How to save Thailand's sharks

If you’ve ever seen dolphin documentary The Cove, you can probably imagine how shark fin ends up in a soup bowl. Nothing quite so tame as simmering some French Onion. Much closer to Jaws, actually.

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Sharks and shark fin soup in Thailand

Finning sharks to make shark fin soup is a genuine horror show, and it's a devastating practice for the ocean and its healthy ecosystem. So ... where's the good news?

Thailand shark fin soup – what you need to know

Thailand Shark Fin Soup: How to Save Thai Sharks (Without Leaving Your Hotel)

Meet Thailand's good guys: On a recent Pinterest binge, we discovered the Fin Free Thailand campaign, and its accompanying 'Blue List' of Thai hotels that have pledged to keep their menus 100% free from shark fin soup. The hotels' participation in this campaign is a huge deal in a country so dependent on tourist dollars.

What's in it for you?

Infinity pools and great coffee – it's an easy vote to make. Lucky for all of us, the list of good guys is a who’s-who of the Thailand's best hotels, making ethical accommodation a very easy choice.

In this case, saving Thai sharks means five-star hotels, fine linens, incredible service and unbelievable views. It's rough work, can you do it?

Why should you care if your hotel is shark fin free?

You want to respect who you're going to bed with, right? Take a quick look at this literal blood bath and you might care – just a little bit – to side with the good guys.

Do people eat shark fin soup in Thailand?

From Fin Free Thailand: "Shark fin restaurant owners in Bangkok’s Chinatown alone have claimed to be selling more than 20,000 bowls of shark fin soup per month." Any hotel walking away from that kind of cash deserves a medal.

Why should you care about shark fins in Thailand?

A quick list of three reasons from Fin Free Thailand:

To protect endangered species of sharks
To protect marine ecosystems (the 'picture postcard' ocean and beaches you're coming to enjoy in Thailand)
To protect people's health (that's you!) – shark fin soup can contain insane mercury levels

For anyone wondering about the presence of live sharks in and around Koh Samui (now that it's so easy to avoid dead ones), there are whale sharks off Koh Tao (as in the photos above). While absolutely massive – 47,000 lb / 21.5 metric tons – they're plankton feeders.

Shark-fin free hotels on Koh Samui

Is your hotel on the 'Good Guys List'? Find out! Since we first published this post in 2014, a further ten Koh Samui hotels have pledged to go Shark Fin Free – bringing the island's current total to 26 hotels:

If you see your hotel on the list below – send them a quick thumbs up on social media (#finfree) – good guys always deserve praise. If your hotel is missing from the list, ask them why.

Tip: For more hotel recommendations and tips for every beach, see Where to Stay on Koh Samui

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