Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) Director-General Thanya Nethithammakul, DMCR Deputy Director-General Pinsak Suraswadi, Chartthaipattana Party President Kanchana Silpa-archa and Veterinarian Nantarika Chansue of Chulalongkorn University were in attendance, alongside a host of other officials and the press.
Attendees made merit by giving alms to monks, and paid respect to the late marine animals at Wat Kalayanamitr Varamahavihara on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya River.
The late dugongs were both under the close care of the Thai authorities when they passed away earlier this month.
Mariam, the first dugong known to be cared for by humans in Thailand, was placed in a nursery tank after being attacked by a male dugong while swimming in the Andaman Sea. She died three days later, on Aug 17, of shock and other reasons, including several pieces of plastic found in her intestine, the DNP said. She was eight months old. (Read story here.)
Baby Yamil was under 24-hour care after being rescued from a beach in Krabi where he washed ashore on July 1. He developed an intestinal infection and, after an operation to remove seagrass lodged in his intestines, went into shock and died on Aug 22, the DNP explained. (Read story here.)
The pair won hearts in Thailand after a round-the-clock livestream set up to document their every move went viral.