Chinese Tourist Finds Spoon in Gut 6 Months After Thailand Trip

Some people come back from Thailand with a tan. 

Others come back with souvenirs. 

Xiao Yan came back with a 15-centimetre coffee spoon in his intestines.

Yes, really.

The 29-year-old Chinese man recently became a living medical meme after discovering he'd been carrying around cutlery in his digestive tract for half a year — all thanks to a drunken night in Bangkok that apparently came with more than just a hangover.

It all started in January, when Xiao Yan was enjoying (read: absolutely obliterated by) a night out in Thailand. 

At some point in the haze, he attempted to induce vomiting using a coffee spoon — a tactic only slightly less advisable than sword swallowing at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

And then... blackout.

Like many of us after a wild night, he woke up the next morning and chalked the whole thing up to a bizarre dream. Except it wasn't. 

The spoon stayed. 

Quiet. Hidden. Patient. 

Like a secret roommate living in his guts rent-free.

Fast-forward six months: he's back in Shanghai, hitting the gym, living his best life — until he suspects he may have swallowed something odd while eating takeout. (Plot twist: it wasn't the takeout.)

A CT scan at Zhongshan Hospital revealed the unexpected stowaway: a long, smooth ceramic spoon, chilling in his duodenum like it owned the place.

"This case was unusually tricky," said Professor Zhou Pinghong, who led the operation. "Long object. Smooth surface. 

Lodged at one of the body's most awkward spots. 

Basically, it was like trying to fish a buttered noodle out of a soda can."

Doctors performed a 90-minute endoscopic rescue mission using a MacGyver-style double-forceps technique to relocate the spoon to the stomach and extract it through the oesophagus — aka the reverse birth of a coffee spoon.

Xiao Yan was discharged shortly after, spoon-free and probably reconsidering his drinking habits.

No word yet on whether he'll frame the spoon or use it next time he makes coffee. 

Either way, here's hoping his next souvenir is something a little less... internal.