A town, Sri Racha, near the Gulf of Thailand, has a pond where people, locals and tourists toss coins for a turtle that was believed to be holy and brought them luck. Clearly a terrible idea--as Om Sin, the sea turtle, has suffered from eating almost 1,000 coins.
Last Monday, the turtle had undergone a seven-hour surgery after suffering severe stomach pains. Veterinarians removed about 11 pounds of coins all in all. Chulalongkorn University's faculty of veterinary science, Pasakorn Brikshavana, told the Bangkok Post: "It is hard to imagine how it swallowed such a large number of coins. I've never seen such a case before."
The turtle was named as such by the doctors who saved her after noticing the the shell was bulging and infected--Om Sin in Thai means "piggy bank." The university will care for the turtle in a week on which after, Om Sin will be rehabilitated at the Sea Turtle Conservation Centre of the Royal Thai Navy in Sattahip, Chonburi.
Together with Om Sin, about a dozen other turtles were rescued from Sri Racha as well and were brought to turtle rescuer, Nantarika Chansue, who has been saving turtles for 15 years now. The Washington Post stated Chansue as saying that she had never seen a case like Om Sin's - 1,000 coins thrown by locals and tourists.
"I am not sure how to handle this, considering cost and survival chance [sic]," she stated on her Facebook page. About 15,000 baht was raised for the doctors to perform surgeon on the turtle.
In Thailand, the locals toss coins on a "released animal' from the wild." Tourists also do the same, leading to more danger.
Meanwhile, other locals and tourists around globe poach and purchase turtle shells as souvenirs. Animal welfare groups are calling on tourists to stop buying turtle products as it encourages poachers to kill more of the animals.
