“It would be added as a ‘new landmark’ to attract tourists from all over the world to visit the paradise island with abundant nature,” Mr Jutha said.
The suggestion follows 8-year-old Naphat Chaiyarak Khrystenko suffering deep bites to his lower right leg at the beach last Sunday. In total, the wounds took 33 stitches to close.
Local lifeguards still maintain that they believe a barracuda inflicted the bites, despite Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, Director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) and the leading marine biologist on the island, remaining adamant that a small shark was the culprit.
In response, Kamala OrBorTor has ordered the beach guards to ramp up patrols to keep an eye out for any potentially harmful predators and signs have been posted to warn visitors to the beach in English and Thai of potential danger in the water.
Mr Jutha argued that while the fish might have been a barracuda, he admitted it could have been a small shark, which in his opinion was possible.
“Due to the situation of the COVID-19 outbreak over the past two years, natural resources in the area have recovered to become more abundant. Fish populations that disappeared years ago are now being seen again,” he said.
“However, if it were a real shark, experts estimate that a non-violent shark species will have a positive effect on the area, which may be added as a new landmark to attract tourists,” Mr Jutha said.
“This would have a positive effect on the tourism sector and attract tourists from all over the world to travel to visit Kamala Beach even more so in the future,” he added.
“Kamala OrBorTor has given importance to preserving the environment to be beautiful, clean, peaceful and safe to support tourists from all over the world who visit Phuket,” Mr Jutha said.
Sir Burr | 07 May 2022 - 15:58:26