Fishermen familiar with the waters off Hua Hin said that in the last year there have been an increasing number of large sharks in the sea off Hua Hin.
And an abbot has issued a warning after video and still photography showed sharks circling in the sea off a temple in the area where a Norwegian tourist claimed he was attacked.
Video footage showed a Norwegian man being carried to a pick-up to be taken to hospital after what was said to be a shark attack at Sai Noi Beach in Prachuap Khirikhan.
He had a bloody wound to his left foot.
Doctors suggested that it was caused by a slip on barnacled rocks but fishermen in the area expressed no great surprise that it may be a shark attack that would be a first for the area.
Phichet Wongkai said that a year ago he had caught two bull sharks in his net each weighing 30-40 kilos. (Bull sharks are one of the most aggressive sharks and can live in both salt and fresh water. They are responsible for a number of deaths worldwide.)
Since then he said fishermen had seen sharks in increasing numbers in the waters off Hua Hin. He was shocked one had bitten a tourist but was hardly surprised suggesting that they were coming in closer to the shore to feed.
For Phichet it was not a question of IF it was a shark but WHAT KIND attacked the tourist.
In light of the shark attack claim the abbot of nearby Wat Tham Khao Tao added fuel to the fire.
Phra Khru Bunyaphiram said that sharks had been coming close to the temple more and more recently. Recently he took a video of sharks circling.
https://www.facebook.com/ThaiVisaNews/videos/10157333809313012/?t=53
He was not able to confirm that it was a shark attack but he called on the authorities to act fast in the light of the evidence.
Sophon Thongdee of the Department of Coastal Resources said he could not confirm or deny if it was a shark attack yet but assured the public that his department were acting with urgency.
A survey of the area was planned for today, Tuesday, with experts in a speedboat looking into the matter.
Sophon said that if it was a shark attack it would be a first for the area.
Hua Hin fisheries representative Amnat Fakteuan also suggested that it was too early to say but intimated that the evidence was mounting that it was indeed a shark attack on the tourist.
No one has yet quoted the tourist about what he saw or felt.
One reader has stated that he would love to be present if the guilty shark is captured so he could witness the shark’s apology and wai ! (Ouch !!)
(Source:-Thai Visa News and Manager)