Mr Somkiet was on vacation with his wife in Krabi during Songkran and went to Khlong Thom hot springs at Krabi. But soon after entering the hot water, he passed out. Members of the public helped to get him to hospital. Mr Somkiet was initially taken to Krabi Hospital, but after his condition worsened, he was transferred to Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He was recently moved to the ICU at Vichara Hospital.
A spokesman at the hospital, Dr. Jessada explained that: “The patient’s body temperature did not adapt to the heat of the spring like everyone else and that’s why he passed out.”
I find this case rather odd. The water temperature in the hot spring was reported to be no higher than 40 deg C. Wouldn’t he have felt uncomfortable and gotten out of the pool before he passed out? Even if he passed out from heat exhaustion, wouldn’t it have helped to reverse the situation once he had been taken out of the hot water? I suspect that it was just a coincidence that he stepped into a hot spring when he suffered from a stroke.
I hope people reading the original news report won’t get the wrong idea. Hot springs are not that dangerous, but of course, never dive into those boiling pools. Those are meant for cooking eggs.
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