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Roslan Bendenia, a 22-year-old Dutch tourist, rented a speargun from locals and traveled to Phi Phi Island, west of Thailand, near Phuket, around 1 PM, spending the entire day fishing on August 9th.
He then posted a video on TikTok showing off his catch of five fish, including a scene of him killing a Moray eel with a single knife stroke. Bendenia's video angered the Thai online community.
According to the Bangkok Post, Environment Minister Warawut Silpa-Archa recognized two of the rare and endangered parrotfish among the fish Bendenia caught. He immediately ordered the police to arrest and deport the man in the video. Bendenia was arrested last Monday while sitting in a cafe in Chalong, Phuket. His TikTok account was subsequently blocked and the video removed.
The perpetrator turned himself in at the Phuket police station.
The following day, Lieutenant Colonel Ekkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police Department stated that Bendenia admitted to being the person in the video and to the act of fishing. However, he claimed he was unaware he was in a protected marine area at the time. In fact, Bendenia violated provisions of Thailand's National Parks Act 2019, by "engaging in acts that impact ecosystems, biodiversity, the environment, and natural resources."
The Bangkok Post quoted several lawyers as saying that Bendenia could face up to five years in prison or a fine of 500,000 baht (approximately 330 million VND) if convicted.
Bendenia is not the first tourist to run into trouble with Thai authorities while visiting the seas. In February 2017, a Russian woman was fined 1,000 baht (approximately 650,000 VND) for being caught feeding fish bread off Ko Racha Yai island (Phuket). A week earlier, a 35-year-old Chinese man was fined 100,000 baht (approximately 65 million VND) for stealing two parrotfish.
In 2018, six French tourists were arrested in Phuket for hunting parrotfish with harpoons in the Promthep Cape area. Each was fined 100,000 baht and banned from returning to Thailand permanently. In September 2020, two tourists from Hungary and Italy were asked to be deported for playing with marine life off Ko Phangan island.
