Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
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Dear Martin,
My name is P. I am 68 years old, no smoker, no drinker, no medication and healthy until now. My question is: normally I live in Suratthani city. Recently I bought a house with a lot of land (jungle) and a river in Khou Sok to vary my life,… now I wonder if I should take something against malaria?
Regards,
P.
*****
Dear P,
A good question. Khou Sok is not a typical malaria area. However, that doesn't mean it can't be done. I would not take malaria prophylaxis there or elsewhere, unless there is a 100% chance that you will get it. The cure is often worse than the disease, especially when taken for a long time.
From my own experience in the Amazon area, I know that it can make you very sick. I had been smart enough to sleep on the bank of the river after a party in the village. When I woke up, I was all swollen from the mosquito bites. In the village located deep in the jungle, there were only medicine men. The first one gave me three glasses with something in them, probably a quinine extract. When I started puking after ten minutes, he sent me to a colleague who had to treat me again. After some incantations, which lasted about 20 minutes, I was given a carafe of green goo. Six glasses. Afterwards it turned out to contain an infusion of Ayahuasca. For several days I walked through the village like a zombie. I don't remember anything about those days, not even that I was very ill.
After three days I came to my senses and felt good again. Never had any problems after that. I stayed in the village for half a year.
The only ailment I had back then was a frozen shoulder. They had another medicine man for that, who made me run into a tree. Wash in one go. He was too old to do it himself. A special experience, indeed.
Fortunately, there are good doctors here, who know very well how to treat malaria. They don't have Ayahuasca here. That means you will never forget a first attack.
As I said, the chance of Malaria in Khou Sok is small. Dengue and snake bites are more common there.
Here's some more information about malaria: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/malaria/symptoms-causes/syc-20351184
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Maarten