I had thought that the main danger when swimming on Samui, was the box jelly-fish problem that seems to have gotten more serious as the sea temperature warms up and the jelly-fish predators such as prawns squid and sea turtles, are being fished out or killed by pollution. As a regular swimmer in these waters, I was unprepared for what happened to me in mid July. When leaving the water following a long swim, I put my feet down onto the sand to exit the water. I felt an incredibly intensely painful stinging sensation and as I struggled to shore, found a deep penetration wound that was bleeding and agonizingly painful.

I was helped to a motorbike taxi following some on the beach treatment and told to go to the local clinic as soon as possible. Dr. Phen at her 24 hour clinic took one look at the wound on my foot and said that I had stood on a stone-fish and needed an anti-venom injection. 400 thb and an hour later, the pain and swelling quickly eased, enabling me to walk again. A little research revealed to me that this is possibly the most venomous creature in the sea and can often cause a heart attack and death!

So, please be aware, that if you intend to swim around Samui often, it might be advisable to get yourself a stinger suit, and some kind of protective footwear.

As for the idea of doing that in the water jogging exercise you often see people doing, I would say forget about that particular fitness idea!!

Never even knew this threat existed.

Thanks for the information.

the trash on Chaweng is enough to keep me away. Too many syringes.

Neoprene bootees are available in Big C. With bottles etc being so prevalent you daren't enter the water without 'em!

HTH

 

Confirm, seen one while snorkeling.

They hang around the reefs around stones, not in beach sand.

Still no deaths ever.

 

 

Like an old story:

Customer from Sweden complained to travel agency because there were fish in the the water and the children got scared.

"-There was nothing that prepared us for that in the brochure."

4 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

the trash on Chaweng is enough to keep me away. Too many syringes.

Perhaps get some new friends.

As I said in my post, it was a clear, rock free stretch of sand where I encountered this problem. To be precise, it was just in front of the Baobab cafe at Lamai beach where many people swim regularly.

i've been here 20 years and you couldn't pay me to swim anywhere around Samui, it used to be ok but these days it's full of turds, beetleskins and box jellyfish.

On 8/1/2016 at 11:55 PM, PoorSucker said:

Confirm, seen one while snorkeling.

They hang around the reefs around stones, not in beach sand.

Still no deaths ever.

 

 

Like an old story:

Customer from Sweden complained to travel agency because there were fish in the the water and the children got scared.

"-There was nothing that prepared us for that in the brochure."

 

I remember a Chinese guy doing his first night dive in Koh Tao.  Freaked out after about 15 seconds and shot to the surface.  He started complaining that no-one had warned him it would be dark.

If it's getting that dangerous it's time to use the swimming pool. What's the point if one has to wear a stinger suit and booties just to get wet.

Caught one of those while fishing off the 5 islands.  The dorsal fin had hollow spines and when pulled up to the vertical, a clear fluid (venom) was ejected. Thai boat owner made very sure nobody touched it.

 

Possibly could  have been a flathead. They have gill spikes that give a very painful sting and do like to half bury themselves in the sand. Have caught a few here.

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=flathead+fish&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gws_rd=cr&ei=a62lV-WzPKKUvQSE0IcY

On 8/2/2016 at 1:57 PM, Ponlamai said:

As I said in my post, it was a clear, rock free stretch of sand where I encountered this problem. To be precise, it was just in front of the Baobab cafe at Lamai beach where many people swim regularly.

Stone fish do not stay in sand. You said you had a single puncture wound? You were stung by a stingray.

On 05/24/2017 at 2:34 AM, jakow said:

Stone fish do not stay in sand. You said you had a single puncture wound? You were stung by a stingray.

It was the local doctor who said it was a stone fish and administered the anti venom vaccine successfully. I spoke with a German expt yesterday who also stood on a stone fish in front of Amity resort. He was lucky to get to the clinic very quickly for the anti venom shot and was OK again in about 3 weeks.