Endangered crocodile on Thai beach remains uncaught; tourists banned from sea

No one is hurt, fortunately!

Since 18 July, locals have seen the extremely endangered species of a Siamese Crocodile, around 3-metre long, appearing on many beaches in Phuket, Thailand.

Although authorities had sent a workforce to capture it, it remains uncaught due to the strong storm these days and besides, its trace is hard to follow. Tourists are now forbidden to go into the sea right now until the crocodile is found.

(Online Image)

The crocodile was seen on the Yanui beach in Phuket, Thailand. The experts proved that the crocodile lengths 3 meters, which is listed as Critically Endangered Animal by IUCN. 

Yanui Beach, Phuket, Thailand. (Online Image)

It was first seen on the Rawai Beach and Nai Harn Beach in the south of Phuket. Some local people have witnessed it three times, but it swam into the sea immediately as soon as someone approaches. Later, it was suspected to appear on the Kata Noi Beach and Tri Trang Beach.

The capture team failed to catch the crocodile on Kanon Beach last week. (Online Image)

According to local reports, a team has taken action to capture the reptile but remains undone. Experts believe it might appear near the Patong Beach next time, where the team is trying to capture it. For the safety reasons, authorities have now banned tourists from the sea until the crocodile is found.

Phuket, Thailand. (Online Image)

Besides, local marine biologist pointed that crocodile is not supposed to be in the sea, and he thinks that the crocodile might be a brackish water species raised by a local farm.

BANGKOK (AP) — The United States, which played a major role in ending border clashes last year between Thailand and Cambodia, will be providing $45 million in aid packages to the two Southeast Asian countries to help ensure regional stability and prosperity, a senior U.S. State Department official said Friday.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre made the announcement in an online media briefing in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, where he was meeting with senior Thai officials to discuss the implementation of last October’s ceasefire, also known as the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord.

Longstanding competing claims to territory along the Thai-Cambodian border was the root cause of the fighting.

“The restoration of peace at the Thai-Cambodian border opens new opportunities for the United States to deepen our work with both countries to promote regional stability and advance our interests in a safer, stronger and more prosperous Indo-Pacific,” DeSombre said.

On Saturday, he's scheduled to hold discussions with top officials from Cambodia in the country's capital, Phnom Penh.

The United States “will be providing $15 million for border stabilization to help communities recover and to support displaced persons; $10 million in demining and unexploded ordinance clearance operations; and $20 million for initiatives that will help both countries combat scam operations and drug trafficking, among many other programs,” DeSombre said.

Details of the aid packages were still under discussion, he said.

China said it has provided about $2.8 million in emergency humanitarian aid to help Cambodians displaced by the fighting. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Beijing made the same offer of assistance to Thailand, and that it was under consideration by his government.

The United States and China have competed for influence in Southeast Asia for at least a decade. Cambodia is a close ally of Beijing, and while Thailand has long and close ties with Washington, they are widely seen as loosening in recent years.

The fighting in July and December displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Thailand and Cambodia and killed about 100 soldiers and civilians. Land mines left over from decades of civil war in Cambodia are a continuing problem, while Thailand claims newly laid mines in frontier areas were responsible for wounding its patrolling soldiers in about a dozen incidents last year.

Online scams originating in Southeast Asia, especially from Cambodia and Myanmar, are major transnational crime problems that have swindled billions of dollars from victims around the would.

U.S. assistance to the countries of Southeast Asia and other parts of the world for humanitarian and development programs was severely cut last year when the Trump administration shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

Cambodia and Thailand initially clashed for five days in late July before agreeing on a preliminary ceasefire. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the time pressed for an unconditional ceasefire, but there was little headway until U.S. President Donald Trump intervened. Trump said that he warned the Thai and Cambodian leaders that Washington wouldn't move forward with trade agreements if hostilities continued.

The ceasefire was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

New fighting broke out early last month, but the Thai and Cambodian defense ministers signed a new pact on Dec. 27, vowing to implement the October agreement.

“We are very focused on pursuing peace in and around the world,” DeSombre told journalists. “President Trump is a president of peace, and really believes that peace is critical to economic growth and prosperity.”

FILE - Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump, right, watch as Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, second left, and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet hold up a document after the ceremonial signing of a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia on the sidelines of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 26, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP, File)