A dead turtle that washed ashore on Jomtien Beach drew a crowd of Thais not interested as much as what happened to the endangered animal but what lottery numbers they might glean from its corpse.
Sawang Boriboon animal control officers responded to the beach opposite the Palm Beach Hotel Aug. 31 to inspect and haul away the 70 kg. body of a green turtle between 20 and 30 years old.
People gather around to witness the old turtle in hopes of gleaning lottery numbers.
The animal had sustained a head wound and been dead about two days before washing ashore.
Beach vendor Surasak Suphabut, 38, called authorities after a foreign tourist alerted him to the turtle.
By the time officers arrived, a crowd of Thais had huddled around the corpse, studying its placement and shell for “lucky” numbers that could help them in the following day’s lottery.
