Pesky little critters...

[Marsilius]

No, I'm not referring to the boys, but to mosquitos.

I set off for Thailand next week. Normally I book into View Talay 5 or 7 on a high floor where, unless they're brought up in the lifts, mosquitos aren't a problem. This time, however, I'm staying in a hotel's very large ground floor room, quite close to the front door, so I am anticipating encountering quite a few of the little devils keeping me awake and in discomfort at night (no, as I said, I'm not referring to my human overnight guests).

So far I have bought a couple of devices that plug into the mains and release a flow of insecticide (the instructions say to leave them on while you're out of the room). Can anyone advise whether those are going to be effective, or whether something else is a better solution?

I also see that, as well as anti-inflammatory creams, you can now buy some sort of hand-held personal zapper that, applied to the skin, apparently releases some sort of "shock" (is it battery powered?) that neutralises the irritation of the mosquito bite. Has anyone tried one of those? Did it work? It sounds to me as though it's like overkill - the equivalent of making you forget the pain of a minor graze by cauterising it with a red hot iron - but if anyone here finds it effective I'm willing to give it a try.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

[dinagam]

Another alternative is a good mosquito net for the period of your sleep, unmolested, safe and secure.

[cdnmatt]

Another alternative is just keep the doors and windows closed.

[Marsilius]

Unfortunately, Matt, that's not much use when the cleaning staff have left doors open during the day while they're at work and you're out. By the time you get back you've already got unwanted visitors.

[arsenal]

When I read the title o of the thread I thought it was about the mods.

My experience with mosquitoes is that what works well one day doesn't work as well a few days later. So I tend to use a variety of sprays, coils, plug ins and repellents in no particular rota.

[cdnmatt]

Unfortunately, Matt, that's not much use when the cleaning staff have left doors open during the day while they're at work and you're out. By the time you get back you've already got unwanted visitors.

Well, you can always do what we do. unleash half a can of repellent in the room, then leave for an hour or two.

Seems to do the job fine. Bit stinky, but it works.

[cdnmatt]

But yes, be careful about the mosquitos here. Not only are they annoying, they can also give you neat things like dengue fever. Not sure about you, but I don't want to find out what dengue fever feels like.

Personally, we just spray the shit out of our rooms, then leave them for a couple hours, and it seems to do the job just fine.

[francois]

Brilliant solution, matt.

[a447]

Do the mosquitoes die from the poison, or do they drown?

[francois]

From matt's description I believe they shit themselves to death.