Health officials warn of poisonous mushrooms during rainy season



BANGKOK, 6 June 2016 (NNT) - Health officials are warning members of the public to be careful in selecting mushroom for consumption during the rainy season when some poisonous types may more easily be found.

Director-General of the Department of Medical Sciences at the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Apichai Mongkol said that, during the rainy season which lasts from May to November, there is often a rise in the number of cases of illness and death caused by the consumption of poisonous mushrooms, particularly in the North and the Northeast of Thailand.

Dr. Apichai said that the problem could be attributed to the lack of accurate knowledge about how to test if certain mushrooms are safe for consumption, when there is such a wide variety of mushrooms in Thailand including poisonous ones that can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting or even death.

He added that people who have consumed poisonous fungi must be forced to vomit as much as possible to reduce the spread of poison and quickly be sent to the nearest hospital along with an example of the mushrooms eaten.

Dr. Apichai said that the Department of Medical Sciences has developed an effective test to identify all types of mushrooms, even those which have never been recorded, and hopes to introduce a test kit for public distribution in the near future.

-- NNT 2016-06-06

The ones in the picture would go well with some Infected Mushroom

The government should know, seems they are eating a few kilos of 'shrooms every day, judging by their hallusinations.

"There are old mushroom hunters,

And there are bold mushroom hunters,

But there are no old bold mushroom hunters"

"There are old mushroom hunters,

And there are bold mushroom hunters,

But there are no old bold mushroom hunters"

That vast majority of locals in the mountainous rural areas of Thailand know exactly what to pick and what not to pick. I haven't met 'bold' mushroom hunter out here in the sticks. The truly sought after 'shrooms are well known and easily identified.