Thai crocodile farm still open to tourists after license suspension

A popular crocodile farm in western Thailand's Pattaya was found still opening to tourists after its license was suspended by Thai authorities, local media reported.

All animal feeding activities in the attraction are still opening to tourists, including those on the crocodile poles, said Pattaya Daily News who sent their reporter to the crocodile farm just a day after the controversial activity banned by Fisheries Department.

According to local media, tourist groups were seen guided to have their feeding programs as usual.

The crocodile farm, also known as Elephant Kingdom who runs animal breeding as its main business, has just gotten a lot of press after photos of tourists feeding the reptiles from a floating platform went viral online.

In the pictures, more than 10 visitors crammed on a tiny caged raft surrounded by dozens of hungry crocodiles. The photos raised concerns about safety as many netizens believe the practice of feeding from such a crude platform could be still risky.

Adisorn Promthep, director-general of the Thai Fisheries Department had suspended its license for 90 days and ordered the farm's owner to improve its safety measures after police and officials from other agencies visited the crocodile farm on Friday.

He said the farm is violating a regulation issued in the 1992 Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act, which requires animal attractions to provide safety measures for visitors and others nearby. He has also instructed all fisheries offices to inspect similar farms in their areas.

Uthen Youngprapakorn, the owner of the attraction, said earlier that there had never been an incident involving the floating feeding platforms since it opened 12 years ago. Each cage can bear a load of about eight tonnes but occupancy is limited to 10-15 people at a time to ensure safety, he said.

"I don't think it is fair. As the officials didn't inform me of the suspension in advance. Nor do I receive any officially written document," said the Uthen, who disclosed that there are more than a thousand visitors here per day.

The two ponds of Elephant Kingdom cover 48 rai(76,800 square meters), one used for breeding some 4,000 crocodiles and 300 gharials. There are also hornbills, panthers and leopards at the site.

Animal attractions are big business in Thailand, and the tourism sector as a whole accounts for about 10 percent of the country's GDP. But animal attacks have energized campaigns to end widespread abusive practices in the country's animal tourism sector.

Earlier in January this year, two British tourists died after they were trampled by an elephant. Several days after that, a Chinese tourist was bitten on her nose by a python when she tried to kiss it during a snake show. Enditem.