A STINGRAY attacked a woman as she swam at a beach on Ko Yao Noi on Saturday evening, inflicting a painful wound.
The woman, a visitor from Hong Kong holidaying on Phuket, underwent emergency treatment at the small local hospital by a doctor who examined the patient's wound from afar.
The Phuket-based doctor used a vision and voice connection from Wachira Hospital to tell a nurse on Ko Yao Noi how to treat the stingray strike.
Victim Vinncci Wai Chi Chan and her family were on a weekend excursion to the island with friends from Dusit Thai at Laguna Phuket to see the first Yao Noi buffalo and rice festival.
''The pain was unbearable,'' said the school teacher, whose husband John Tse is a university professor on Hong Kong. ''I have never known such agony.
''We couldn't help but think about Steve Irwin.''
Irwin, an Australian television celebrity and naturalist, died from a stingray strike to the chest while filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in 2006.
The stingray that attacked on Yao Noi was under half a metre in width, one of a variety that has made a return in numbers to the island's waters after an absence of several years.
''My wife needed three pain-killing jabs, the pain was so intense,'' Professor Tse said. ''We were very worried, But the treatment was first-class.
''A nurse even visited the next morning to make sure the wound was healing properly.''
Mrs Chan, who owns a holiday apartment at Layan on Phuket, was quickly back on her feet the next day enjoying the buffalo and rice festival.
Her eight-year-old son Jonathan Tse competed with school mate Anakin Thornton in a mud pitch football game, played with locals and visitors in an unplanted rice paddy field.
Friends Les and Lesni Thornton, who live near the Tse family in the outlying Hong Kong township of Sai Kung, were also looking on.
The stingray barb poured toxin into the victim's left heel as the group enjoyed a dip just before sunset, in waist-deep water.
A nurse at the hospital said that stingray strikes usually only came once a year.
''I have suffered this year's attack, so everyone can now swim safely,'' the victim joked.
The Phuket director of the Tourism And Sport office, Promchote Traivate, told Phuketwan the stingray attack was an isolated incident.
He said it was not likely to deter visitors to Phuket or to Yao Noi.
The island, about 50 minutes by ferry from the pier at Bangrong on the east coast of Phuket, is home to about 5000 Muslims as well as the exclusive Six Senses Hideaway.
The woman, a visitor from Hong Kong holidaying on Phuket, underwent emergency treatment at the small local hospital by a doctor who examined the patient's wound from afar.
The Phuket-based doctor used a vision and voice connection from Wachira Hospital to tell a nurse on Ko Yao Noi how to treat the stingray strike.
Victim Vinncci Wai Chi Chan and her family were on a weekend excursion to the island with friends from Dusit Thai at Laguna Phuket to see the first Yao Noi buffalo and rice festival.
''The pain was unbearable,'' said the school teacher, whose husband John Tse is a university professor on Hong Kong. ''I have never known such agony.
''We couldn't help but think about Steve Irwin.''
Irwin, an Australian television celebrity and naturalist, died from a stingray strike to the chest while filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in 2006.
The stingray that attacked on Yao Noi was under half a metre in width, one of a variety that has made a return in numbers to the island's waters after an absence of several years.
''My wife needed three pain-killing jabs, the pain was so intense,'' Professor Tse said. ''We were very worried, But the treatment was first-class.
''A nurse even visited the next morning to make sure the wound was healing properly.''
Mrs Chan, who owns a holiday apartment at Layan on Phuket, was quickly back on her feet the next day enjoying the buffalo and rice festival.
Her eight-year-old son Jonathan Tse competed with school mate Anakin Thornton in a mud pitch football game, played with locals and visitors in an unplanted rice paddy field.
Friends Les and Lesni Thornton, who live near the Tse family in the outlying Hong Kong township of Sai Kung, were also looking on.
The stingray barb poured toxin into the victim's left heel as the group enjoyed a dip just before sunset, in waist-deep water.
A nurse at the hospital said that stingray strikes usually only came once a year.
''I have suffered this year's attack, so everyone can now swim safely,'' the victim joked.
The Phuket director of the Tourism And Sport office, Promchote Traivate, told Phuketwan the stingray attack was an isolated incident.
He said it was not likely to deter visitors to Phuket or to Yao Noi.
The island, about 50 minutes by ferry from the pier at Bangrong on the east coast of Phuket, is home to about 5000 Muslims as well as the exclusive Six Senses Hideaway.
