Cyclists gather to release 80 sea turtles

1000 cyclists rode around the southern part of Phuket yesterday (Sunday, December 17) to raise awareness about the island’s sea turtle population and release 80 young turtles at Cape Panwa.

Rawai Municipality, along with the Andaman Rotary Club and Royal Thai Navy Area 3, hosted the “Cycling for Sea Turtle Preservation”.

Former Phuket member of parliament, Rewat Areerob, hosted the opening ceremony that gathered 1,000 cyclists, including Rawai’s Mayor, municipal officials and other local community leaders.

The President of the Andaman Rotary Club, Chaiya Rapuepon, explained the cycling event saying the route started from Nai Harn Lake Park heading to Phuket Town using Chaofa East, going to Saphan Hin Park, then continuing to Cape Panwa and returning back to Nai Harn Lake Park. The route was a distance of 50 kilometres with a stop at Cape Panwa to release the 80 sea turtles.

“As we continue to learn more about the importance of natural resources preservation and Phuket as a world-class tourism destination welcoming a large amount of tourist per year, we have to keep the natural resources sustainable. Releasing turtles is one way to revive the marine ecological system, increase marine lives and preserve the sea turtle species.”