AN SMS appeal across Phuket for a special type of blood has caused widespread concern and heartache for the safety of a young child said to be dangerously ill.

The appeal first went out on Saturday evening and was still circulating today. Past and present office bearers at Patong Rotary Club, concerned to react to the initial appeal for help, passed on the SMS message.

At one stage, 300 crew members from three US Navy warships docked off Phuket were on stand-by to help. But calls to the telephone number mentioned in the initial SMS prove fruitless.

''We didn't get any reply,'' said Sam Fauma, a past-president of Patong Rotary who responded today to an SMS from Phuketwan ''It has been an exercise in frustration.''

The original message read: ''Plz plz plz forward this msg at least five members. A baby needs AB+ BLOOD immediately contact 0842271877 dont delete frnd . . .Ur small sms will save a kid.''

Calls to that number get the regulation ''Sorry, the number you dialled is not correct'' voice response.

It's worth noting that SMS remains the preferred method by which notification of local authorities would be made in the event of a second tsunami striking Phuket and the Andaman coast.

Phuketwan's advice is that the internet and local radio are probably the fastest means of spreading the word about a real community alert.

SMS is clearly subject to pranksters or perhaps mistaken numbers.

Was this case a hoax? Or a mistake with the telephone number? We still can't say for sure.

If there really is a child out there in need of AB positive blood, please call us on 076 236836.