Measures stepped up to protect coral from theft

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN, June 1 (TNA) - The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources extended the protected zones for coral reefs in two southern provinces, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chumphon. The Director of the 3rd Marine and Coastal Resources Office, Bannarak Sermthong said that after a five-meter disc coral was stolen from Koh Wiang in the Gulf of Thailand, the legal measure to ban any activities, which have an impact on marine resources has been implemented in additional areas around three more islands – Koh Singh, Koh Sang in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Koh Wiang in Chumphon. Earlier, the ban was imposed only around Koh Thalu. Officials also step up boat patrols to cover these extended areas. They asked for cooperation from tourists and locals to keep watching any irregularities and alert the authorities if they find anyone, suspicious of stealing corals. According to the law, violators face a maximum jail term of two years and a maximum fine of 200,000 baht. Meanwhile, the department dispatched a team of researchers to rehabilitate the damaged millennium-old disc coral in an attempt to help it revive from the destruction. About one-ton disc coral was stolen from a cave with a narrow entrance, off Wiang Island last month. Broken pieces of the coral were found as the thieves could not make off with the whole piece, five meters in diameter. (TNA)