Thread: German tourist suffers severe injury after being bitten while swimming Khao Lak Beach

A German tourist was injured on Friday (Nov 29) after being bitten by a large fish while swimming off Khao Lak Beach in Phang Nga province.


The 57-year-old man sustained a deep wound – around 15 centimetres wide and 30 centimetres long – on his left leg.


Local authorities, including the Takua Pa district sheriff, the president of the Phang Nga Tourism Business Association, and marine resource officials, visited the scene to investigate the incident.


A 29-year-old lifeguard at a nearby hotel recounted that the tourist had signalled for help while in the water.




Upon reaching the tourist, they discovered the severe bite wound.


While initial speculation suggested a shark attack, authorities are awaiting expert analysis to confirm the species of fish involved.


The injured tourist was transported to a hospital in Phuket province for treatment.

Local authorities and hotel operators have erected red flags on the beach to warn tourists of potential danger.


They have also issued an advisory urging swimmers to exercise caution.


The Phang Nga Tourism Business Association said it was working with relevant stakeholders to investigate the matter further and implement additional safety measures.

German tourist suffers severe injury after being bitten while swimming in Thailand's Khao Lak Beach | The Star

Large fish with teeth are usually sharks one would of thought.unlikely to be a blowfish. Although might of been a different result with a blowfish? Nothing much surprises me anymore

Possibly a trigger fish. Very territorial and aggressive. Even scuba divers avoid them

Blowfish probably charge 500 baht

Lucky wasn't his middle stump Herr Helmut Lacking.
I heard some fish have porpoisnality pwoblems after being snapped by piper extraordinaire and all round natty gent and dogs in pyjamas or was that a wrass asumption?

Originally Posted by misskit

The 57-year-old man sustained a deep wound – around 15 centimetres wide and 30 centimetres long – on his left leg.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

Possibly a trigger fish. Very territorial and aggressive. Even scuba divers avoid them

That's not the bite of a triggerfish.

It's s shark just like it was previously.

Both bull sharks and tiger sharks are in Thai waters but, fortunately, and nobody knows why, they don't predate in these waters (as they do in Egypt for example).

^ yeah. Looked at the dimensions after I had posted, so agree.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

^ yeah. Looked at the dimensions after I had posted, so agree.

It's genuinely amazing that there aren't more bites really cos there's absolutely no reason why there shouldn't be when you consider Thailand's warm waters and the bull or tiger attacks that happen in other warm waters such as Miami, Egypt La Reunion etc

That's the bite radius of a shark and no fucking fish 55555

Bull shark thought to have bitten German woman

A bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is believed to be responsible for the attack on a German woman in the sea off Nang Thong Beach in Takua Pa district of Phang-nga province on Friday, according to the Phuket Marine Fisheries Research and Development Centre.


The creature was identified from the teeth marks it left below the knee on the woman’s left leg.


The victim was initially rushed to a clinic in Khao Lak and later taken to a private hospital in Phuket for treatment.


After the incident, hotels in the Khao Lak area were asked to advise their guests not to swim in the sea for their safety. Red flags are also being flown on the beach, to warn people to exercise caution.


Meanwhile, Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine expert at Kasetsart University, wrote in his Facebook post today that, from the images of the wounds on the victim’s leg, he believes the teeth marks are indeed those of a shark.


He said the bite below the knee of the victim, who was swimming in water only about 1.5 metres deep, suggests that the shark mistook the moving legs in shallow water as prey.


The fact that there was just one bite also indicates that the shark realised that the woman was not its natural prey and swam away, said Dr. Thon, adding that there were similar non-fatal attacks reported off Phuket several years ago.


He insisted that the incident should not lead to indiscriminate hunting of sharks. Many sharks in the Thai waters are killed just for their fins.


The previous shark attack was reported on May 2nd, 2022, in the sea off Kamala Beach in Phuket. The victim was a Thai-Ukrainian, who is also believed to have been attacked by a bull shark.

Bull shark thought to have bitten German woman