Thread: Sea turtle to be operated on to remove 900 coins from its stomach

Veterinarians at the Sea Turtle Conservation Centre of the Royal Thai Navy in Sattahip is to conduct a surgery in the next two weeks on a green sea turtle to remove an unspecified number of coins in its stomach in order to safe its life.

The planned surgery of the turtle was posted in the Facebook page of Associate Professor Nantarika Chansue, director of Sea Animal Diseases Control Centre, Faculty of Veterinary of Chulalongkorn University in order to raise fund for the operation.

An official of the Sea Turtle Conservation Centre told Thai PBS news team that the centre received the sick turtle from a farm in Si Racha which was already closed.

He said veterinarians at the centre found something usual on its stomach and subjected it to three-dimensional X-ray examination and found images of coins deposited in the stomach.

The official added that when the turtle was raised in the farm, several visitors threw coins in the pond to make vows and the turtle appeared to have swallowed several coins which are now endangering the animal.

Sea turtle to be operated on to remove coins from its stomach - Thai PBS English News

Green sea turtle safe after surgery to remove over 900 coins from its stomach



A team of Chulalongkorn veterinarians have removed 915 coins weigh about five kilogrammes from the stomach of a green sea turtle after seven hours of surgery.
Assistant professor Pasakorn Prueksawan, a lecturer of surgery department, of Chulalongkorn University, said that the operation which took about seven hours by a five-member surgical team was satisfactory.

But the director of the research centre of marine diseases said that although the condition of the green sea turtle, named Omsin, had improved after the surgency, the next issue of concern is that the turtle has to be subjected to rehabilitation for half a year so it will be able to swim again.

For the first week after the successful surgery, Omsin has to be kept in sterilized

salt water pond after which it will be transferred to sea turtle conservation centre of the Royal Thai Navy in Sattathip.

Meanwhile dean of the veterinary faculty Professor Rungrote Thanawongnuvech said that the widespread belief that when a coin was thrown into a pond full of turtles and the coin hit one of the turtles, the coin thrower will live a long life like the turtles resulted in many turtles to be confined to a pond and several of them died because they swallowed coins into their stomachs.

Green sea turtle safe after surgery to remove over 900 coins from its stomach - Thai PBS English News

^ Good job, "guys"...Hope they don't drop it from a helicopter...

several visitors threw coins in the pond to make vows

What kind of moron throws coins in an animal enclosure.
If they knew it was happening why not put up a sign?

That would make cents. The turtle should just cough it up. That's why he was on display, No?





F-ing fish?

Piggie bank?

As ever with most Thaicentric reports, its topicality resolves to behaviour born out of ignorance, superstition and profound stupidity.

It really does become quite tedious.

Hope the turtle recovers.....

Meanwhile dean of the veterinary faculty Professor Rungrote Thanawongnuvech said that the widespread belief that when a coin was thrown into a pond full of turtles and the coin hit one of the turtles, the coin thrower will live a long life like the turtles resulted in many turtles to be confined to a pond and several of them died because they swallowed coins into their stomachs.

Pondlife throwing coins at... probably more intelligent species.

The turtle is looking a bit pale after it's operation.

Looks like they rested his head on a Kermit puppet...

WTF was it doing on a "farm"?

I read the turtle is called Om sin, as it's also the name of a government bank (pink one) it may have triggered coins throwing ...the turtle is clearly at fault here should have changed name, easy to do here

The Thai authorities didn't have a problem fining the Russian woman who fed the fish
but don't seem to bother Thais feeding coins to the turtle.

^Indeed 900+ coins ("several coins" in the OP ) x 100 000 bahts fine, some serious cash opporunity has been missed here ... but as it's not a natural reserve or national park but a private farm, the venue manager is at fault here for not preventing this (usualy done by displaying a threat of a 2 or 5K fine, that still makes good money for the farm)

Omsin dies of complications from intestinal volvulus

Omsin or Bank, the green sea turtle which was operated by a team of veterinarians on March 6 to remove over 900 coins from her stomach has died Tuesday morning following an emergency operation last Saturday.

The death of Omsin was announced by an emotional veterinarian Nantarika Chansue, director of Sea Animal Diseases Control Centre, who headed a team of veterinarians that operated on the turtle to remove coins from her stomach to save her life.

A heart-broken Ms Nantarika openly wept as she told the media of Omsin’s death. She left the press conference briefly to control her emotion and to return shortly afterward to carry on with the conference.

Omsin became the subject of public attention in the past two weeks after a seven-hour surgery to remove over 900 coins from her stomach. She was formerly kept in a pond in Chon Buri where visitors often threw coins into the pond to make vows.

She said that Omsin’s condition which appeared to improve satisfactory after the surgery on March 6 suddenly deteriorated necessitating an emergency operation on Saturday March 18 due to complications from intestinal volvulus and strangulation.

After the latest surgery, Omsin never fully recovered with weak pulses and had to be administered with oxygen until her death at about 10.10 am today .

She said on her Facebook page that the complication might come from adjustment of the GI tract in more empty space post operation. There was more gas in her stomach and loss of protein, she added.

Earlier, she said the Omsin’s case should serve a precedent for all throwing coins into a pond for luck should rethink carefully the next time they want to throw coins to make vows.

Omsin dies today of complications from intestinal volvulus - Thai PBS English News