Near Chalong pier yesterday I saw what looked like a tornado moving over the sea.

Are these common in Thailand and are they dangerous?

I took a photo with my mobile phone so the quality is not great but you get the idea.

We had one in the ocean in front of our house about 16-17 years ago. Only one I have ever seen, It was in the strait between Koh Samui and Koh Phangan.

I think they occur, but I'd be hard pressed to say they are common, we live right on the ocean and I have only ever seen the one.

Took a photo--if you are interested I can scan it and post it, but essentially, it was a water spout out in the ocean

I saw one about 4 years ago off off Millionaires mile in the valley between Waterfall bay and Cape Sol (Road along coast out of Kamala going to Patong that does not go all the way through)

Was closer than this one but didn't last very long but was impressive to see off of the ocean.

I've seen loads. Saw five at once, but all the water-spouts I have seen were in the Java Sea, never in Thailand.

I seen that one too and have seen them before in chalong bay as i live there it sucks up the water then it dumps it on Kata hill when you see one dont go to kata as you will get wet hahahaha

Wow cool pic!

I seen that one too and have seen them before in chalong bay as i live there it sucks up the water then it dumps it on Kata hill when you see one dont go to kata as you will get wet hahahaha

Rubbish!

If that was so, it would have to move onto the land, which has never happened.

Baa Baa that is a coooool pic - anyone know how these happen please?

Saw one once off koh Larne when on the way back from koh Pai back in the mid nineties. It was pretty impressive except for the fact we were in one of those dodgy wooden boats with sod all floatation aids (life jackets/rings).

Stopped the car next to (about ten feet) a small whirl wind, we would call a dust devil, near Sriracha. It was about four feet in diameter and spinning very fast making a high pitched whistling sound. Lasted for a couple of minutes before collapsing.

Get them from time to time in Singapore. Saw one for the first time in September and it was pretty scary. One in May got posted all round the net - there's a great video clip showing it spinning a ship on liveleak - hope the link works.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b0a_1180096930

Oer missus. A bit near the boats. Aren't water spouts just aquatic tornados?

We live in South Florida. Water spouts happen here all the time. If they come ashore they are tornadoes. They do heavy damage on land but out over the sea only heavy heavy rains. Once as a child during a trip to the Bahamas, we had 12 all around us! Very scary stuff! It rained so hard it became a complete "white out". A few years ago, one came ashore in Miami and did alot of damage!

I don't know if this is an urban myth or true story, but the locals here say a water spout happened during sardine season, sucked up thousands of fish and dumped them over the beach!

The climate here is much like Thailand. Hot, and rainy. So it doesn't surprise me to see one there.

Search for: Miami tornado, in youtube to see it/ I'll try to post a link. (never done this before).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyb8pWw5Kls

Wow, amazing stuff, I guess they can pick things up too

I saw one a few months ago in NaiYang bay whilst I was cycling along the beach. Took a mobile phone photo but the quality wasn't very good. Certainly they look very impressive, but I'm not sure what happens if/when they hit land . . .

Simon

We saw one the Sunday before last, early in the afternoon. Just as we left Chalong Bay to head back up to Boat Lagoon, I turned around and there was a huge waterspout rising up over the Chalong coastline. It lasted only a couple of minutes, and as I was driving the boat, I didn't have time to stop and take a picture. But it was certainly impressive. It rose several hundred feet up and disappeared into a low, dark cloud. My sons were amazed, as was my wife, and even a little nervous. I see them quite often down in Indonesia, and have also seen them out in the Gulf of Thailand. Never heard of them causing any real damage though, just heavy rain and strong winds usually. Great picture..!