Box Jellyfish Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines & The Region

Ironman, tourist or local; when stung by the world's most venomous animal - the Chironex-type Box Jellyfish - we are all the same and could be just as dead as the next person in a matter of seconds.

The Chief of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre and Aquarium ( www.pmbc.go.th/webpmbc/RE/  and http://www.phuketaquarium.org/ ) recently visited Australia on a Box Jellyfish fact-finding mission sponsored by the Australian government and he couldn't have timed his visit any better.

Malaysia is at it again. Another day, another cover-up, another threat, another round of bullying and intimidation. While they are not alone in the region, Malaysia takes the moral high ground in many areas and purports to be a fair player in South-East Asian affairs. Well, something so simple as a truthful, open and honest finding in the death of Swedish woman Carin Lofgren, killed by what her husband described as a classic case of Box Jellyfish envenomation, was obviously too difficult. Why?

Langkawi island lies in the Andaman Sea on the border of Thailand and is one of Malaysia's hottest tourist destinations. In late January 2010 Langkawi experienced its 3rd reported and confirmed Box Jellyfish fatality in 13 years when a 45 year old Swedish woman tragically passed away only seconds after being stung. Sympathies to the poor family.