Thailand - identifying species

[ThailandFarang]

We're visiting my wife's family in NE Thailand. In the market this evening we saw 2 locally caught turtles for sale - either to be released by the buyer in Buddhist tradition of giving life, or to be eaten.

We bought them and released them into a lake at the local Buddhist temple.

We're wondering what they were - sorry about the v poor pics. Can anyone help?

 

[Yvonne G]

Looks like a Mekong snail eating turtle

 

[ThailandFarang]

Thanks - looks like it!

 

[TammyJ]

I hope they do well in that lake and manage to find the snails they eat, and that they don't have any diseases to pass on to others in that lake, and that the others in that lake with any diseases won't pass it on to these newcomers...sigh. I guess I would probably have bought them too to save them from being eaten... would I?