A version of this article first appeared in the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong on November 2.
THE WOMAN screams, runs out of the water onto Patong beach, rolls on the sand and dies in agony within three minutes. She has been stung by a box jellyfish.
The wounds from the tentacles are shocking. Within a month, tourists stop coming, resorts begin to close. The sea is alive with the creatures. Phuket's holiday heaven is at an end.
That's the nightmare scenario triggered by the discovery of the fearsome box jellyfish on the island's east coast and the death of a Swedish tourist off the neighboring destination of Krabi in April.
Nobody can say for sure that the scenario will happen. But nobody can say with certainty that it won't, either.
Two kinds of box jellyfish have suddenly appeared in the Andaman region, expanding their territory and turning up in numbers in places where they were previously unknown.
While the jellyfish seem to prefer shallow tidal foreshores near mangroves, marine biologists, health officials and the entire tourism industry have become deeply concerned about what might happen next.
Virtually every day that researchers check, immature box jellyfish are being found near an east coast mangrove forest at Nam Bor Bay, about four kilometres from the island's capital, Phuket City.
On Wednesday, three were caught in two small stake traps set by local fishermen. On Thursday, after heavy rain, there were 10 more in the traps.
Seven more slightly larger box jellyfish were found in stake traps on Friday.
Once the box jellyfish mature, where will they go? They appear to prefer shallow mangrove beaches.
I watched Thai children play yesterday in the water at a beach a few kilometres from where the jellyfish have been found.
On Friday, Dr Somchai Bussarawit, the chief of the museum and aquarium at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, set out with a sample box jellyfish to begin a lone-handed survey of fishermen along the east coast.
Scientists don't yet know much about the jellyfish, first discovered off Phuket in July, including the scale of the infestation.
But if two small traps net the jellyfish regularly, it's probable that thousands more are already in the water.
''This is all new to us,'' said Dr Somchai, who is now finding out all he can about a marine creature that was previously far less relevant.
It is only when a Thai reporter and I are in the waters of Nam Bor Bay, watching closely as a colleague of Dr Somchai takes box jellyfish from the traps, that we notice a difference in approach.
The two marine scientists are in long trousers and shoes, while the two reporters are bare-legged and bare-footed.
Essentially, that's one of the key issues for anyone paddling around in the sea off Phuket these days: Perhaps people should be told more about the box jellyfish, for their own safety.
Are the stings of the tennis-ball sized immature creatures dangerous? Dr Somchai smiles.
That's a matter for further research, and something none of us are keen to find out for ourselves.
After our paddle in the water late last month and the Phuketwan article that followed, the director of the marine biological centre, Vannakiat Thubthimsaeng, quickly alerted tourism groups, hospitals, local authorities and the island's new Governor to the presence of the jellyfish.
While Phuket's popular west coast beaches remain clear of the creatures for now and may stay that way, the extremely dangerous jellyfish have already proved themselves to be highly adaptable.
One of the two varieties has a sinlge tentacle, a single eye, and can propel itself by swimming through the water, Dr Somchai says.
Unsurprisingly, the discovery of the box jellyfish has also raised concern about the reporting of drownings and marine attacks.
As all three box jellyfish deaths widely reported in Thai waters since 2002 have been foreign tourists, speculation is rife that there have been many other deaths among Thais.
Phuket's marine biologists have sounded the alert and are now handing out donated bottles of vinegar, the only effective treatment for box jellyfish sting.
Yet other local officials have often proved keen not to alarm the tourists.
In August, Hongkong visitor Vinncci Wai Chi Chan was with her family on a weekend excursion to the small outlying island of Yao Noi when she was attacked by a stingray.
''The pain was unbearable,'' said the school teacher, whose husband John Tse is a university professor. ''I have never known such agony.''
Stingrays had made a return in numbers to the island's waters after an absence of several years. But the locals neglected to tell the tourists.
In Australia, tourists are usually warned about the presence of dangerous creatures and have not been discouraged from visiting places where the box jellyfish is a menace.
After the death of the Swedish girl in April, Dr Peter Fenner of James Cook University in Townsville told the Phuket marine biologists: ''Making the knowledge of this possible danger public will not detract in the long term from Thailand tourism, whereas ignoring it with subsequent deaths of tourists will.''
As with marine attacks, drownings are also believed to often go unreported.
Seeking to break the conspiracy of silence is Jayne MacDougall, newly appointed Director of Risk Management and Loss Prevention at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort.
She helped to organise Patong's first Australian-style surf lifesaving carnival in October and says: ''What's needed is a change in culture and education about how to swim and how to save people at pools and beaches.''
Stingray victim Ms Chan recovered quickly after painkillers and treatment at a local clinic. A nurse told her that stingray strikes usually only came once a year.
''I have suffered this year's attack, so everyone can now swim safely,'' she joked.
Box jellyfish victims may not be so fortunate. An Australian visitor became a victim of a box jellyfish at Koh Phangan in 2002.
''The long tentacles wrapped around his legs three or four times each,'' an official said. ''It would have been an excruciating death."
Dr Somchai is consulting Australian experts to find out more about the Phuket box jellyfish and organising the distribution of donated vinegar to resorts and dive companies.
At one stage last year, officials at Ocean Park in Hong Kong offered to teach Phuket marine biologists about box jellyfish but there was no funding.
''I visited them personally,'' Dr Somchai said.
On Monday, he is due to visit the provincial governor who will decide after the briefing what course of action needs to be taken.
Phuket's tourist industry has survived the 2004 tsunami, an air crash at the local airport that killed 90 people last year, a coup, a blockade of tourist flights and a state of emergency declaration, and several bird flu alarms.
The box jellyfish is another major test, this time from an unexpected source.
Update: Every tourism alert is different. Australians are now being warned not to go to Indonesia because the execution of three of the 2002 Bali bombers is expected at any time. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith told media: ''We're taking all the precautions we can but we do urge Australians to reconsider their need to travel to Bali and Indonesia at this time.''
Phuket Jellyfish Alert: Governor To Decide
Box Jellyfish continue to be taken from waters close to Phuket City, with distribution of the vinegar that can treat stings about to begin. The governor is to meet a leading marine centre researcher on Monday.
Phuket Jellyfish Alert: Governor To Decide
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Biologist Sounds Alert
Phuket's Marine Biological Centre has issued an alert over the presence of box jellyfish in waters off Krabi and Phuket. Scientists are continuing to try to define more clearly the dangers, without unnecessary alarm.
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Biologist Sounds Alert
Box Jellyfish Found Off Phuket: Death in Krabi
The death of a tourist off Krabi and the discovery of a non-fatal form of box jellyfish off Phuket bring a call for help - and a claim that many more deaths go unrecorded.
Box Jellyfish Found Off Phuket: Death in Krabi
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Are We In Danger?
Virtually every day now, numbers of box jellyfish are being found at a spot not far from Phuket City as marine biologists puzzle over their unexpected presence. Should we be alarmed?
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Are We In Danger?
Photo Album: Join A Jellyfish Hunt
THE WOMAN screams, runs out of the water onto Patong beach, rolls on the sand and dies in agony within three minutes. She has been stung by a box jellyfish.
The wounds from the tentacles are shocking. Within a month, tourists stop coming, resorts begin to close. The sea is alive with the creatures. Phuket's holiday heaven is at an end.
That's the nightmare scenario triggered by the discovery of the fearsome box jellyfish on the island's east coast and the death of a Swedish tourist off the neighboring destination of Krabi in April.
Nobody can say for sure that the scenario will happen. But nobody can say with certainty that it won't, either.
Two kinds of box jellyfish have suddenly appeared in the Andaman region, expanding their territory and turning up in numbers in places where they were previously unknown.
While the jellyfish seem to prefer shallow tidal foreshores near mangroves, marine biologists, health officials and the entire tourism industry have become deeply concerned about what might happen next.
Virtually every day that researchers check, immature box jellyfish are being found near an east coast mangrove forest at Nam Bor Bay, about four kilometres from the island's capital, Phuket City.
On Wednesday, three were caught in two small stake traps set by local fishermen. On Thursday, after heavy rain, there were 10 more in the traps.
Seven more slightly larger box jellyfish were found in stake traps on Friday.
Once the box jellyfish mature, where will they go? They appear to prefer shallow mangrove beaches.
I watched Thai children play yesterday in the water at a beach a few kilometres from where the jellyfish have been found.
Can Phuket Beat The Jellyfish Menace? Tell Us In The Comment Box Below
On Friday, Dr Somchai Bussarawit, the chief of the museum and aquarium at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, set out with a sample box jellyfish to begin a lone-handed survey of fishermen along the east coast.
Scientists don't yet know much about the jellyfish, first discovered off Phuket in July, including the scale of the infestation.
But if two small traps net the jellyfish regularly, it's probable that thousands more are already in the water.
''This is all new to us,'' said Dr Somchai, who is now finding out all he can about a marine creature that was previously far less relevant.
It is only when a Thai reporter and I are in the waters of Nam Bor Bay, watching closely as a colleague of Dr Somchai takes box jellyfish from the traps, that we notice a difference in approach.
The two marine scientists are in long trousers and shoes, while the two reporters are bare-legged and bare-footed.
Essentially, that's one of the key issues for anyone paddling around in the sea off Phuket these days: Perhaps people should be told more about the box jellyfish, for their own safety.
Are the stings of the tennis-ball sized immature creatures dangerous? Dr Somchai smiles.
That's a matter for further research, and something none of us are keen to find out for ourselves.
After our paddle in the water late last month and the Phuketwan article that followed, the director of the marine biological centre, Vannakiat Thubthimsaeng, quickly alerted tourism groups, hospitals, local authorities and the island's new Governor to the presence of the jellyfish.
While Phuket's popular west coast beaches remain clear of the creatures for now and may stay that way, the extremely dangerous jellyfish have already proved themselves to be highly adaptable.
One of the two varieties has a sinlge tentacle, a single eye, and can propel itself by swimming through the water, Dr Somchai says.
Unsurprisingly, the discovery of the box jellyfish has also raised concern about the reporting of drownings and marine attacks.
As all three box jellyfish deaths widely reported in Thai waters since 2002 have been foreign tourists, speculation is rife that there have been many other deaths among Thais.
Phuket's marine biologists have sounded the alert and are now handing out donated bottles of vinegar, the only effective treatment for box jellyfish sting.
Yet other local officials have often proved keen not to alarm the tourists.
In August, Hongkong visitor Vinncci Wai Chi Chan was with her family on a weekend excursion to the small outlying island of Yao Noi when she was attacked by a stingray.
''The pain was unbearable,'' said the school teacher, whose husband John Tse is a university professor. ''I have never known such agony.''
Stingrays had made a return in numbers to the island's waters after an absence of several years. But the locals neglected to tell the tourists.
In Australia, tourists are usually warned about the presence of dangerous creatures and have not been discouraged from visiting places where the box jellyfish is a menace.
After the death of the Swedish girl in April, Dr Peter Fenner of James Cook University in Townsville told the Phuket marine biologists: ''Making the knowledge of this possible danger public will not detract in the long term from Thailand tourism, whereas ignoring it with subsequent deaths of tourists will.''
As with marine attacks, drownings are also believed to often go unreported.
Seeking to break the conspiracy of silence is Jayne MacDougall, newly appointed Director of Risk Management and Loss Prevention at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort.
She helped to organise Patong's first Australian-style surf lifesaving carnival in October and says: ''What's needed is a change in culture and education about how to swim and how to save people at pools and beaches.''
Stingray victim Ms Chan recovered quickly after painkillers and treatment at a local clinic. A nurse told her that stingray strikes usually only came once a year.
''I have suffered this year's attack, so everyone can now swim safely,'' she joked.
Box jellyfish victims may not be so fortunate. An Australian visitor became a victim of a box jellyfish at Koh Phangan in 2002.
''The long tentacles wrapped around his legs three or four times each,'' an official said. ''It would have been an excruciating death."
Dr Somchai is consulting Australian experts to find out more about the Phuket box jellyfish and organising the distribution of donated vinegar to resorts and dive companies.
At one stage last year, officials at Ocean Park in Hong Kong offered to teach Phuket marine biologists about box jellyfish but there was no funding.
''I visited them personally,'' Dr Somchai said.
On Monday, he is due to visit the provincial governor who will decide after the briefing what course of action needs to be taken.
Phuket's tourist industry has survived the 2004 tsunami, an air crash at the local airport that killed 90 people last year, a coup, a blockade of tourist flights and a state of emergency declaration, and several bird flu alarms.
The box jellyfish is another major test, this time from an unexpected source.
Update: Every tourism alert is different. Australians are now being warned not to go to Indonesia because the execution of three of the 2002 Bali bombers is expected at any time. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith told media: ''We're taking all the precautions we can but we do urge Australians to reconsider their need to travel to Bali and Indonesia at this time.''
Essential Reading
Phuket Jellyfish Alert: Governor To Decide
Box Jellyfish continue to be taken from waters close to Phuket City, with distribution of the vinegar that can treat stings about to begin. The governor is to meet a leading marine centre researcher on Monday.
Phuket Jellyfish Alert: Governor To Decide
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Biologist Sounds Alert
Phuket's Marine Biological Centre has issued an alert over the presence of box jellyfish in waters off Krabi and Phuket. Scientists are continuing to try to define more clearly the dangers, without unnecessary alarm.
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Biologist Sounds Alert
Box Jellyfish Found Off Phuket: Death in Krabi
The death of a tourist off Krabi and the discovery of a non-fatal form of box jellyfish off Phuket bring a call for help - and a claim that many more deaths go unrecorded.
Box Jellyfish Found Off Phuket: Death in Krabi
Photo Album
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Are We In Danger?
Virtually every day now, numbers of box jellyfish are being found at a spot not far from Phuket City as marine biologists puzzle over their unexpected presence. Should we be alarmed?
Phuket Box Jellyfish: Are We In Danger?
"A version of this article appeared in Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post on 2 November" because you sent it to them under your name. You (personally) are trying to perpetuate the sensationalist aspect of this story by introducing headlines such as "HK readers learn about Phukets biological crisis". Tone it down please until we all learn a bit more.
Editor: Tone it down? I am not sure what you mean. Don't tell people elsewhere that Phuket has a problem? Lives are at stake. People have to be warned. Disclosure in this instance seems to me to be essential. As a journalist, I will let as many people know as possible. And, given the chance, I will let Phuket people know what the rest of the world is reading and thinking, too. That way, people will act with commonsense and speed.
Posted by stuart on November 3, 2008 08:23