30 green sea turtles to taste freedom in Phuket today

PHUKET: Sea turtles will be making their way across the sands of Phuket today in an event sponsored for the first time by the Nai Yang Beach Resort.

Thirty green sea turtles will be released starting at 3pm this afternoon during the “Keep Calm & Love Turtle” festivities, staged in conjunction with the Royal Thai Navy’s Third Area Command, Honda Anuphas Phuket, Massa Luna Condominium and Zeek Design.

Money raised at the event will go to the Turtle Hatchery Program of the Royal Thai Navy’s Third Area Command to support turtle breeding.

“There were a lot of turtles on Nai Yang Beach 40 years ago,” said Panyata Rasamee, director of Human Resources at Nai Yang Beach Resort.

“But after the beach became popular with tourists, the numbers of turtles has dwindled. We hope this project will help restore the turtle population in the area to what it once was.”

All species of sea turtles in the Phuket area face multiple threats, and their numbers have sharply declined in recent years.

Commercial fishing kills thousands of them every year. Many more die from eating or becoming trapped in plastic debris littering the ocean, not to mention entanglement in fishing nets and being hit by speedboats.

“Keep Calm & Love Turtle” started at 11am today and will run to 6pm in front of the Nai Yang Beach Resort, located at 65/23-24 Nai Yang Beach Rd, Sakoo.

— Woranut Pechdee