More than 70 wine lovers raised 200,000 baht to save endangered sea turtles when the Wine & Spirit Education Trust hosted a charity tasting at Pattaya’s Ezy Ezy Eatery.
Pattaya spokeswoman Yuwathida Jeerapat and WSET sommelier Tina Termsomket hosted the March 14 event to benefit the Royal Thai Navy’s Sea Turtle Conservation Center in Sattahip.
Termsomket demonstrated the correct way to sip wine to enjoy the sweetness of the grapes and offered the right foods to snack on and bring out the flavor.
(L to R) Chutima Jeeramongkol, Yuwathida Jeerapat, Tina Termsomket, and CDR. Kwanmoung Karestre host a charity evening to “save the turtles”.
“My friends and I wanted to help the center, so we brainstormed how we could raise funds. Since I like to drink wine and Tina is already an expert, we decided upon a wine tasting to raise funds for sea turtles, which are threatened with extinction.”
Termsomket said she already runs a program called “Bring It Back Thailand” devoted to showcasing Thailand’s emerging talents and how they “bring it back” to their family, culture and country. Organizing the sea-turtle project was even more exciting, she said.
Kwanmoung Karestre, deputy commander of the conservation center, thanked everyone who turned out and donated. He said the center plans to open an animal hospital to help injured turtles with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and Chulalongkorn University.
“If the hospital is built, the turtles will get much-needed help and care to survive,” he said. “They are indicators of the ecosystem’s status in the sea, the water condition and the abundance in water.”
