Seafood found to be safe, says health officials

BANGKOK: -- In an attempt to ease public concerns over consuming seafood following last month's tsunamis in Thailand's southern Andaman coastlines, the Ministry of Public Health has reiterated that sample tests on seafood are being conducted daily, and so far no contiminated substances have been found.

Dr. Vichai Tienthavorn, the ministry's permanent secretary, said public health officials were now collecting samples of crabs, oysters, various kinds of fish and squids from fishing piers, as well as from supermarkets from the country's six

southern coastal provinces--Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi, Trang, Ranong and Satun--battered by the massive tsunamis on 26 December for tests.

Some 200 samples have been tested daily, and so far no diseases or heavy metals have been found in marine lives caught by fishermen, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Thawat Suntrajrn, Director General of the Department of Disease Control, said that people should not be worried too much over eating seafood because most of the corpses found in the six provinces were on beaches and were almost in perfect shapes, and that seafood on sales in markets are mostly caught from the deep sea.

--TNA 2005-01-08

Seafood found to be safe, says health officials

BANGKOK: -- In an attempt to ease public concerns over consuming seafood following last month's tsunamis in Thailand's southern Andaman coastlines, the Ministry of Public Health has reiterated that sample tests on seafood are being conducted daily

Meanwhile, Dr. Thawat Suntrajrn, Director General of the Department of Disease Control, said that people should not be worried too much over eating seafood because most of the corpses found in the six provinces were on beaches and were almost in perfect shapes, and that seafood on sales in markets are mostly caught from the deep sea.

Not exactly a reassuring quote from the good Dr. Thawat.

btw, is this the same Public Health Ministry that down-played SARS while people were dying...and then lied about the existence of avian flu in Thailand?

i dont think that the reluctance of people to eat seafood was ever due to fear of disease but more of a squeamish / spiritual thing about (indirectly) consuming the flesh of the dead.

as usual , totally irrelevant remarks by a politician will do nothing to change the situation.