Thai worker in coma in Taiwan with 0% chance of recovery after eating freshwater shellfish

 

Image: Thai Rath

 

A Thai worker is in a coma in Taiwan after he consumed freshwater shellfish in March.

 

Now his desperate wife is trying to raise money to bring him home to Thailand so she can say her last goodbye's on home soil.

 

Chatchai Khuridee was one of a group of nine people who consumed the shellfish from a contaminated river.

 

They had been warned by their boss not to touch the shells but ignored this advice.

 

They ate the shells - known in Thai as "Koi Cherry" and "Koi Hoi" - both cooked and raw.

 

While the other eight recovered after headaches and stomach cramps, Chatchai did not.

 

Parasites have entered his brain and he is in ICU with doctors saying he is brain dead and only hanging on because he is still young. They said he has no chance of recovery.

 

His father 59 year old Prayong Khuridee said that Chatchai is the second of three sons. The family raised 85,000 by mortgaging a piece of land so that he could go to Taiwan to work at between 17,000 to 25,000 baht a month salary.

 

After he fell ill his wife Apinya Yaowalak flew out after the family managed to raise 50,000 baht for her trip. By this time he was unresponsive and in ICU.

 

Now all she is left with is the prospect of trying to raise money so that her husband can be brought back to Thailand to die. They married just four years ago and no not yet have children. 

 

The cost of the repatriation will be at least half a million baht, she said.

 

An appeal has been set up in the name of Thongwan Khuridee at Krung Thai bank #4310512593.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-04-21

3 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Chatchai Khuridee was one of a group of nine people who consumed the shellfish from a contaminated river.  They had been warned by their boss not to touch the shells but ignored this advice.

"....he is in ICU with doctors saying he is brain dead"

A sad story, but unfortunately his condition explains everything.

Sorry for his wife. fortunately for her no grieving children. 

Real sad, sometimes its just better to listen to the locals and not be stubborn, now his poor wife is all alone. 

44 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

They had been warned by their boss not to touch the shells but ignored this advice.

While this is a tragedy for his family and, considering the costs already incurred by the family, a financially crippling one, sometimes it’s still hard to find a great deal of sympathy for an individual. 

Edited April 21, 20188 yr by Bluespunk

Sad indeed for him and his family.

 

Shellfish is the one thing I do not eat - they're the bowels of the ocean!

1 hour ago, lvr181 said:

Sad indeed for him and his family.

 

Shellfish is the one thing I do not eat - they're the bowels of the ocean!

 

ESPECIALLY after being told not to by someone with local knowledge. I'm sorry, but that was pretty stupid. Lucky all of them aren't brain-dead. Or maybe they were before eating....

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

contaminated river

What sort of contamination and what is the cause of the contamination. Is their scope for legal action which could lead to financial compensation?

Perhaps this is the cause.

3/9/2018 Angiostrongyliasis confirmed in five Thai workers in Taiwan

"... According to the epidemiological investigation, 9 Thai workers who work in a factory in southern Taiwan consumed undercooked and even raw apple snails collected around the factory on February 26. ... The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced today five confirmed cases of angiostrongyliasis, or rat lungworm, in foreign workers from Thailand.  All five cases have consumed raw or undercooked apple snails and they are all currently hospitalized for treatment. They have been provided with specific medication..."

 

http://outbreaknewstoday.com/angiostrongyliasis-confirmed-five-thai-workers-taiwan-83959/

 

It's not the first time (lots of info here):  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3689478/ 

 

The above article references this from another report:  "... Two outbreaks of central nervous system infection with A. cantonensis occurred in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, during 1998 and 1999 among Thai laborers who ate raw snails. .."  Apparently this same thing occurs in Thailand (Isaan).

Edited April 21, 20188 yr by Damrongsak

14 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

Perhaps this is the cause.

3/9/2018 Angiostrongyliasis confirmed in five Thai workers in Taiwan

"... The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced today five confirmed cases of angiostrongyliasis, or rat lungworm, in foreign workers from Thailand.

All five cases have consumed raw or undercooked apple snails and they are all currently hospitalized for treatment. They have been provided with specific medication..."

 

http://outbreaknewstoday.com/angiostrongyliasis-confirmed-five-thai-workers-taiwan-83959/

 

It's not the first time (lots of info here):  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3689478/ 

 

The above article references this from another report:  "... Two outbreaks of central nervous system infection with A. cantonensis occurred in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, during 1998 and 1999 among Thai laborers who ate raw snails. .."  Apparently this same thing occurs in Thailand (Isaan).

Well if that's the case I guess it's a naturally occurring problem. Thanks.

20 hours ago, rooster59 said:

They had been warned by their boss not to touch the shells but ignored this advice.

That old Thai trait of not listening to advice and knowing better! This is a very sad case. 

Can the wife not go there?

12 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

What sort of contamination and what is the cause of the contamination. Is their scope for legal action which could lead to financial compensation?

It really doesn't matter what contamination was in the river. There was no mention made of the shellfish being served in a restaurant, so we can assume they were able to gather these shellfish themselves. They were warned by their boss not to consume these shellfish. They ignored the warning and suffered the consequences. Common sense did not prevail here. Fortunately, he had no offspring.

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

That old Thai trait of not listening to advice and knowing better! This is a very sad case. 

Can the wife not go there?

"Can the wife not go there?"

After he fell ill his wife Apinya Yaowalak flew out after the family managed to raise 50,000 baht for her trip.

13 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

What sort of contamination and what is the cause of the contamination. Is their scope for legal action which could lead to financial compensation?

TIT.

3 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

It really doesn't matter what contamination was in the river. There was no mention made of the shellfish being served in a restaurant, so we can assume they were able to gather these shellfish themselves. They were warned by their boss not to consume these shellfish. They ignored the warning and suffered the consequences. Common sense did not prevail here. Fortunately, he had no offspring.

 

You cannot tell a Thai what to do. About anything. Just look around you. Total anarchy.

16 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

You cannot tell a Thai what to do. About anything. Just look around you. Total anarchy.

 

Totally shellfish people...

6 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

It really doesn't matter what contamination was in the river. There was no mention made of the shellfish being served in a restaurant, so we can assume they were able to gather these shellfish themselves.

Totally incorrect. If the contamination for example had been caused by a company who was illegally routing their waste products in to the river and that had been the cause of contamination which led to a death then their would be the chance of legal action and a compensation claim. Manufacturing facilities, mining operations, recycling plants anything of that nature could have been an avenue worth exploring. It appears that is not the case here though.

 

Quote

They were warned by their boss not to consume these shellfish. They ignored the warning and suffered the consequences.

Would not stand as a defense of a polluter in a court of law.

More info:

 

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201803090028.aspx

 

Condition improving?  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30343662

 

https://eyeontw.com/archives/4882     "... Apple snails can carry the infectious rat lungworm, which was the same parasite that paralyzed a 19-year-old Australian rugby player due to a brain infection, who ate a garden slug on a dare, according to recent media reports. ...

On 4/21/2018 at 3:34 PM, lvr181 said:

Sad indeed for him and his family.

 

Shellfish is the one thing I do not eat - they're the bowels of the ocean!

The shellfish in question was from a polluted river and not from the ocean.

By the same token, you should not eat a lot of food here in Thailand considering the amount of pesticides in the food chain.

 

 

14 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Totally incorrect. If the contamination for example had been caused by a company who was illegally routing their waste products in to the river and that had been the cause of contamination which led to a death then their would be the chance of legal action and a compensation claim. 

Who cares, he was warned, he caused his own death. No need to chase the ambulance. 

17 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Totally incorrect. If the contamination for example had been caused by a company who was illegally routing their waste products in to the river and that had been the cause of contamination which led to a death then their would be the chance of legal action and a compensation claim. Manufacturing facilities, mining operations, recycling plants anything of that nature could have been an avenue worth exploring. It appears that is not the case here though.

 

Would not stand as a defense of a polluter in a court of law.

"It appears that is not the case here though." Would seem to negate your total post - 'in Thailand' is the subject on this forum. Just saying. 

On 21/04/2018 at 6:17 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

ESPECIALLY after being told not to by someone with local knowledge. I'm sorry, but that was pretty stupid. Lucky all of them aren't brain-dead. Or maybe they were before eating....

 

On 21/04/2018 at 11:55 AM, Bluespunk said:

While this is a tragedy for his family and, considering the costs already incurred by the family, a financially crippling one, sometimes it’s still hard to find a great deal of sympathy for an individual. 

Just a fine example of natural selection at work. 

Edited April 23, 20188 yr by Bkkthebest

17 hours ago, lvr181 said:

"It appears that is not the case here though." Would seem to negate your total post - 'in Thailand' is the subject on this forum. Just saying. 

It happened 'in Taiwan'. Just saying.

20 hours ago, fullcave said:

Who cares, he was warned, he caused his own death. No need to chase the ambulance. 

His wife.

There are some scary natural toxins present in many fish and shellfish.  Some are produced by species of naturally occurring marine algae (phytoplankton) and just get concentrated as they move up the food chain.  I saw one report on food safety in Taiwan, but can't find the link now.  But it happens all over.  Perhaps just more prevalent in certain areas.

 

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM252395.pdf