Phang Nga—
On April 3rd, 2024, Mr. Atthaphon Charoenchansa, the director-general of the Thai National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, publicly revealed a case of a group of foreign divers allegedly touching the tip of a whale shark’s tail on March 31st at the Mu Ko Surin National Park, Phang Nga.
According to Thai national media, on March 31st, a group of foreigners went diving at Richelieu Rock, Mu Ko Surin and allegedly touched the tip of a whale shark’s tail. After a video went viral on Thai social media, it caused controversy on whether the divers could touch the whale shark as it could potentially have direct impacts on marine life and ocean natural resources, according to concerned Thai social media users.
Mr. Athit Khayankit, the Superintendent of Mu Ko Surin National Park, reported the incident to Atthaphon for further legal and punitive actions.
The Thai national park officials gathered videos and photos as evidence to further legal processing against the wrongdoers. The group of wrongdoers reportedly acknowledged their misconduct and confessed their wrongdoings to national park officials but were not identified publicly by relevant officials.
According to the Thai Wild Animal Preservation and Protection Act 2019, whale sharks are a protected wild animal. The national park officials sent the report of the incident and confession to Conservation Area Administration Office No. 5 for further legal processing.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
