It has been confirmed that the Norwegian man pulled from the sea at Sai Noi beach was indeed bitten by a shark.
An aggressive bull shark is believed to be the culprit.
In the first shark attack in memory in the area signage is being erected along with a safety net and other warnings.
A large entourage went to visit Werner Danielsen, 54, in Bangkok Hospital Hua Hin on Tuesday the day after the attack.
Leading the well wishers was deputy Prajuab Khirikhan governor Chotnarin Kertsom, officials from disaster mitigation, the military, the police, the public health department, department of coastal resources, the Hua Hin district chief, the mayor and many others.
It was just as well that Werner’s room seemed like a large one.
Werner was given some red roses and some other presents. He is being kept in under observation for now but is out of danger. His Thai wife Amornrat Phaengnga is in close attendance.
A smiling Werner thanked everyone especially the hospital for their care.
“When I recover I’ll be back in the sea,” he said adding bravely: “No shark is going to stop me!”
Following the hospital visit the deputy governor went to see the abbot of Wat Tham Khao Tao who had filmed sharks circling. He observed that there were a good number of Thai and foreign tourists in the water as normal.
He said that it looked like a bull shark was the likely cause and suggested that the animals were coming close to the shore to breed and probably mistook the Norwegian’s foot for a bit of food.
Sharks don’t normally attack people for no good reason, he said.
Signage in Thai, Chinese and English is going up and a military and police task force is being set up to avert future trouble.
Swimmers are being advised not to go too deep, to avoid murky water, to swim in groups, not to swim at night and to avoid bathing suits or clothes with the color of red or orange or any coloring or design that closely resembles the scales of fish.
Originally doctors suggested that the Norwegian had slipped on rocks.
No one is saying that now.
Times comment:- Whilst this is not exactly Jaws, the public should take the warnings seriously. Ok, it’s unlikely that anyone is going to get eaten but most shark attack victims who die do so through either shock or loss of blood.
Bull sharks are more aggressive than great whites and tiger sharks and more unpredictable into the bargain. A bite which opens up a main artery is serious, the femoral artery being the most at risk.
Think we’ll be giving the sea a wide berth for a while !!
(Source:Banmuang and Thai Visa)