Five of the planet’s seven sea turtle species are found along the coasts of Thailand.
Historically, Thailand hosted five species of sea turtles, with hawksbills, green turtles, and (infrequently) leatherbacks found in the Gulf of Thailand and leatherbacks, green turtles, olive ridleys, and loggerheads in Andaman Sea waters. Generally, in-water sightings of leatherbacks, olive ridleys, and loggerheads have been very low, and most data on Thailand’s turtles are collected from stranding events, with hundreds of animals of all four species washed ashore dead, alive, or injured every year since the early 1990s.
Thailand’s sea turtles have confronted an array of threats over the years, which have left the nesting population in a depleted state. In contrast, Ko Phra Thong nesting population is stable and rising thanks to effective conservation measures.
During the 2024-2025 nesting season, an increased number of nests was recorded, showing a change into the yearly trend of number of nests recorded by Naucrates team with the local community and DCMR.
Conservationists must continue to work hard to slow and reverse the impacts of egg harvest, direct take, pollution, habitat alteration, and climate change, and to confront the severe and immediate dangers posed by fishery bycatch.
Sea turtles nest in relatively small numbers on Thai beaches today. On the Andaman coast, mainly leatherbacks (October–February), green turtles (March–July), and ever-declining numbers of olive ridleys (October–February) are found. Hawksbills and green turtles also nest sporadically in the Gulf of Thailand (May–September) in several provinces, including in Koh Khram, according to data from the Royal Thai Navy, as well as in Koh Samet, Koh Kudi, Koh Talu, Koh Kula, Koh Kra, Koh Tau, Thap Sakae, and Chumphon. Koh Khram, which has been protected by the Royal Thai Navy since 1950, has shown promising increases in hawksbill nesting in recent years.
Although sea turtles have been protected under national law since 1947, populations have declined significantly. Intensive egg harvesting from the mid-1940s to the late 1970s was the likely culprit, though today that threat has dramatically declined. Instead, the main threats are now from fisheries bycatch, beachfront development, habitat degradation, and some black-market trade in turtle products.
Head-starting (captive rearing of hatchling turtles before release) has been the country’s main sea turtle conservation strategy since the 1970s, though little information is available on releases, survival rates, and returns of head-started animals, and there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of those efforts. Genetic, distribution, and nesting studies are now adding new information to the state of knowledge of sea turtles in Thailand.
.
Sea Turtles of Southeast Asia — The State of the World’s Sea Turtles | SWOT