antony77

I don't recall these ever having been reported here before.

It's important to note that the treatment for bluebottles/Portuguese man-o-wars is different than it is for jellyfish. Adding vinegar to the affected area will cause further discharge of nymatocysts. In the Phuket News report they revealed that the lifeguards here did not know that. Identification of the source of the sting can be difficult as sometimes victims  will not see the bluebottle as bits of tentacles can break off but still sting.

After carefully removing any remaining tentacles, you should rinse the affected area with sea water, not fresh. The idea being sea water, as the natural environment for the bluebottle, will not stimulate the further firing of nymatocysts. Don't rub the affected area. After the remaining nymatocsysts are removed, the affected area can be soaked in hot water or ice may be applied to reduce the pain. Lidocaine spray is best, and is kept on hand by western lifegaurds, but I am pretty sure the guards here don't carry it. Alcohol and human urine may be harmful on Portuguese man-of-war stings. An Australian study reports that both alcohol and urine caused massive nematocyst discharge in the box jellyfish, which are also in Phuket waters. A key concept in the first aid of any injury is: Do no harm. Therefore, it's best to avoid applying unproven, possibly harmful substances on stings.

Bluebottle/Man-o-war venom is nearly as poisonous as a cobras, and some people will have a severe allergic reaction. Some of these people know they have venom allergies and are prescribed epinephrine injectors (Epipens) which should be used in servere allergic reactions. Any breathing difficulties or altered consciousness should be considered a medical emergency and requires an immediate visit to ER, as does any sting to children or elderly/infirm.





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whybother, on 2011-06-15 15:52:16, said:

Did he?  
At least the army didn't put some pressure on the smaller parties to sell themselves, right?

Capealava, on 2011-06-11 11:29:18, said:

Thanks for this link, very interesting. Truly highlights the "nouveaux riches" behavior that most of the Russians exhibit abroad.

Oh Yeah...Ruskies are a special specie. They are much too cocky to mate with anybody, would not be even enough of the language barrier, and strangely, others ( Farangs at least , and certainly not only Sandinavians ) like to see them as far as possible. When the Tourism Authorities in Thailand would encourage the Ruskies to flood over it's their problem; if they donot know this basic uncompatibility.

Worse is when local developpers would pretend to sell condos at 180,000 THB / sqm, in an area flocked with Ruskies. ( yes you read me right: Northpoint in Naklua, makes a 100 sqm at 18 million THB, 600,000 USD $, I bet they are living on a cloud ain't they ? Of course as a foreigner you got to pay it off cash, no access to bank. The dude in charge to "sell " and who didnot have a clue about his product,&nbsp; recommended me,&nbsp; it was a VERY good investment opportunity.. - compared to WHAT ? -.As usual I could not sort out, wether this dude thought of me as a dumbass, or if he's himself a jerk )<br>Mexico next destination ? No idea. For sure next destination will be a "no Ruskies ", "no cheap Charlies from India ", and " no middle Eastern ", wealthy or not...