Krabi hit by illegal coral collection

Krabi hit by illegal coral collection

A tourist explores the underwater world in Krabi province. (Bangkok Post file photo)
A tourist explores the underwater world in Krabi province. (Bangkok Post file photo)

Krabi provincial authorities said on Tuesday they were drawing up measures to deal with the collection of giant clam shells and coral species by tourists who wanted to take them home.

The move came after officials at Krabi International Airport had seized a dozen species of dead marine animals weighing altogether 171kg from Chinese holidaymakers in the past week.

The animals were mainly giant clams, staghorn corals and brain corals. The species are listed in category II under the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, which outlaws their collection. 

Airport director Attaporn Nuang-udom said airport officials who discovered the marine items let the tourists return home after seizing the animals as they had no legal authority to arrest them.

Mr Attaporn said officials frequently found corals in foreign tourists’ baggage. The Chinese usually bring with them giant clam shells and coral species while tourists from Europe, mostly backpackers, carry sea shells.

Some said they had bought the items as souvenirs from local vendors who told them they could take them home. Others admitted they had collected them without realising it was illegal. 

The number of marine items seized from the tourists surged in the past week, Mr Attaporn said.

Plianprasob Kaonuan, head of Susan Hoi (Shell Cemetery) protection unit of the Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park in Krabi, said park officials and related agencies were working to solve the problem.

Authorities would put up warning signs at the airport and on beaches. Local police had also been asked to arrest the tourists found to have in possession marine life.

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