happened because yellow envelopes have changed hands. Who can be so stupid as to believe anyone in Thailand cannot be contacted in this modern day?

[ironbark]

I don't think the important test is only the total carrying capacity but what if one croc jumps too high and all the passengers rush away to one side. How far will it tip?

[sotsira]

Interesting that this tourist attraction is mainly for the Chinese tourist market, do they not think of consequence,

or have any initiative?

It seems that they just follow with the majority and must trust the operators that organise their trips.

Quite remarkable when you think about it.

I wonder what else will be thought of for them to participate in the future.

[onemorechang]

Try knowing what you're talking about before posting!! This has nothing to do with a license that more than likely can be, "purchased". Whether it's quoted as 8 tons or 800 is also irrelevant.

What is relevant is the design (of passenger carrying rafts in crocodile infested lakes) has been carried out by a suitably qualified engineer, reviewed and approved by an independent and qualified body to ensure that all functionality and safety factors have been built into the design.

Following that all fabrication drawings and materials for the construction would need to be reviewed and approved in accordance with the approved design criteria.

Prior to fabrication procedures (for welding, NDT, etc) would need to be approved, as would all fabrication personnels cerificates.

Apart, from the above basics, I haven't even touched on the raft operators (captains) credentials or maintenance requirements of the rafts!

All that said , but you still need competent people to run and maintain this sort of equipment.

Its a non starter.

[MadDog2020]

Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight.

Wonder if he is an engineer, has any knowledge of appropriate factors needed to include din the design, especially safety aspects and wonder if he actually calculated (correctly) the 800 tons he claims each raft can carry?

Have there been any inspections of anything at this venue? If not why not? Someone should get punished.

Does it have any certifications, any licence to operate, if yes what is the allowed scope of operation?

"Self designed rafts, and he said earlier they can take 800 tons weight."

Jesus, the nonsense some people post.

800 tons capacity, yet the number of passengers is limited to 15? Nowhere was 800 tones quoted, 8 tonnes was mentioned a number if times though.

Try keeping up with the reports that have said quite clearly that the venue is licenced. It seems to have escaped your notice that the main point of this OP is that that licence now appears to have been suspended.

Try knowing what you're talking about before posting!! This has nothing to do with a license that more than likely can be, "purchased". Whether it's quoted as 8 tons or 800 is also irrelevant.

What is relevant is the design (of passenger carrying rafts in crocodile infested lakes) has been carried out by a suitably qualified engineer, reviewed and approved by an independent and qualified body to ensure that all functionality and safety factors have been built into the design.

Following that all fabrication drawings and materials for the construction would need to be reviewed and approved in accordance with the approved design criteria.

Prior to fabrication procedures (for welding, NDT, etc) would need to be approved, as would all fabrication personnels cerificates.

Apart, from the above basics, I haven't even touched on the raft operators (captains) credentials or maintenance requirements of the rafts!

Are you familiar with any rafts designs for crocodile feeding? Why do you feel all these certifications are necessary?

So far no accidents or fatalities. Why put all the crazy regulations to try to prevent something that has not happened.

If his license has been suspended then post it on the front of the business, if not stop making such a big deal about it.

[MadDog2020]

Try knowing what you're talking about before posting!! This has nothing to do with a license that more than likely can be, "purchased". Whether it's quoted as 8 tons or 800 is also irrelevant.

What is relevant is the design (of passenger carrying rafts in crocodile infested lakes) has been carried out by a suitably qualified engineer, reviewed and approved by an independent and qualified body to ensure that all functionality and safety factors have been built into the design.

Following that all fabrication drawings and materials for the construction would need to be reviewed and approved in accordance with the approved design criteria.

Prior to fabrication procedures (for welding, NDT, etc) would need to be approved, as would all fabrication personnels cerificates.

Apart, from the above basics, I haven't even touched on the raft operators (captains) credentials or maintenance requirements of the rafts!

All that said , but you still need competent people to run and maintain this sort of equipment.

Its a non starter.

Why?