Landed on a tropical island: Time to spare
And then suddenly I have time to spare.
While I still had a somewhat structured day up until yesterday, there is now time left.
Normally I go swimming every day, something that keeps me busy for 2 hours a day. With the scooter to the beach, an hour of walking in the bay and back again. I'm not doing that today, and I don't know if I'll go again tomorrow.
Yesterday I had quite a scare. I am always aware of the dangers of swimming in the ocean, and yesterday I came into contact with one.
In the waters around our island, jellyfish occasionally occur. Most are quite harmless, some are terribly painful, but you won't die from them. But there is 1 species, the Boxjellyfish, and that is poisonous and can be life-threatening. And that also swims here sometimes.
Because I like swimming in the ocean, I did some research. Where and when I could encounter such a dangerous creature, and there is really no way to predict it. The chance that you will come into contact with it and die from it is not very big. But I do swim every day, so I think about it quite often. Still, I take the risk. Looking to see if I can spot something lying on the beach or in the water has become second nature. Furthermore, I do not swim too far from the coast. Everything is well thought out.
Unfortunately, I was unlucky yesterday. While swimming, I suddenly feel a touch on my left hand that resembles hundreds of wafer-thin, softly boiled noodles. As if struck by lightning, I pull my hand back. Danger! I immediately feel a lot of pain. What was it? Thousands of thoughts flash through my head. I instinctively know that I have to get out of the water as quickly as possible. I can't see anything in the water close to me, but there is no time to look around for long. Get out of here as quickly as possible. It is definitely a jellyfish, but what kind? The pain is getting worse and worse. If it was a box jellyfish, then my life is in danger. The most deadly animal in Thailand is not that big and is also transparent. How can I avoid it? Can I go straight to the coast? Where is the danger now? The box jellyfish can have tentacles that are meters long and if I get tangled in them, there is a good chance that I will not survive. Should I call for help? On the internet I have seen the most horrible pictures of people who have been hit over a large part of their body. And just like with burns, in this case it is also true that the larger the surface, the greater the mortality. Am I going to die now? The pain is getting worse quickly. During all these thoughts, I act intuitively and reach the shore.
Whether it's a mild shock or the adrenaline rush I don't know, but the moment I walk out of the ocean onto the beach I feel like Ursula Andrews in a Jaws movie, narrowly escaping the predator and I breathe deeply in and out. A feeling of victory comes over me: I'm alive!
The burning pain in my hand brings me back to reality.
There, Thai beach life continues quietly. Logically, I didn't scream for help and I didn't run screaming out of the water.
Here and there I see a sunbather and a small group of tourists sitting carefree in the water a few hundred meters away. I peer back at the spot where it happened; nothing to see and even when I look further out to sea, I see nothing unusual. But my film is not over yet. If it was a box jellyfish, the poison is doing its work and I am still in danger. What now?
Vinegar! What else.
Vinegar is used as first aid for box jellyfish attacks.
Luckily, I see a small cabinet with a bottle of vinegar at a closed dive shop. Next to that cabinet, a Thai lady is also sitting quietly on a bench. I tell her in English that I was probably stung by a jellyfish. And ask if she knows if box jellyfish have been seen today. She smiles kindly and nods at me. I quickly realize that she doesn't speak a word of English. I pour the vinegar over my painful hand and in the meantime it continues to grind in my head.
What kind of jellyfish was it? If it was a box jellyfish, how bad am I? Can the venom still take effect? Am I feeling faint, short of breath, heart palpitations? How am I doing? I want to go home.
With a firm step back over the beach to my bag, meanwhile paying close attention to whether my condition is deteriorating. And think about whether I should report something and to whom? Should I warn the people in the sea? And for what? Should I go to the hospital? Should I report somewhere that I had a jellyfish collision? At the resort where my bag is, I report the incident at a bar. An English-speaking boy listens to me. “Yes, its jellyfish season, Madame you need vinegar?”. “No thank you, I already did that”. With that the conversation seems to end. He looks at me a bit pityingly, or am I imagining it? Who knows what he is thinking, I don't really look mortally wounded. My painful hand shows only a small dark line.
My sober self takes over. Most of the jellyfish here are not deadly, but they are very painful. I assume it was one of those.
If it was a box jellyfish, my nervous system would already be affected and eventually, in the worst case, my heart would stop. My heart is still beating, I am quite calm, I will live for a while.
I really want to go home now. If I feel worse during the 30 minute scooter ride home I can still go to the hospital, I almost pass it.
Halfway through the scooter ride the pain gets worse and I call home. Friend René is home and I explain what happened, he has to get more vinegar and will google what to do. Son Robin is also informed. He asks Al what jellyfish I might have come across. Long live the internet.
When I got home, René found a checklist of symptoms for when it was really serious. None of them apply to me. I am in agony and I realize very well that this minor collision could have more consequences than just a temporarily painful hand. What does this do to my desire to swim in the ocean? And do I have to swim in a protective Stingersuit from now on? And do I want to? Do I dare to go into the ocean again? Do I ever dare to enjoy the soft, warm water again?
I am quite shocked and now also a little scared.
Whatever it was, it didn't kill me.
That I have been very lucky is certain.
But what if things had turned out differently?
What if I had been completely hit by a box jellyfish? What if I hadn't survived? Well, then my time here would have been over. I'll think about that for a moment, of course.
Now a day later the pain has already subsided and a barely visible red line testifies to my collision. How big the rest of the damage is, time will tell.
I am still left with the following question:
What do I do with all that time I have left?
About this blogger
- My name is Els (1963) and since 2015 I live partly in the Netherlands and partly on Koh Phangan. I have a boyfriend in the Netherlands and I am a (reserve) mother for my children. I regularly work a few hours as a VA for the financial administration. On Koh Phangan my day starts with a nice breakfast and good coffee at Bubba's in Baantai, one of my son's coffee and brunch places. I love simple living, lazing in the hammock, colorful people, nature, scooter riding, swimming and dancing.
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- Living in Thailand21 September 2024Landed on a tropical island: Time to spare
You've apparently already found one good way to spend your time as an alternative to swimming: writing scary thrillers. But the combination of both activities naturally keeps both mind and body in shape. Just take the risk of an encounter with the dangerous jellyfish, whether or not in a Stingersuit. Better a static, improbably fast end than centuries of decline. And exciting reading material for us as a welcome by-product.
What a frightening story Els, I can completely imagine it, you don't know what it was and subconsciously you think of the worst.
I take my hat off to you for remaining so calm, I'm sure many people in that situation would have completely panicked.
Hopefully you can overcome your fear and enjoy your swims again.
I think swimming in the seawater of Thailand is not a good idea. I have lived there for almost 20 years and the only time I went into the sea I suffered from bumps and itching for weeks. The seawater in Thailand is very unclean and there is little or no control over it.
Do not compare the seawater in Thailand with the water in Europe.
As an avid swimmer, I am very happy with the large swimming pool in our condominium.
I would recommend a swimsuit that covers the whole body, I always do that when I go snorkeling. That way you are protected from jellyfish and the sun.
Koh Phangan is also beautiful from a Paddleboard. You are still near the water but not dependent on what is in the water. And with an inflatable paddleboard you can visit all the beaches. I myself have already been around the island (in parts).