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The coral reefs around Koh Racha Yai in Thailand are popular with tourists. Picture: Flickr/Aleen Linvoyage
A TOURIST has been arrested in Thailand for feeding bread to fish near an ecologically sensitive coral reef.
Russian woman Olga Smirnova, 53, is due to appear in court in Thailand following the incident in the popular tourist hotspot off Phuket, The Sun reports.
The maximum punishment for the violation of the island’s strict environmental laws is a year in prison, a $3700 fine, or both.
Ms Smirnova is being held in police custody in Phuket’s Chalong district because she did not have enough money to make bail.
She was apprehended by officers from the Phuket Department of Marine and Coastal Resources who were carrying out routine checks for illegal activity on the island of Koh Racha Yai.
They said that she was feeding bread to fish close to a coral reef, against the island’s strict environmental rules and in defiance of posters erected all over the area.
Strict environmental laws protect the island and the nearby coral reefs. Picture: Flickr/Aleen LinvoyageSource:Flickr
A Marine and Coastal Resources spokesman said: “We are taking a very strict stance on this. She has to pay the bail and remain in Thailand until her case is processed by a court.”
A Russian consulate official said the consul had not received any official notification of the arrest.
But he added: “We managed to talk to officials at the police station where the woman is being kept.
“The Russian citizen did not have the money needed for bail and that’s why she is awaiting trial there.”
Ms Smirnova has been charged with “feeding fish in a forbidden area or in an area with coral reef”, the Russian official said.
Thailand’s Phuket News, which also reported on the woman’s arrest, said violation of the island’s strict environmental rules could result in a punishment of “not more than one year in jail” and a fine of “not more than B100,000”, which is about $A3700.
A Chinese tourist was forced to pay the full fine after he was caught poaching parrotfish at
Koh Racha Yai last month.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.