An ice-cream vendor died after eating puffer fish at midnight on Dec. 24 in his home in Bophut. His wife and five-year-old daughter, who also partook of the deadly dinner, were in serious condition at the Thai International Hospital.

Dusorn Anumart, 57, bought the puffer fish, known for its potent nerve poison, at a market on the island. In some countries, particularly Japan, puffer fish is a specialty. But it requires special skills to remove the poison from the fish to make it safe to eat.

Police said Dusorn cooked the puffers for dinner. Towards midnight, however, Dusorn, his wife Lom and their daughter Ayagarn had difficulty breathing and started vomiting blood.

The wife tried to drive their motorcycle to take the poisoned family to the hospital. A passerby in a Toyota pickup truck saw the frantic family and rushed them to the hospital.

Dusorn died on the way to the hospital, police said.

Told about the poisoning incident, policemen went to the hospital to investigate. They found Dusorn’s half-naked body dead and frothing in the mouth.

Although in serious condition, Dusorn’s wife and daughter survived.

Police later went to the victims’ house and found a pot of fish in the kitchen. Blood and vomit were all over the place, they said.

The victims’ neighbors said that Mr. Dusorn Anumart was an ice-cream seller and the fish in the pot was a puffer fish which he bought at a market somewhere in Koh Samui and they just knew that the man was dead.

In the primary investigation, the inspector assumed that the dead man would buy the puffer fish for dinner but he did not know the right way to cook it. The officer collected some deadly puffer fish for further examination. Meanwhile, the reporter said that Ms. Lom Nammagon and Miss Ayagarn Prempol, the dead man’s wife and daughter, were safe but they still needed to be under doctor’s care.

Chirdchay Taweemeung, the reporter
Koh Samui, Suratthani, Tel. 081-5978592
2 pictures attached.

Akanee Thongtara
Translator