--- description: A turtle in Thailand needed surgery after it ate more than 900 coins that humans had thrown into its pool for good luck. title: A Turtle in Thailand Needed Surgery After Eating 900 Coins Thrown in Its Pool image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt62e20f6651eebcc4/6988bd322dce0172e49ec893/sea-turtle-bank.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Turtle in Thailand Needed Surgery After Eating 900 Coins People Threw in Its Pool  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:07 AM CUTPublished: Mar 6, 2017 8:46 PM CUT  A sea turtle named Bank is transported from surgery to another place to rest. A sea turtle named Bank is transported from surgery to another place to rest.Guillaume Payen—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:07 AM CUTPublished: Mar 6, 2017 8:46 PM CUT **Correction appended, March 7, 2017** A turtle in Thailand needed surgery after it [ate more than 900 coins](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/06/more-than-900-coins-removed-from-turtles-stomach-in-thailand "undefined") that humans had thrown into its pool for good luck. The 25-year-old female green sea turtle known as [Bank](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/turtle-swallows-915-coins%5Fus%5F58bd87f2e4b0d2821b4fa889 "undefined") is recovering after undergoing an operation Monday to remove the coins, which had merged into an 11-pound ball in her stomach and became life-threatening, according to the Associated Press. The animal lived seaside near the eastern town of Sri Racha, where many superstitious visitors seeking luck and long life throw coins into the water, the AP reports. “I felt angry that humans, whether or not they meant to do it or if they did it without thinking, had caused harm to this turtle,” [Nantarika Chansue](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155311573264271&set=a.10150164452539271.306250.743529270&type=3&theater "undefined"), who led the surgery, told the AP. **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated the location of the turtle. The coins were thrown in its pool, not in the sea. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4692545/turtle-thailand-coins-surgery/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4692545/turtle-thailand-coins-surgery/"},"headline":"A Turtle in Thailand Needed Surgery After Eating 900 Coins People Threw in Its Pool","datePublished":"2017-03-06T20:46:26.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T11:07:50.000Z","description":"The coins had merged into an 11-pound, life-threatening ball in her stomach","url":"https://time.com/4692545/turtle-thailand-coins-surgery/","keywords":["animals","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt62e20f6651eebcc4/6988bd322dce0172e49ec893/sea-turtle-bank.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt62e20f6651eebcc4/6988bd322dce0172e49ec893/sea-turtle-bank.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sea turtle \"Bank\" in Thailand","caption":"Sea turtle \"Bank\" in Thailand","creditText":"Guillaume Payen—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4692545/turtle-thailand-coins-surgery/","name":"A Turtle in Thailand Needed Surgery After Eating 900 Coins People Threw in Its Pool"}}]}] ```