Tourists to Thailand's Koh Chang island warned not not capture mollusks in the sea

Tour boat operators around Koh Chang island in eastern Thailand have been warned never to let their passengers capture mollusks, crustaceans and other aquatic creatures in the sea.

Vera Khunchairak, head of the national park on Koh Chang archipelago off Trat province, about 315 km southeast of Bangkok, said on Tuesday the tour boat operators have been given the official warning to see to it that their passengers will not catch any aquatic animals, albeit in temporary fashion, around the tourist island.

The tour boat operators might have their licenses revoked while their passengers might have to pay a sum of money in fine if they captured mollusks or other aquatic creatures from the seabed to the surface of the sea, Vera said.

The stern warning was prompted by a recent event in which some Chinese tourists had been brought by a tour boat to Koh Yuck island in the Koh Chang archipelago to dive on a two-meter-deep seabed.

However, they managed to pick up some mollusks from the seabed and brought them up to the surface of the sea to take pictures. Endit