Payūn

Overview

Saving Thailand’s Last Dugongs.

In 2024, 41 dead dugongs (or payūn in Thai) washed up on Thai shores. Experts predict that there are less than 120 left in the country. Why? Thailand's coastal seagrass patches - the dugongs’ main food source - are vanishing fast, and Thailand is the first country in the world where a definitive link between climate change, seagrass, and dugong death is being made. Limited seagrass is also impacting dugongs’ migratory patterns. Before late 2024, dugongs were almost never seen in unprotected areas such as Phuket. For months, Theerasak “Pop” Saksritawee, an amateur conservationist, has been monitoring one dugong in particular which has chosen to settle temporarily in Tanken Bay. Pop has fondly named him “Miracle”.

This short Pulitzer Centre-supported documentary film and accompanying feature article follows Pop as he supports a government working group on their mission to save Thailand’s last dugongs.

Release date: September 2025