Box Jellyfish Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines & The Region

I read recently that the American National Safety Council state that the odds of dying over the period of one year due to an air/space transport accident are 1 in 500,000.

It would be easy to say that the chance  of getting stung by a deadly Box Jellyfish in Thailand or anywhere else for that matter  is slim. So while the occurrence is relatively rare, it is estimated that around 100-200 people are killed by Box Jellyfish in South-East Asia every year. It is also estimated that there are countless numbers of near-fatal, serious and damned painful stings using the well researched Australian model as a guide AND, if you are stung, the chances of being killed couldn't be higher.

A few hundred metres off the shore of Klong Dao beach on Koh Lanta, a hardened old fisherman pulled in the prawn net that had drifted behind his long-tail boat for 20 minutes. There were no prawns but there were plenty of transparent jellyfish about the size of an adult fist.

Exactly where deadly Box Jellyfish specifically live in Thailand's waters is at this stage a bit of a mystery - much like the number of stings and the number of fatalities. No-one is sure.

The bottom line with Chironex-type Box Jellyfish and other dangerous Cubozoans including Irukandji is that they are to be avoided at all costs. The problem of course is that this is not always possible seeing the former while big is virtually transparent and the latter is absolutely tiny (10mm). Bumping into one - as they don't attack - is the most likely form of contact. The best way to avoid contact is to cover up when in water's known or suspected to be habitat and while regular clothing could do the job, it usually flops around in the water and provides openings for tentacles and tiny animals. As mentioned in a previous post lotions and creams have not been proven to protect against lethal box jellyfish but what has been successfully scientifically tested is stinger or lycra suits. Full length stinger suits provide excellent coverage and protection from stinging tentacles and harmful UV rays. The tentacles find the lycra 'distasteful' and the animal soo...

A product now on the market in Thailand is Safe Sea which claims to prevent jellyfish stings. Its been around for 10 years or so and is very popular in the USA. Its developer Nidaria is based in Israel and tested the lotion on several species of jellyfish mainly it seems in Florida and Japan. While Safe Sea according to some studies (detailed on that company's website http://www.nidaria.com/ ) demonstrates a certain level of efficacy with certain species of jellyfish, NO testing has been undertaken on the world's deadliest animal that is reponsible for numerous deaths in Thailand and hundreds worldwide, the chironex-type box jellyfish. The product is being marketed in Thailand by a company called Oceanline who throughout their advertising refer loosely to the Box Jellyfish while mentioning fatalities and showing images of stings. The danger is that this is misleading and could provide a false sense of security with their customers while at the same time undermining the...