Twenty-four-hour coverage of the orphaned baby dugongs Mariam and Yamil, who have captivated the country, will start on Sunday.
The state telecom enterprise TOT and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources on Saturday tested the internet signal and Facebook Live function at the department's Facebook page in preparation for the start of coverage on Sunday.
Six-month-old Mariam is now being cared for in a no-hunting area on Koh Libong in Kantang district of Trang province, while three-month-old Yamil is being taken care of by the Phuket Marine Biological Centre.
A total of eight CCTV cameras have been deployed to film the dugongs.
Mariam is consuming more milk and seagrass and is regaining her strength, said Nantarika Chansue, director of Chulalongkorn University’s Aquatic Animal Disease Research Centre.
Mariam was found and rescued from Thueng Bay in Muang district of Krabi on April 26, while Yamil was found last week at a beach in Khlong Thom district in Krabi.
The country has not been so smitten by an animal since Lin Ping, the first giant panda born in Thailand. The pay-TV operator TrueVisions created the Panda Channel, a 24-hour live feed for fans, that aired from early 2010 to late 2012.