'Spider bite' to dead backpacker

Daniel Salmon was nearing the end of a trip to south-east Asia when he died A Sussex backpacker behaved strangely and eventually collapsed and died in Thailand after reporting a spider bite, an inquest has heard. Daniel Salmon, 32, of Lancing, was detained on the island of Koh Samui because police thought he was "insane". He became ill in custody and died on the way to hospital on 14 April 2007. The Worthing inquest was told he had apparently suffered a bite three weeks earlier in Laos. A verdict of natural causes was returned. Mr Salmon, a technician, spent nine months travelling around Australia in 2006 and was nearing the end of a two-month trip around South East Asia when he died, the inquest was told. His mother Maureen told the inquest her son's arm had swelled up as far as the elbow after the bite.  He died doing what he wanted to do  Ron Salmon, father He was given anti-toxin treatment, but could not be prescribed an anti-venom as he could not identify the spider. She said he had appeared confused and slurred his speech during phone conversations home and she became so alarmed that she offered to fly to South East Asia. Mrs Salmon said he told her, "Don't worry Mum, I'll be fine". She told the inquest jury he had taken large amounts of money from cash machines on the island of Koh Samui which she thought was strange because of the low cost of living. A Bangkok post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Salmon died of failure of respiratory and blood circulation systems, but forensic pathologist Dr Mark Appleton said this was not a conclusive cause of death. He said sections of the report, which he received in August 2008, appeared to contradictory. He suspected this happened when it was translated into English. Dr Appleton added: "Unfortunately it's not really possible to come to a conclusion as to what the cause of death might have been." 'Conflicting reports' Thai police reports said Mr Salmon was taken into custody by police on the island of Koh Samui after they found him acting strangely. They said he "looked insane and couldn't control himself. He looked as if he had an unsound mind." After he was taken to a male detention room he turned on a tap and played with the water, before he was sick and became unconscious. He later died on the way to hospital. Mrs Salmon said the Thai authorities had not acknowledged the bite. Mr Salmon's father Ron, 67, said: "He died doing what he wanted to do." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/8062446.stm