Man Dies After Wasp Attack In Forest During Mushroom Hunt

On July 5, 2569, relatives held a merit-making ceremony for Kaunkham, 64, in Kham Thao District, Nakhon Phanom Province, after he died following an attack by a swarm of wasps while mushroom foraging in a eucalyptus forest.

His wife, Ahwon, 62, recounted that on the afternoon of July 4, her husband invited her to pick mushrooms in a local forest to prepare for dinner, after learning mushrooms were freshly sprouted and others had collected many. While foraging, she urged her husband to return home, but he wandered into the grass. He then called her over to show wounds on his back, saying something had bitten him.

She saw him run from the forest, emphasizing he had been stung by wasps. Upon removing his shirt, she found one large black wasp and multiple stings on his buttocks, waist, right shoulder, eyebrows, and tail area—approximately 10 total. As they left the forest, he developed severe headache and became weak. She rushed him home on a motorcycle, but he deteriorated en route, likely due to the wasp venom combined with his pre-existing high blood pressure condition. After calling for emergency medical response, he was rushed to Nakhon Phanom Hospital but died in transit.

The coroner determined death was caused by heart failure resulting from wasp venom poisoning, compounded by his hypertension. Former village headman Sompraseang La-ba recounted meeting Kaunkham as he emerged from the forest; Kaunkham had mentioned being stung but they initially dismissed it as mosquito bites due to their prevalence. Within 30 minutes, Kaunkham was dead. Local authorities plan to send villagers in protective gear to locate and destroy wasp nests in the area, as several residents have been stung previously and the forest remains a popular foraging spot.