Thai princess swims with Oslob whales

THE famed Sumilon Island white sand bar in Oslob town also draws many local and foreign tourists — among them Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana of Thailand.

Even a visiting princess could not resist the allure of swimming with the famed whale sharks in Oslob town, 121 kilometers south of Cebu City.

Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana of Thailand and her party arrived in Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob on Saturday morning to fulfill her desire to swim with the whale sharks, a tourist attraction of the municipality.

Security was tight and no one was allowed to take photos of the Princess, said PO2 Jun Emar Jerusalem, desk officer of the Oslob Police Station.
The visit was unannounced, which caught several residents by surprise.

“Only a few tourists and residents knew about her visit because some of them were curious why there were many policemen present in the area,” said Jerusalem.

Mayor Jose Tumulak Jr. of Oslob said in a phone interview that a member of Princess Nariratana’s advance party met him two weeks ago about the planned visit of a member of the Thai monarchy.

“The advance party told the princess that our town is far away from the city, but she insisted since she wanted to try (swimming with the whale sharks) and she loves diving,” Tumulak said.

Oslob, a fourth class municipality with an annual income of not more than P35 million, is more than three hours’ travel by bus from the capital Cebu City.

Tumulak said that on Thursday, another member of the advance party told him that the princess would push through with her trip.

The emissary, however, did not give him the schedule for security reasons, he added.

Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana of Thailand

Jerusalem said Princess Nariratana and her party arrived in Oslob at 5:45 p.m. on Friday. But she spent the night in a resort on Sumilon Island, another popular tourist destination in Oslob for its first class amenities and white sand bar.

The next day, Princess Nariratana took her first swim with the whale sharks at 8 a.m. and her second, at 10 a.m.

Princess Nariratana and her party left Oslob past 2 p.m on the same day.

The Princess’ visit came more than two months after five candidates of Miss Universe went to Oslob to swim with the whale sharks last December.

Their visit was criticized by environmentalists who said that feeding whale sharks and swimming with them are not sound environmental practices and should be stopped because they did not teach the largest fish in the sea to hunt for their own food.

Although other candidates did not push through with their plans to go to Oslob, the visit was enough to increase the popularity of the town’s main tourist attraction.

Tumulak said he expected more tourists to go to Oslob following the visit of Princess Nariratana last Saturday.

He rued that tourist arrivals in Oslob went down last year when the United States Embassy in Manila issued a travel advisory, discouraging their nationals from going to southern Cebu, including Oslob, due to terrorist threats.

But the police and the military downplayed the US advisory, saying Cebu remained safe.

Tumulak assured that Oslob town remains safe for all local and foreign tourists.

“They (Thai nationals) will not be afraid to visit Oslob because even their princess was here,” Tumulak said.