It's a holiday today, so we are recycling one of our most popular stories ever. Having little fish clean off the dead skin of your feet can be a relaxing experience, but there may be a risk of serious infection
Surprise hit
We can be quite certain that a story about a major news event here in Thailand (military coup, Koh Tao murders, etc.) will get a look of readers, but for other stories we can only guess. Here is one of our biggest surprises. This story was first posted in March 2011, but it is still getting readers today. On some days it gets several hundred.
The downside of fish spas
Thailand is fast becoming one of the world’s top spots for spa treatments, so it is not surprising that fish spas are big here as well.
They have grown rapidly in popularity in recent years as they have started appearing in shopping centres, walking streets and tourist areas.
Somchai Pinyopornpanch, director general of the Public Health Ministry's Health Services Support Department says there are 1,341 fish spas registered with the Interior Ministry but it is estimated a further 3,000 unregistered spas are in operation.
Fish spa treatment basically involves customers placing their feet into a water tank filled with toothless garra rufa fish – also known as "doctor fish". Within seconds, an army of fish will gather at the customer's feet and nibble the dead skin tissue away. The treatment typically costs 200-300 baht for a 30-minute session.
Most customers find the treatment to be relaxing and it seems harmless enough, but now the president of the Dermatological Society of Thailand is warning that fish spas are not risk-free.
Assoc Prof Nopadon Noppakun says fish spa operators who fail to keep hygienic standards are putting their customers at great risk.
"It's both the fish and the water that could cause infection," he says.
"The point is whether or not fish spa operators change the spa water regularly.
“Let's just put it this way: when we medical practitioners clean a patient' s wound, we use sterilised medical tools for every patient and we won't reuse them with the next patient for infection-control reasons," Dr Nopadon explains.
"A customer steps into the spa water and if, unfortunately, he or she happens to have an infectious wound, the infection can definitely spread to other people who step into that very same spa tank."
The risk of infection recently caused 14 US states to ban fish spas.
Adapted from story by Arusa Pisuthipan