Food poisoning kills Thailand tourist

[QuotaMan]

(Speaking of food poisoning, R.I.P.)

 

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10704891

 

A New Zealand woman on holiday in Thailand has died and her two companions are seriously ill after contracting what is thought to be food poisoning.

 

Sarah Katherine Carter, 23, died at Chiang Mai Ram Hospital, in northern Thailand, on Sunday morning from a food-related illness, according to an online memorial website.

 

An Aucklander, she had studied at Victoria University and had been working at Wellington accounting firm BDO Spicers in the past year.

 

She died from eating toxic seaweed while in Thailand, after eating at a food market on Friday. Her two women friends were in hospital.

 

Ms Carter's devastated father today paid tribute to her, telling stuff.co.nz "she touched the hearts of everyone she knew".

 

The hospital had called when she was admitted and he had talked to her, he said.

 

"It appeared to be just bad food poisoning. She appeared withdrawn and not sounding that good, but seemed all right. But within an hour of our conversation the thing just spread to her heart and strangled her heart."

 

His wife was in transit at Bangkok Airport when his daughter died, and he had to call her with the awful news.

[Craig_ozz]

damn thats sad. Toxic seaweed. WTF were they doing selling it in the first place.

[Hermes]

R.I.P.

Tragic.

[furryman]

Really sad story.

 

It's a bit of a mystery what it is they caught, the CDC is looking into it.

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4648958/Death-some-other-infection-not-seaweed-official

[pedobear]

it's a Fatal Tragedy

 

 

RIP

[LaaMok]

update that it was not the seaweed http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/woman-s-death-not-toxic-seaweed-says-family-4018137

[SlickMonkey]

According to the USA Center for Disease Control, there are approximately 76,000,000 illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and over 5,000 deaths each year due to food poisoning. USA has had its fair share of food poisoning just as Thailand does.

 

Any death by food poisoning is tragic, however, I wouldn't let this stuff deter you from traveling to Thailand. Lets keep things in perspective...Death by food poisoning is rare in Thailand, just as it is in USA. (5K deaths is extremely low when compared to deaths by other occurrences). Your far more likely to die from auto accidents in Thailand or USA that you are to die from food borne likenesses.

 

Just a thought....

 

 

 

[snatch50]

Sorry to hear of your loss,as a father i can only imagine what you are feeling at this sad time God bless you and give you strengh.

kind regards

MC

[wilko]

THis report is rubbish and so consequently are some of the comments.

If you checked about you'd find the reporting of the whole tragic incident has been misleading at best.

 

Toxic seaweed???

 

There have been doubts expressed as to if it was the seaweed at all

Edited February 16, 2011 by wilko

[electricblue81]

WOW very sad to hear this,

my thoughts for the family!!!

xx.

[ausielad]

seen it on australian tv

they said it was from one of the vendors in the markets there

they showed you what looked to be sushi rolls,im sure its some sort of seaweed there wrapped up in

unless sushi is kept very cold its the best way to get food poisoning.

just comes down to comon sense when eating food in forin countries,

[)2akathaorai]

seen it on australian tv

they said it was from one of the vendors in the markets there

they showed you what looked to be sushi rolls,im sure its some sort of seaweed there wrapped up in

unless sushi is kept very cold its the best way to get food poisoning.

just comes down to comon sense when eating food in forin countries,

 

Yah there isn't a lot of Sea around CHang Mai.....

 

I bet the Thai's knew the food was old...... Money no.1 ... send them back to the Wat and learn law of karma ... kam

[doc_holliday]

Very sad!! My heart goes out to her family.

 

Why did only three farangs get "poisoned"?. Normally in a bad food outbreak, many people get sick. Why only this girl and her two friends?

 

Did the Thais know to avoid this food or vendor? Or, did the evil shit only end up in the food served to farangs?

[califdann]

I was unfortunate enough to get food poisoning on a trip to Pattaya 2 years ago. Had to cancel on a scuba diving outing. Over the years I have had food poisoning in the U.S. as well as other places. I have learned to be very wary of food preparation and storage/maintenance. Too bad about the girl.

[furryman]

Very sad!! My heart goes out to her family.

 

Why did only three farangs get "poisoned"?. Normally in a bad food outbreak, many people get sick. Why only this girl and her two friends?

 

Did the Thais know to avoid this food or vendor? Or, did the evil shit only end up in the food served to farangs?

 

Again, It wasn't the seaweed, only 2 of the 3 girls who got sick ate the seaweed and lots of others ate the seaweed and did not get sick.

 

The Thai CDC is having a had time pinpointing what it was the all 3 of the girls ate. So far it's not looking anything like 'lats poison the falang.'

[ydraw]

3 young farang girls the only ones who got sick?

 

Drink Spiking from an attempted rape most likely.

[g1k1w1]

RIP Kiwi girl

 

Ka mate, ka mate (it is death, it is death)

Ka ora, ka ora. (It is life it is life)

[Eno]

So sad for the family and friends

may you find some comfort in your memories of this special girl

Rest in peace Sarah

you must have been one of the good ones to be taken so young

[Cigarman]

Last year had some food from the Sunday bizzar in Chiang Mia. Got very very sick. By the time back in California had a 102.8 fever and shutting down. Think about what and where you are eating!!!

[MY88888]

Sorry to hear the tragic story. We all have to learn to be careful on eating in the market in Thailand.

 

It is possible that she might have contracted Hepatitis A. Make sure your immunization is up to date particularly with Hepatitis A, Hep B and Typhoid. Avoid trying any food which is not clean. I always touch only fully cooked food except fruit in Thailand.

 

The raw prawns and little crabs (e.g. the typical raw crab salad) are the killers. In my last visit to the Australia Embassy in Bangkok, I saw a few big poster regarding good poisoning with raw crabs and prawns. Check it out with the Embassy.

 

It is better to be safe than sorry. But then some thing life should be more exciting and adventurous.

[j7general]

very sad indeed.

[PepeLePew]

update that it was not the seaweed http://tvnz.co.nz/na...-family-4018137

 

Update on the update!

 

Looks like it could of been toxic gas or chemicals from her hotel room.

 

Worse than that she is just 1 of 4 deaths in the hotel and they have been trying to hush it all up!

 

http://www.andrew-dr...-jumps-to-four/

 

 

Thai mystery hotel death toll jumps to four

Published by Andrew Drummond

From ANDREW DRUMMOND,

 

Bangkok, March 2 2011

 

 

 

A fourth person has ’secretly’ died at a Thai hotel where last week two British pensioners were found dead in separate beds.

 

After an earlier incident in which a 23-yr-old New Zealand woman was taken fatally ill with supposed ‘toxic poisoning’ Thai police today admitted today that in fact there was also a FURTHER earlier incident just days before in which a Thai guest also died.

 

The admission came after a complaint from a foreign guest who saw a body on a stretcher being dragged down the fire escape of the Downtown Inn in Chiang Mai, across the hotel’s pool area, which had been temporarily closed, and into an ambulance of a local foundation.

 

“The body was covered with a sheet, but seemed to be that of a woman.”

 

 

The fourth death has not been previously mentioned to the media but today the manager of the city centre Downtown Inn also admitted that a Thai woman died on the premises, shortly before the New Zealander Sarah Carter was taken fatally ill.

 

A Chiang Mai police spokesman also confirmed the death and named the woman as Waraporn Pungmahisiranon but stressed: “It is dangerous to jump to conclusions.”

 

Thanthep Bunkeow, the hotel manager, said: “I am referring all calls to the Thai Police and the Ministry of Public Health. I cannot say what the cause is. You will have to talk to them.”

 

The Downtown Inn is part of a hotel group in Chiang Mai which also owns the Empress and Park hotels in the city.

 

Waraporn Pungmahisiranon was in fact the first person to die in the hotel last month.

 

According to Police said she died on February 3rd, several days before Sarah Carter and two friends were taken sick.

 

The New Zealanders and Thai woman were in adjacent rooms, 518 and 516.

 

A guest at the hotel said on condition of anonymity: “None of us understand why the first death was kept a secret. I saw them take the body out down a fire escape before the girls were taken ill”.

 

 

 

 

“Police had ‘Forensic Police’ signs on their jackets. There was a much easier way of getting the body out but I guess they did not want to alarm guests. They closed the pool area before walking the body through the pool area down to a foundation ambulance. We never saw this reported anywhere.

 

“We are confused. We were told that the British couple died of heart attacks after having sex. We were told the Thai woman had a heart attack. We do not know what to believe.”

 

When Sarah Carter from Auckland died early on February 9th at Chiang Mai Ram Hospital at first police and the hotel’s management put the death down to ‘toxic seaweed’ which the young woman had allegedly eaten at the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar.

 

A friend, Amanda Eliason, 24, who, police said, also ate ‘toxic seaweed’ recovered after emergency heart surgery.

 

The third New Zealand woman in their group, Emma Langlands, 23, who ordered a different meal from a stall in a food market at Chiang Mai’s Night Bazaar, also allegedly suffered food poisoning but later recovered.

 

 

George and Eileen Everitt, aged 78 and 73, were found dead in separate beds at their room on the fourth floor of the hotel ten days ago.

 

 

A spokesman for the British Embassy said: “The cause of death has still not been established.” The bodies of the two senior citizens are still in Thailand.

 

A spokesman for Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health said that the investigation was not complete.

 

Meanwhile in New Zealand the body of Sarah Carter has already been buried at an emotional funeral ceremony and no local autopsy was carried out as the family left their trust in Thai authorities.

 

But the family say that the ‘toxic seaweed’ connection had already been ruled out.

 

Richard Carter, Sarah’s father, said he had still not been told by Thai authorities what had caused his daughter’s death.

 

 

 

“One death before and two in the following days indicates it’s not just pure coincidence,” he told the New Zealand Herald.

 

The New Zealand Consulate had been helpful but had received little information from the authorities in Thailand.

 

Mr Carter said he hoped the New Zealand Government could apply pressure.

“We need to get answers, not so much for ourselves, but for other travellers going to Thailand.”

 

Mr Carter said the initial shock and trauma of Sarah’s death had subsided but had left behind a “constant anguish”.

 

“We will never have Sarah with us and that’s a difficult thing to live with each day.

 

Letters and phone calls of support had helped, he said, but each day started with the awful thought of never seeing Sarah again.

 

“That is a constant thing that will never leave us,” Mr Carter said.

 

Richard Langlands, Emma’s father, said his daughter had only just recovered and started showing signs of her old self.

 

“In the last few days…she has started revisiting what happened. She is very interested now in helping to determine what happened.”

The girls had been told by the hotel manager about the death of the Thai woman”, he said.

 

Peter Eliason, Amanda’s father, said the only communication from Thai health authorities had been an email asking for a new blood sample from his daughter.

 

“At the time (of the illnesses) we were concerned only with getting our daughter safe and getting her out. Now it is becoming very suspicious. It’s all a bit too coincidental.”

 

Mr Eliason, a farmer in New Plymouth, said tests results were promised within two weeks.

“It’s way more than two weeks now and we need to have some answers.”

[furryman]

Wow, I knew there was more to this story. I have never been up to Chang Mai but was thinking about it for next trip. this hotel is off my list now for sure!

 

I'm going to guess some contamination in the hotels water system. It does not sound like Legionella, that causes bad pneumonia. This infection seems to head straight to the heart. Creepy.

Edited March 5, 2011 by furryman

[PepeLePew]

Wow, I knew there was more to this story. I have never been up to Chang Mai but was thinking about it for next trip. this hotel is off my list now for sure!

 

I'm going to guess some contamination in the hotels water system. It does not sound like Legionella, that causes bad pneumonia. This infection seems to head straight to the heart. Creepy.

 

Legionaires disease! Of course it could very well be that.

[furryman]

I thought Legionnaires disease when the first mentioned the infection possibly being airborne, but the symptoms don't fit. Legionella most of the time looks a lot like the flu, and in some cases turns into bad pneumonia.

 

Whatever this is, the infection starts flu-like and then goes straight for the heart, the sicker of the 2 Aus girls who survived had to have heart surgery to save her and the older couple had heart inflammation when they did autopsy.

 

I'm gonna guess it's a different pathogen that used a similar vector; aerosolized water vapor from a dirty AC or contaminated water aerosolized in the shower.

 

Totally a guess though.