HK tourists defy rules, fish in protected waters

Panunee, the boat that the tourists were hunting from, is touted as a 5-star luxury vessel. The company itself, Panunee Sea Master Co Ltd, recently announced its plans to move their base of operations to Indonesia, effective in June 2016.

“All of the paperwork for Panunee is in good order. However, we are further probing the matter,” Mu Koh Similan National Park head Nut Kongkasorn told the Phuket Gazette on Monday. “There are two key factors that need to be looked into: one, were they fishing in national park waters, and two, as Panunee is registered as a dive boat, what are the legal consequences of having fishing equipment on board,” Nut said. 

He said Panunee representatives are working with officials in the probe. 

The company’s sales manager, Walaiporn Khomson, assured they were taking the issue seriously. “I was shocked when we were told about what happened,” said Walaiporn. “We quickly called our staff to determine what happened, because it was a diving trip and we do not permit fishing activities.”

The group of tourists allegedly booked a Similan diving trip through a Hong Kong agent from March 29 to April 3. 

“They refused to accept that we couldn’t take them fishing. Our captain did not contact us, as we are in Japan, so he decided to take them outside of the national park area so they could fish,” said the statement. “We’ve been part of the diving industry for decades. Diving has given us great opportunity and we are doing our best to preserve the industry for future generations. We promise we will not be involved in any such matters in the future.” 

No charges have been filed against anyone yet, as officials’ investigation continues, Nut said.