Video SHARK ALERT: Hua Hin fisherman says not a question of 'if' but 'what kind' attacked tourist

[Jonathan Fairfield]

SHARK ALERT: Hua Hin fisherman says not a question of 'if' but 'what kind' attacked tourist

 

 

Fishermen familiar with the waters off Hua Hin said that in the last year there have been an increasing number of large sharks in the sea off Hua Hin.

 

And an abbot has issued a warning after video and still photography showed sharks circling in the sea off a temple in the area where a Norwegian tourist claimed he was attacked.

 

Video footage - deleted but now obtained by Thaivisa - showed a Norwegian man being carried to a pick-up to be taken to hospital after what was said to be a shark attack at Sai Noi Beach in Prachuap Khirikhan. 

 

He had a bloody wound to his left foot. 

 

Doctors suggested that it was caused by a slip on barnacled rocks but fishermen in the area expressed no great surprise that it may be a shark attack that would be a first for the area.

 

Phichet Wongkai said that a year ago he had caught two bull sharks in his net each weighing 30-40 kilos, reported Manager. 

 

Since then he said fishermen had seen sharks in increasing numbers in the waters off Hua Hin. He was shocked one had bitten a tourist but was hardly surprised suggesting that they were coming in closer to the shore to feed. 

 

For Phichet it was not a question of IF it was a shark but WHAT KIND attacked the tourist.

 

In light of the shark attack claim the abbot of nearby Wat Tham Khao Tao added fuel to the fire.

 

Phra Khru Bunyaphiram said that sharks had been coming close to the temple more and more recently. On Monday he took a video of sharks circling.

 

 

He was not able to confirm that it was a shark attack but he called on the authorities to act fast in the light of the evidence.

 

Sophon Thongdee of the Department of Coastal Resources said he could not confirm or deny if it was a shark attack yet but assured the public that his department were acting with urgency.

 

A survey of the area was planned for today, Tuesday, with experts in a speedboat looking into the matter. 

 

Sophon said that if it was a shark attack it would be a first for the area.

 

Hua Hin fisheries representative Amnat Fakteuan also suggested that it was too early to say but intimated that the evidence was mounting that it was indeed a shark attack on the tourist. 

 

No one has yet quoted the tourist about what he saw or felt.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-04-17

 

 

[ThreeEyedRaven]

Stupid shark! Does he not realise he is showing Thailand in a bad light and could affect tourism. Come on, give us a wai, promise not to do it again and it can all be swiftly forgotten. 

[cornishcarlos]

14 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

experts in a speedboat looking into the matter

 

What have speed boat experts got to do with a shark attack ?

[simoh1490]

Slipped on barnacles, not even plausible.

[4MyEgo]

Didn't some Doctor come out the other day saying the wound was not consistent with a shark bit, well I would say that Doctor now qualifies for the title "quack".

 

Good on the Thai locals for helping the guy out with a lift to the hospital, great stuff !!!

 

[colinneil]

2 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Didn't some Doctor come out saying the wound was not consistent with a shark bit, well I would say that Doctor now qualifies for the title "quack".

 

 

Just because a doctor said it, does not mean it is correct.

Doctors are human, and sometimes get things wrong.

A doctor told me after my accident you will be walking again in 8-12 months.

He was also wrong.

[Bob12345]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

Just because a doctor said it, does not mean it is correct.

Doctors are human, and sometimes get things wrong.

A doctor told me after my accident you will be walking again in 8-12 months.

He was also wrong.

A doctor gives his "expert opinion" based on his medical experience and education.

That does not mean he is always right, it means he is more often right than the average person.

 

In this case the doctor should ask himself if he has any knowledge about shark bites or barnacle slips.

If not, he should have been smart and kept his mouth shut.

[atyclb]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Didn't some Doctor come out the other day saying the wound was not consistent with a shark bit, well I would say that Doctor now qualifies for the title "quack".

 

Good on the Thai locals for helping the guy out with a lift to the hospital, great stuff !!!

 

 

 

ran it by an emergency dept doctor i know. unless you have experience treating shark bites and know what they look as opposed to other mechanisms of injury may not know.

 

the international shark attack database only lists thailand as having a hand full of attacks very few doctors will have ever seen what it looks like.

 

sort of like a doctor trained and working in alaska not recognizing a scorpion sting

[cmiuc]

People forget.. that where there are dolphins there are sharks.  they co-exist for same reasons..   and this region all they way down to Songkla the pink and white dolphins are known in this area  so why not sharks.  Just hope there is not a mad rush to kill every shark in the sea just because of this incident.  

[wvavin]

Typical a Thai practice that they would setup a shrine to pray to the sharks so as not to attack the people there or perhaps asking for lottery numbers.....LOL

[nauseus]

3 hours ago, colinneil said:

Just because a doctor said it, does not mean it is correct.

Doctors are human, and sometimes get things wrong.

A doctor told me after my accident you will be walking again in 8-12 months.

He was also wrong.

The wounds in the pic are very consistent with a shark bite.

[Lupatria]

3 hours ago, colinneil said:

Just because a doctor said it, does not mean it is correct.

Doctors are human, and sometimes get things wrong.

A doctor told me after my accident you will be walking again in 8-12 months.

He was also wrong.

There are more old drunks than there are qualified doctors

[Lupatria]

Any warning to tourists or more likely the usual all-clear signal from the spin doctors at the TAT, or are they still suffering from a severe Songkran hangover?

[nauseus]

46 minutes ago, cmiuc said:

People forget.. that where there are dolphins there are sharks.  they co-exist for same reasons..   and this region all they way down to Songkla the pink and white dolphins are known in this area  so why not sharks.  Just hope there is not a mad rush to kill every shark in the sea just because of this incident.  

Sorry..not true.

[nauseus]

Looks like a bull. Enjoys shallow water and the occasional tourist snack! Keep clear if they are around. Tell your friends.

[chrisinth]

I see a couple of posts saying no, there have only been a small number of shark attacks in Thai waters. OK, fine, I feel you.

 

But before every shark attack, was the attack expected? The very fact that there have been recorded shark attacks should show that attacks are possible regardless of how rare they are.

[Bluespunk]

4 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Doctors suggested that it was caused by a slip on barnacled rocks

Time for some retraining.

[atyclb]

33 minutes ago, nauseus said:

The wounds in the pic are very consistent with a shark bite.

 

yes if you are familiar with what they look like or review a bunch of them online

 

a doctor trained and working in florida would not recognize bites from a bear as would one trained and working in alaska.

[apetryxx]

We lived in Hawaii for many years prior to moving to Hua Hin and while shark attacks there are also relatively rare, they do happen. The authorities there and in Florida are extremely good at identifying the type of shark by the bite marks. Perhaps some good pictures of the wound sent off to these folks would be of some help. Also, troubling is that a fisherman identified a Bull shark in the area recently. These are nasty buggers that will attack in very shallow water and I’m talking knee deep!

[Sploosh66]

What time of day did this happen? Correct me if I'm wrong but Bull Sharks feed at night unless they have ventured up into a fresh water river outlet, if it was a Bull Shark.

[apetryxx]

Hi Soloosh66,
I’m sure that you can verify this by a little sleuthing but in my experience Bull’s are not at all exclusively nocturnal. Accounts of numerous attacks by Bulls along the Florida coasts (East & West) and the coasts of other Gulf states during daytime are well documented.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[impulse]

50 minutes ago, Lupatria said:

Any warning to tourists or more likely the usual all-clear signal from the spin doctors at the TAT, or are they still suffering from a severe Songkran hangover?

 

Warning?  There's thousands killed in Thailand every month on Thai roads.  One person got bit on the foot by a shark in the past 10 years or so. 

 

If they spend any money on warnings, I hope it's warnings about the dangers of riding a rented scooter on Thai roads.  That would be money well spent.

 

[off road pat]

1 hour ago, cmiuc said:

People forget.. that where there are dolphins there are sharks.  they co-exist for same reasons..   and this region all they way down to Songkla the pink and white dolphins are known in this area  so why not sharks.  Just hope there is not a mad rush to kill every shark in the sea just because of this incident.  

Hmm,...Haven't seen dolphins for many years between Hua Hin & Songkla !?!?. I used to see a family of dolphins at Don Sak every time when I was waiting for the ferry to Samui some 20 Years ago...never anymore sins then...!

[nauseus]

42 minutes ago, atyclb said:

 

yes if you are familiar with what they look like or review a bunch of them online

 

a doctor trained and working in florida would not recognize bites from a bear as would one trained and working in alaska.

Yes, I am familiar with what they look like. 

[LuukKoeyKorat]

7 minutes ago, off road pat said:

Hmm,...Haven't seen dolphins for many years between Hua Hin & Songkla !?!?. I used to see a family of dolphins at Don Sak every time when I was waiting for the ferry to Samui some 20 Years ago...never anymore sins then...!

You'll be happy to hear that I saw a family (pod?) of 4 dolphins coming up for air and swimming 50m off the Donsak ferry terminal on 31st March !

[Airbagwill]

But of perspective........Shark bite, not attack. Apparently there have been about 4 in the last 100 years.

bullsharks like murky water.

Have you seen the mess coral can make of a foot?

Of the 400 species of sharks in the world only 14 are recorded in the waters around Thailand.

[lovelomsak]

I quess shark will be on menu's soon. 

  I have been told shark tastes similar to scallops. There was an urban myth  at one time that fishmongers in California used to fillet sharks then use a piece of copper tubing to cut nice round scallop shaped pieces from the shark and sell this as scallops. Not sure if it is true or not. But if the Thais think of this be ready for scallops on the menu too.

[mdmayes]

"We are going to need a bigger boat!"

[LuckyNo4]

Dont them sharks realize this is Thailand and if they hang around too long they will be in the frying pan lol

[lovelomsak]

10 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

But of perspective........Shark bite, not attack. Apparently there have been about 4 in the last 100 years.

bullsharks like murky water

Semantics huh  Bite or attack.

  I knew an abalone fisherman whose brother had a shark swallow him up to his waist in one bite then spit him out. They think it was the wet suit was the reason he got spit out. Would you call that a bite or an attack?

 This happened in California waters not here.