Thread: Is this thing dangerous?

Found this black creature whilst doing some weeding in the garden today. Almost picked him up with a handful of weeds.
20 baht note taken alongside of him for size comparison.

Pale Yes you could be one dead man.
I have only seen 1 of them in Thailand, many small grey ones around.
But those big black ones can kill you

^ B.S.

Black scorpion. Sting is painful, like a wasp sting, but not lethal. The smaller, brown ones are more dangerous. Thai will treat them with Tiger Balm, I recommend immediate application of an icepack until swelling goes down.

Scorpions in Thailand have very mild venom, painful but no more dangerous than a wasp sting unless you have an allergy.
In general, the larger the scorpion the less dangerous it's venom.

on the plus side, after you get stung you can eat it.

As I understand it it is dangerous to the old and infirm or the very young.

To a healthy adult I believe it's sting is similar to that of a hornet, so barring any sort of allergic reaction it is not really dangerous but not something you'd want to go looking for.

They are cranky though, when disturbed they come marching at you with the tail and the pincers up. I get rid of them the same way I do with larger spiders: put a glass bowl over it and then a card underneath and throw it off into the shrubbery, or over the wall into the neighbour's garden.

Put my boots on one morning neglecting to shake them out beforehand and stepped into one of those scorpions.

Stung kinda so-so. Not cripplingly painful but the sting on my instep lasted a week or more.

They like to hang out in sheds, old pottery etc & boots...

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

They like to hang out in sheds, old pottery etc & boots...

Withnall stoke takes his bow.

Get a tank and keep him as a pet

Wonder who would win in a fight, him or one of those giant red centipedes.

Originally Posted by Necron99

Wonder who would win in a fight, him or one of those giant red centipedes.

Centipede hands down - you want a leg that looks like a Zeppelin for 2 weeks? Stand on one of those nasty bastards.

^Agree. Totally. When I was a kid in North Africa, we used to catch scorpions on the playground and fight them against trapdoor spiders. Scorpions lost every time - same as scorpions vs anthill.

They put them in the whiskey along with the bark and twigs..... not bad at all.

E G

My gf was bitten by one, it was in the bedding
'Oh well i thought, rather her than me'
No big fuss (that would have been if I'd been bitten)

and with apologies to Chuck Norris:

"My wife was once bitten by a black scorpion; after three days of excruciating pain and suffering, the scorpion died"

i caught this centipede last month and my worker put them in the whiskey and root tree.
Matt.

Heterometrus laoticus. As quimbian corholla said, the sting is painful but harmless, however some people might develop an allergic reaction. The sting should therefore be immediately disinfected.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

^ B.S.

Black scorpion. Sting is painful, like a wasp sting, but not lethal. The smaller, brown ones are more dangerous. Thai will treat them with Tiger Balm, I recommend immediate application of an icepack until swelling goes down.

DK is correct.

To be fair, it looks hard.

Betty

Originally Posted by rubberdiesel

i caught this centipede last month and my worker put them in the whiskey and root tree.
Matt.

I have a photo of one of these with a tennis ball sized frog dead in its grasp. Pretty amazing.

Here's a couple of nasties the relatives brought to me to look at! Friggin Centipede was about a foot long! FIL said it was a small one.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

^ B.S.

Black scorpion. Sting is painful, like a wasp sting, but not lethal. The smaller, brown ones are more dangerous. Thai will treat them with Tiger Balm, I recommend immediate application of an icepack until swelling goes down.

Spoken accurately, Davis.

The larger crusted black ones aren't as nearly dangerous as the smaller brown-reddish variety - they're nasty.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

^ B.S.

Black scorpion. Sting is painful, like a wasp sting, but not lethal. The smaller, brown ones are more dangerous. Thai will treat them with Tiger Balm, I recommend immediate application of an icepack until swelling goes down.

Spoken accurately, Davis.

The larger crusted black ones aren't as nearly dangerous as the smaller brown-reddish variety - they're nasty.

We got lots of the little ones in our shop. They hide behind the boxes. Warm and dry is what they like.

Black scorpions can't kill, unless you're a midget or child. You can also eat those scorpions.

Small white/brownish scorpions (about 1-2cm long) can kill you. One of those little guys got my last year when I was doing the dishes, luckily I was rushed to the hospital.

Oh and those centipedes are very deadly too, never seen one around my home but last year I saw one in the class room.

Aparently there are no indiginous potentially lethal scorpions in Thailand.
Take that with a grain of salt tho.

Poisonous Scorpions of Thailand