A German tourist was rushed to hospital while covered in blood from a horror shark attack in southern Thailand.

Elke Maier, 57, screamed in pain when the beast sank its teeth into her leg while she was swimming in front of her hotel in Phang Nga on November 29.

Horrified tourist helped her to hobble ashore as blood spilt onto the sand from a gaping 12 inches (30cm) wound on her left lower leg.

Elke was rushed from Khao Lak beach to the local hospital before being transferred to a larger facility in Phuket for emergency surgery. She has been recovering there since.

Shocked onlooker Friedrich Bach said: 'The conditions in the sea were calm but then there was some panic. I could hear shouting and people helping a woman. I could hear people shouting 'shark, shark'. I'm afraid to go back into the sea.'

Elke had a large wound with teeth marks that was around six inches (15cm) wide and 12 inches (30cm) long. The teeth had punctured her skin and muscles.

Police and local officials arrived at the beach. They said that locals had reported shark sightings a few days earlier and one had been caught. However, they had not identified the species.

Lifeguard Athit Athit Pinyo, 29, from a hotel resort on the beachfront, said that tourists raised the alarm after Elke was attacked.

He said: 'A foreign tourist raised her hand and shouted for help. I quickly ran down to the beach to help the tourist.

'I took a board device into the water to help. There was a deep wound on her left leg that had teeth marks and it looked like a shark had bitten her.

'The area where the tourist went to play in the water was not very deep, only chest deep. It seemed safe.'

Local tourism chiefs are now scrambling to protect the image of the area. They are seen in the video patrolling the beach where the shark attack happened.

Lertsak Ponklin, President of the Tourism Business Association of Phang Nga province, said warnings had been sent to local hotels, watersports operators and surfing schools.

He said officials would investigate which type of shark had bitten the holidaymakers.

The tourism chief added: 'The next measure is to prevent Phang Nga province from becoming a rich feeding ground for sharks.

'If this was a shark attack, we must study and learn which areas they swim. We must take precautionary measures to prevent tourists from swimming there.

'We must make tourists understand the situation. In addition, we must urgently push for Phang Nga Province to have an increased number of lifeguards to protect tourists on beaches.'

Phang Nga is on the west of Thailand along the Andaman Sea coast, stretching into the Bay of Bengal.

The region is home to Reef Sharks, Tiger Sharks, Bull Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks and even Hammerhead Sharks. All of them are capable of attacking humans.