Thread: Cobra vs. Tourists - Phuket

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Ignorant tourists watching ignorant thais goading and provoking a magnificent creature into an angry response.

Sadly these snakes have had their venom producing glands removed and pose no danger to anyone.

Yeah, de-fanged, like this one where, I guess, a snake-charmer family is teaching the baby to not fear snakes.

One of my wife's older relatives kissed a (fully fanged and venomed) cobra on the top of the head, and it bit him on the tongue.

He must have felt pretty silly at this point.

He slugged down some herbal remedy and fell unconscious. Had 3 heart attacks on the way to hospital, and when he got out, he couldn't talk properly for a year.

Also, all his teeth fell out.....as you'd expect. I met the guy and he had good English....even without his teeth.

Idiot chavs in the camera shot.

Reason #152 not to go to Thailand.

Would rather watch cock-fighting in the PI.

Originally Posted by taxexile

Ignorant tourists watching ignorant thais goading and provoking a magnificent creature into an angry response.

Sadly these snakes have had their venom producing glands removed and pose no danger to anyone.

You are wrong there Tax. At that particular venue there are no glands removed. Part of the show at the end is where he milks the fangs and you can see the venom clearly.

Most of the snake handlers have a fair bit of scarring and missing digits as a result of accidents on the job.

You know the venue ? That's a big snake ! Must have a lot of venom.

Crazy, if you ask me.....

This is the snake farm next to the the shooting range complex - very close to Green Man Pub.

Show is put on whenever a few turn up to see. If only a few visitors, you can ask and get in the ring yourself. All good fun.

It's just spiders I hate, my yard at home has plenty of redbacks.

At that particular venue there are no glands removed.

The truth behind snake charming - the charmed cobra

Originally Posted by Iceman123

you can ask and get in the ring yourself. All good fun.

looks a barrel of laughs

Originally Posted by taxexile

At that particular venue there are no glands removed.

The truth behind snake charming - the charmed cobra

Yeah, like I trust that some random snake doesn't have some sort of psycho problem.
Animals can be psychotic just as much as humans.
Never fuck with a crazy guy.

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Originally Posted by Iceman123

you can ask and get in the ring yourself. All good fun.

looks a barrel of laughs

Certainly is when you have had a few beers, in fairness the handler lets you practice with the jumping snakes first - not venomous but a sore bite.

Originally Posted by taxexile

At that particular venue there are no glands removed.

The truth behind snake charming - the charmed cobra

Tax, that was a piss poor post and the article added precisely nothing to support your claim.

it wasnt posted in order to support my claim, if anything it was posted to back up yours.

Originally Posted by taxexile

Sadly these snakes have had their venom producing glands removed and pose no danger to anyone.

Total bollocks !

Originally Posted by Latindancer

You know the venue ? That's a big snake ! Must have a lot of venom.

Crazy, if you ask me.....

King Cobra

I came across one heading out of Pai on my motorbike early one morning. Absolutely shit myself.

Originally Posted by can123

Originally Posted by taxexile

Sadly these snakes have had their venom producing glands removed and pose no danger to anyone.

Total bollocks !

Explain the baby in the video I posted, and why the family is standing around laughing.

Originally Posted by Maanaam

Explain the baby in the video I posted, and why the family is standing around laughing. Maanaam is online now Add to Maanaam's Reputation Report Post

I made a post many months ago about my own experience at the Cobra Village, Ban Kok Sa-nga, in Khon Kaen. They perform with the snakes in a boxing ring. It has now become part of their act to hurl a cobra along the mat so that it get very near the watching crowd. Probably because I was the only farang in the audience at that time, a cobra was sent in my direction and, at its closest, its head was about five feet away from me.

On a subsequent visit with family I made sure that we were all well away from danger by sitting further back and higher up than the mat. It is certain that in the past one of the snake handlers at this "show" has died after being bitten.

Your video is totally irrelevant. A practice performed at one show is no guarantee that it will be replicated at others. I urge visitors to exercise great caution when visiting these places. There is a twenty five year old cobra in a chicken mesh, hand-made crate at this particular show. The crate is at ground level and it is easily possible to touch this snake. My advice is - don't.

Originally Posted by can123

Originally Posted by Maanaam

Explain the baby in the video I posted, and why the family is standing around laughing. Maanaam is online now Add to Maanaam's Reputation Report Post

I made a post many months ago about my own experience at the Cobra Village, Ban Kok Sa-nga, in Khon Kaen. They perform with the snakes in a boxing ring. It has now become part of their act to hurl a cobra along the mat so that it get very near the watching crowd. Probably because I was the only farang in the audience at that time, a cobra was sent in my direction and, at its closest, its head was about five feet away from me.

On a subsequent visit with family I made sure that we were all well away from danger by sitting further back and higher up than the mat. It is certain that in the past one of the snake handlers at this "show" has died after being bitten.

Your video is totally irrelevant. A practice performed at one show is no guarantee that it will be replicated at others. I urge visitors to exercise great caution when visiting these places. There is a twenty five year old cobra in a chicken mesh, hand-made crate at this particular show. The crate is at ground level and it is easily possible to touch this snake. My advice is - don't.

I take your point and it is a sensible one.
However, my video is not irrelevant at all....I'm sure many of these snake shows have in fact defanged their snakes.
Your caution remains well-advised nonetheless.

Originally Posted by can123

On a subsequent visit with family I made sure that we were all well away from danger by sitting further back and higher up than the mat. It is certain that in the past one of the snake handlers at this "show" has died after being bitten.

Your video is totally irrelevant. A practice performed at one show is no guarantee that it will be replicated at others. I urge visitors to exercise great caution when visiting these places. There is a twenty five year old cobra in a chicken mesh, hand-made crate at this particular show. The crate is at ground level and it is easily possible to touch this snake. My advice is - don't.

Well can123, I must say you have surprised me. A guy like you who takes his overseas visitors to stay with him at the Nana Hotel should be well used to dealing with reptiles.

I grew up with aggressive snakes- brown snakes, tiger snakes, black snakes. The cobras fearsome reputation is not deserved, and I find it distasteful to be poking it and teasing it for tourist fun. Let these macho shysters try having the same fun with a taipan (actually a type of brown snake, but extra mean). Won't happen. Neither do you see these scumbags playing around with banded krait.

By far the most deadly snake in Thailand in fatality terms, is the pit viper, of which the Australian equivalent is the death adder. They hide in leaf litter, and wait for their prey to come. But I suppose ignorant foreign (and domestic) tourists don't care about facts, just entertainment- and there is always a conman to take your welcome dollars.

Originally Posted by Iceman123

Well can123, I must say you have surprised me. A guy like you who takes his overseas visitors to stay with him at the Nana Hotel should be well used to dealing with reptiles. Iceman123 is online now Add to Iceman123's Reputation Report Post

I cannot understand how anybody can give an opinion about an hotel if they have not stayed there themselves. It is very well run and very safe. The staff on the counter do not miss a trick and their experience is known by all the locals so that "bad things" simply do not happen there.

If you think that there are no prostitutes near any of the other hotels in Bangkok, you are a total nutcase.

The food is excellent as well, as are the bar staff. I can't fault the place.

Originally Posted by sabang

f which the Australian equivalent is the death adder. They hide in leaf litter, and wait for their prey to come. But I suppose ignorant foreign (and domestic) tourists don't care about facts, just entertainment- and there is always a conman to take your welcome dollars.

Well, I am not ignorant and the relatively small price I paid to take four little kids to see these creatures was well spent. They are not exactly the type of animal one hopes to see in the wild.

I believe I saw a cobra in Pattaya, vey near Sukhumwit and on the road leading to the Railway Village. It crossed the road in front of me and I didn't immediately acknowledge that it was a cobra because it was in a location where I did not expect to see one. This was about fifteen years ago. Now, knowing exactly what a King Cobra looks like, I am certain that this was the species I had seen then.

On a recent trip between Nong Khai and Phon Pisai I saw a black snake on the grass verge. One of my wife's friends saw it as well and had no hesitation in saying it was a King Cobra. She is one of the more sensible friends my wife has and if she said it was a cobra, the it was a cobra.

I acknowledge that such shows are not models for animal welfare. On our last trip I was afraid to go to Sri Racha Zoo for fear of seeing animals who were being mistreated. I am delighted to say that my fears were not justified and this was easily the best experience I have ever had seeing captive animals. All the animals were well treated and looked to be in superb condition.

I recommend this zoo to anybody who wants a great day out. The animals were rabbits, goats, donkeys, horses, deer, water buffalo, tigers, elephants and crocodiles.

The crocodile show was rather boring but was good to illustrate how little crocodiles do in their day to day lives. They just sort of lie there.

The elephant show was very slick and the elephants all seemed happy. The tiger show was also "professional" and these gorgeous looking animals were obviously well cared for.

Any time now some knobhead will come along and criticise me for attending such a zoo. He can get stuffed, it was great, good value and we all enjoyed it.

Originally Posted by can123

They are not exactly the type of animal one hopes to see in the wild.

I've seen loads of them in the wild- cobra, king cobra, krait, pit viper, rat snake, Burmese python (in Mabprachan, Pattaya- Monster!), lots of others. I suppose it helps to live in the wild.

But I don't like animals being teased and goaded for tourist fun. I would have been no fan of bull and badger baiting back in the days either.

In 1987 I was sitting on the beach at Pulau Pangkor, a small island on the West coast of Malaysia.

There was another quite small island offshore and after a while I saw a small snake swimming in to the beach I was on. When it got onshore I walked up to it, and although it must have been tired, it put up its hood.

Unusual for it to be swimming in salt water. There must not have been much to eat on the smaller island.