He and one of his researchers also denied a report that a box jelly had been found stranded on Patong Beach by security guards.
The erroneous reports seem to have been sparked by a story in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper about a woman tourist recovering from some very nasty jellyfish stings she suffered while on holiday, with the implication it happened near Phuket.
It was not clear from the story when it happened, exactly where it happened, and which kind of jellyfish was involved. There has been a suggestion that the victim, Samantha Webster, was in fact stung in waters off Hua Hin.
Box jellies have been spotted occasionally in Phuket waters, but fears that climate change has resulted in growing numbers moving north from the coast of Sumatra have yet to be proven.