Pattaya’s dusitD2 baraquda hotel has joined the global Fin Free movement to encourage hotels and restaurants to stop serving soup and other meals containing shark fins.
Hotel owner Serm Phenjati presented Fin Free Thailand ambassador Cindy Sirinya Burbridge Bishop with a signed pledge to abolish shark fin from the hotel’s menus to help prevent the extinction of various species of sharks and protect diners from the dangers of mercury present in shark fins.
The dusitD2 baraquda is the 24th hotel to go 100 percent shark fin-free and the first in Pattaya. Dusit Thani Hotels’ Swissotel Le Concorde Bangkok has joined the coalition, but said it is currently “phasing out” shark fin dishes.
(L to R) Chanadda Thanikulapat from Freeland Foundation, Nancy L. Gibson, Executive Director/Founder of Fin Free Thailand, Cindy Burbridge Bishop, the official ambassador of Fin Free Thailand, dusitD2 baraquda owner Serm Phenjati, Chef de Cuisine Parthomrat Rakkanam and GM Cholathee Nakhamadee announce the hotel has joined the global Fin Free movement to encourage hotels and restaurants to stop serving soup and other meals containing shark fins.
“Each year, a million sharks are killed, of which the majority are consumed as shark fin soup distributed in restaurants and leading hotels,” said Bishop, daughter of Bill Burbridge, who opened the first foreign-run scuba diving shop in Pattaya and educated her on the dangers that sharks face. “Most consumers are not aware of the concentration of mercury present in a shark fin.”
Serm, a diver himself and backer of the original Pattaya Dive Club, said he was surprised by the amount of mercury in fins and joined the coalition after meeting with Fin Free Thailand officials.
Part of the global Fin Free movement, Fin Free Thailand was founded by the Freeland Foundation, Love Wildlife Foundation and Change.org Thailand, with support from other partners, including the United States Agency for International Development. The global Fin Free organization is spearheaded by United Conservationists, a not-for-profit organization founded by Sharkwater filmmaker Rob Stewart and operated by Executive Director Julie Andersen. It is an open-source campaign, supported by a variety of organizations.
For more information, see FinFreethai.org and Fin-Free.com.
