News Forum - Chinese tour group apologised after causing harm to Thai marine life

[Thaiger]

The serene waters of Ao La on Koh Racha Yai, situated south of Phuket, were recently embroiled in controversy when tourists from a Chinese tour company, Jinyang Holiday Group, engaged in activities harmful to marine life and environment. They posed for photos with seemingly innocent starfish in hand and ventured onto delicate coral reefs, drawing … …

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[Vigo]

nothing new. make an example of the  vandals.

[Leo]

Quote

This incident serves as a harsh lesson to us. Jinyang Holiday Group has only been operational for the past two months… Yesterday marked our inaugural trip.

Let's hope it will also be your last trip.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Leo

[Golden-Triangle]

I find the Thai attitude and some of the comments here bordering on anal, if the infostructure in the area is so fragile then perhaps the authorities should consider banning swimming completely.

[Grumpish]

Were these certified scuba divers, or were they being tea-bagged on a PADI Discover Scuba day? An example should be made of the divemasters and instructors, as well - I know from experience (I am certified as a PADI Divemaster) how difficult it can be to control someone on a try dive, but it is part of the job and you do learn ways of doing it. 

[Smithydog]

19 minutes ago, Grumpish said:

Were these certified scuba divers, or were they being tea-bagged on a PADI Discover Scuba day? An example should be made of the divemasters and instructors, as well - I know from experience (I am certified as a PADI Divemaster) how difficult it can be to control someone on a try dive, but it is part of the job and you do learn ways of doing it. 

Agreed. Responsibility, even if vicarious, falls on the Dive instructors and associated company. They are the ones trusted to understand the local environment they are diving in and how to properly behave on a dive. 

It is not that they couldn't anticipate such behaviour, if this part of the article is quoted correctly.

"Sirikwan mentioned that it now became imperative for the company to instruct all their dive instructors not to permit tourists to interact physically with corals and marine wildlife. She referred to past instances where Chinese tourists, enticed by the cute creatures, picked them up for photo sessions to share with friends."

 

[palooka]

Have a memory of a lone farlung in BIG trouble for sitting on a reef. Story came across that he was the lowest of the low.

Another of someone touching a fish (or did the fish touch him) and BIG promises of fire and brimstone raining on the perpetrator.

Now a whole group intentionally handling their super fragile lifeforms.

On past history, as a par for the course, all involved should already be behind bars with keys thrown away.

Maybe they should lock up the idiots that are in control of these areas for total incompetence in their supposed abilities in this area of expertise.

(Or is it another case of daddy paying big baht for his imbecile offspring to get the job.) 

 

[Smiler]

I don’t want to make generalizations but ‘caring for the natural world and Chinese hardly go together’

[HolyCowCm]

Me and my kids were just snorkeling off an area 5 minutes near Phi Phi. I saw 3 star fish and some slugs and could have easily went the 9ft /3 meters to touch them. Well I did go down to about an arms length near them but know better to not touch anything. You can see everything is fragile and the coral is dying in 60% of that area.