Police on Monday arrested a man for using a sea anemone to lure clownfish towards a group of Chinese tourist's on a diving excursion in Chon Buri's Satahip district on a charge of interfering with a protected species.
After a video clip was widely shared online showing the man diving with the sea anemone in his hands and a group of clownfish following him, Chatuporn Buruspat, chief of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said he had told his staff to find the culprit.
Shortly after, his team arrested a man identified as Ekkawat Meetem, a 32-year-old boat owner who took the Chinese tourists on the diving trip.
The department chief explained that sea anemones are categorised as a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection and Conservation Act and any individual found guilty of interfering with them faces up to a 40,000 baht fine and four years in prison.
He further said that the department would establish whether any damage had been committed and was collaborating with the navy to establish whether there was a problem with illegal tour guides in the area.
Meanwhile, Mr Ekkawat confessed that he was the person in the video clip and said that as he owned a fishing boat, friends had suggested he could earn extra money taking tourists for diving at Koh Yor. He claimed he was unaware that sea anemones were a protected species.
Assistant Prof Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a Kasetsart University marine biologist, also shared the clip on Facebook condemning the man's actions.
Many netizens replied claiming that ignorance of the law was no excuse and the man should receive the maximum punishment.
