Thai oil company PPTEP has published a lavish coffee table book celebrating the marine diversity of Thailand's seas

Browsing in my local Bangkok bookshop recently, I found a beautiful hardback book called "The Marine Heritage of the Thai Seas". It's absolutely loaded with photos of the amazing coral reefs and islands to be found all around Thailand's coasts, along with a detailed accompanying text. A little bit of investigation showed that the book had been put together by Thai oil company PPTEP as part of their Social Responsibility program - the book is being used as an educational tool in Thai schools.
Here's the blurb from PPTEP's press release: "In conjunction with the Department of National Park, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation, PTTEP issued this publication about the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Copies were provided to the Ministry of Education for presentation to school libraries nationwide, and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for further distribution to Thai embassies and travel agencies abroad. The book is also available to the public at large; proceeds from the sale will go to a central fund for educational materials and research on the ecology of plants, wildlife and marine animals."

The book's content itself is impressive, as outlined on PTTEP's own site:

"The book, called Moradok Tala Thai will present a rare insight into marine life on both coasts of Thailand as well as geographical information of the sea beds in the Gulf of Thailand and in the Andaman Sea. Also touched by this book are stories about mangrove, rocky and muddy beaches, corals, life in the sea weed areas, and 21 aquatic national parks which cover 350,000 square kilometers of land and sea.

The book serves the policy of PTTEP which takes into consideration the conservation of natural resources and the environment in its work plans. PTTEP President Mr. Maroot Mrigadat said “The work of PTTEP is closely related to the environment and natural resources. We are aware of the need to protect the environment and we intend to work with public agencies concerned to conserve and improve national parks to be in the best condition possible."

It's good to see an oil company making such efforts, but I'm naturally sceptical about the impact of PTTEP's operations on the marine environment. Even so, I'd like to get hold a copy of this book and read it properly - and as there have only been 3000 copies printed, if you're passing through Bangkok on the way to a dive holiday, you should snap one up too.

You can download the PDF document outlining PTTEP's Social Responsibility initiatives (direct link to PDF).

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