#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  Thai Spiders

## somtamslap

I've spent the last fortnight or so taking the hands -on approach at the farm and with this usually comes the abundance of insects, reptiles and animals who literally go out of their way to make my life unnecessarily uncomfortable. 

Combine the searing beam of an angry midday sun with a gallon of thick perspiration and a swarm of flies eager to feast on your ever growing tapestry cuts and lacerations, and you have surely hit rock bottom. 

Couple a hard slog the length of two football pitches with 40 kilos of corn balanced precariously on your head whilst skipping from the path of large venomous (probably anyway) snakes, and it becomes lucidly apparent that your time would be more productively spent filing data and playing solitaire in a small village in Berkshire. 

Pair a devastating blow with a sickle to a section of undergrowth and a red ant's nest the size of a fucking basketball and you soon conclude that school may actually have had something going for it after all.

Certainly, the jungle and indeed the farm play host to many beautiful and thoroughly fucking irritating species of wildlife, but the cunning stealth and sadistic streak of the Thai spider would place it firmly at the top of the leaderboard in terms of sheer spite and generally twattishness.

They generally tend to lurk..at face height..

So whilst you're humbly going about your chores these 'Face-Suckers' are waiting to ambush your face.

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## somtamslap

After a narrowly avoiding having my face chewed off, I decided a comprehensive inspection should immediately take place.

I quickly tried to recollect a poetic survival chant:

_Black next to yellow_ - couldn't remember the entirety of it, but 'yellow' definitely rhymes with 'mellow'

_Black next to red -_ again I failed to recite the full verse, but 'red' sounds a bit like 'dead'

But this particular arachnid decided, quite masterfully I should add, to confuse the living shite out of it's prey by being all three..

Check out the pincers. Now they weren't designed for knitting...

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## somtamslap

Unfortunately I had to dismantle its intricately spun web because it kept fucking staring at me..



This from some website - 

The most dangerous spiders in Thailand are mainly forest dwellers. Some _Tarantula species have a reputation for aggression and the bites are painful and best treated in hospital with anti-venom. Symptoms can include swelling, exhaustion, muscle cramping, difficulty breathing and fever. Sometimes, these occur days after the bite._
_For your safety, empty out shoes and shake clothes before wearing, especially in rural areas - not forgetting to wear a full-face motorcyle helmet should you wish to partake in a spot of farming._

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## ltnt

Mr. Somtamslap,

What species is the spider in your photo?  Web footed Issan gingersnap crotch biter?

All my problems in the garden stem from these enormous green worms with yellow stripes, black spots and white circled black eyes puffed up like a green cheese curl marshmallow.  They eat everything in site.  

Worst part is my wife is terrified of them and always comes to me for dealing the deathblow to the poor buggers.  I have great respect for worms, and the inclusion of "Worm Karma, " certainly isn't something I encourage.

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## somtamslap

> What species is the spider in your photo?


 I've no idea - I know they like to eat people's heads though.






> All my problems in the garden stem from these enormous green worms with yellow stripes, black spots and white circled black eyes puffed up like a green cheese curl marshmallow. They eat everything in site.


 They don't sound native to this planet. Are they a caterpillar of sorts?

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## ltnt

> They don't sound native to this planet. Are they a caterpillar of sorts? somtamslap is online now Add to somtamslap's Reputation Report Post        Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!


Yes, but I've never been allowed to see them once they reach Butterfly stage.  I've had a couple Atlas moths take residence in my yard however,  enormous monsters.  Wing spans exceeding 6".  I've also had a few bats fly into the house at night attracted by the lights and one Hawk during the day chasing a bird.

Hawk couldn't stop fast enough and slammed into the interior wall and knocked himself out.  I revived him wrapped him in a towel till he was fully alert.  White and black spotted, but not much bigger than an pigeon.  He never got excited while I held him and when I opened the towel he simply flew away.

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## klong toey

You been watching Alien its okay they are not face huggers.
The Golden Orb Weaver has been known to catch birds in its web. If you go trekking in South Asia you will often find your trail has a Golden Orb Web right across your path, huge in size (think of a web the size of a single bed). These webs are also sometimes at face level, meaning you will walk into them sometimes.

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## ltnt

> The Golden Orb Weaver


Is that it's real name?

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## Jesus Jones

How big are these spiders because looking at the pictures scares the shit out of me!

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## somtamslap

> How big are these spiders


 About the size of the average human adult male's hand..

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## somtamslap

> Originally Posted by klong toey
> 
> The Golden Orb Weaver
> 
> 
> Is that it's real name?


There's similarities..

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## klong toey

When ever i go fruit picking in the jungle insects and reptiles don't bother me,unlike Thai paranoia for snakes.I am more worried about being hit on the head by a fecking massive Durian,the brother in laws driving his old US army jeep has no brakes making driving through the jungle a little bit more dangerous than normal.
And falling from the bloody great big tree i have just climbed,so i can shake and pick the fruit from.
Oh and defend by cicadas.

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## boloa

> _Black next to yellow_ - couldn't remember the entirety of it, but 'yellow' definitely rhymes with 'mellow'
> 
> _Black next to red -_ again I failed to recite the full verse, but 'red' sounds a bit like 'dead'


Don't know about spiders but for Coral Snakes they say"red next to black is a friend of Jack but red next to yellow will kill a fellow".
and 
"red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, okay Jack."

You could be fooked if your colour blind  :Smile:

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## somtamslap

^ Or another version might be - Red next to black, jump the fuck back - Black next to yeller, cuddlie feller.

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## Khun Custard

> For your safety, empty out shoes and shake clothes before wearing, especially in rural areas - *not forgetting to wear a full-face motorcyle helmet* should you wish to partake in a spot of farming.


Hmm.. was just thinking  what I will wear on my head tomorrow while gardening - the Arai, Shoei  or go a bit more rural with an Index   WTF!!




> Web footed Issan gingersnap crotch biter?


  :Smile:  :Smile: 

I was only contemplating,on my bike ride this morning, the cycle of nature one encounters in Thailand on a daily basis , today it was Soi Dogs, yesterday it was a high proportion of recently run over brown snakes and the day before that it was a green / silver snake who sprinted across the bitumen, coiled up and then took a lunge - jeezus that gets your heart ticking a bit faster!!! 

Were been lucky so far with no spiders spotted at our house I guess the family of Tokays make a meal of them

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## WujouMao

> After a narrowly avoiding having my face chewed off, I decided a comprehensive inspection should immediately take place.
> 
> Check out the pincers. Now they weren't designed for knitting...


Is it the same breed as this sod which i nearly walked into when i was in a Cambodia jungle.



> sideview..... jesus!
> 
> 
> and the back, just look at those monsters!!


Or is this harmless^

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## OhOh

It's the jumping ones you need to look out for.

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## khmen

^I've heard that before. I had some in my room on Samui and a TG said they could bite, but they were tiny, not much bigger than the tiny ones in the UK. Or are these ones a bit bigger than the ones I'm on about?

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## OhOh

I think the leaf it's standing on, ready to attack no doubt, gives the size away :Smile: 

Unless he's on a monitor lizard........hmmmmm

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## CaptainNemo

Ooh, I fookin' hate animuls X<

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## khmen

^^Well, not really. There's some bloody big leaves in the jungles in Thailand!

As an aside, found this site when looking for info just now: Insect displaying, incl. live insects at SIAM INSECT-ZOO & MUSEUM

for the "Siam insect zoo and museum" in Chiang Mai. Looks quite interesting, anyone been? Some great info on Thai insects on there.

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## DrAndy

> for the "Siam insect zoo and museum" in Chiang Mai.


it is fairly new, I often pass it by

as for insects, they are fabulous beasties, really colourful, often beautiful

even the spiders look brilliant, once you get over the initial irrational fear

my wife caught a big one like in the OP, she slammed a plastic dish cover on it so we could all have a look at it as it rushed around

I dumped it over the road in the grass later

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## Jesus Jones

> Originally Posted by Jesus Jones
> 
> How big are these spiders
> 
> 
>  About the size of the average human adult male's hand..


Shit!  Don't know why i'm so scared of spiders, the pictures alone make the hairs on my back stand up.  I think this fear comes from my mum.  Despite my fear i would never kill a spider, but if i walked into that i would scream like a biatch!

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## jizzybloke

I notice DD hasn't commented on this thread  :Smile:

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## Crepitus

> Originally Posted by somtamslap
> 
> 
> After a narrowly avoiding having my face chewed off, I decided a comprehensive inspection should immediately take place.
> 
> Check out the pincers. Now they weren't designed for knitting...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


walked into web a few times and had 'em crawl on me without harm..I find the strong web more intimidating..more paranoid of other _wildlife_ like ants and scorpions & snakes ...especially snakes..!
....sadly last month, FIL was found dead on his bed in our house from three snake bites .. ..he was house/farm sitting for us..don't know where or when he was bitten..doc told us that the particular snake venom would have killed him within five minutes!...also lost our ridgeback a few months ago from snake bites ....
it sure _is_ a jungle out there ..take care out there!!!

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## Boon Mee

^Seems like I'm walking into these webs all day long on the property.  And, they are industrial-strength webs too!  Nothing like a face full of web to cause disorentation!  The spiders never seem to bite tho - red ants are my biggest problem.  Them and the 'booats' - termites.

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## robuzo

> ^I've heard that before. I had some in my room on Samui and a TG said they could bite, but they were tiny, not much bigger than the tiny ones in the UK. Or are these ones a bit bigger than the ones I'm on about?


Jumping spiders can't hurt you. Actually, they'll eat the spiders that spin webs in the house; other spiders are an important prey item.

Thailand's spiders aren't very impressive, compared to the US or especially Aussie. They make up for it in snakes, scorpions and centipedes I suppose. None of the above troubles me much when I am stomping about the greenery in Thailand- the wee ticks and leeches are really annoyingi, but t's the damned ants and hornets that worry me, not to mention the awful things one can get from mossies. Worst of all there's the cops and assorted officialdom. Give me actual invertebrates any day.

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## somtamslap

> ....sadly last month, FIL was found dead on his bed in our house from three snake bites .. ..he was house/farm sitting for us..don't know where or when he was bitten..doc told us that the particular snake venom would have killed him within five minutes!...


 Shit! Sorry to hear that. Have you any idea what kind of snake it was? I'd hazard a guess, given your location, that it was a pit viper of sorts.

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## pescator

[quote=robuzo;1950873, but t's the damned ants and hornets that worry me, .[/quote]

Amen to that.

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## Crepitus

Shit! Sorry to hear that. Have you any idea what kind of snake it was? I'd hazard a guess, given your location, that it was a pit viper of sorts.[/quote]

thx ..coulda been..I think the police doc did tell the wife's sister ( we were in Phuket) but guess it was not something that was deemed that important..
...been around the farm looking and clearing potential brush/shrub hiding places sealing up holes  from burrowing animals etc near the house ..think the offending snake was hunting the mice and rats and gekos that are attracted to the house..been putting out poison for them too...
..the fang marks were about 3in apart..must of been something large!

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## Lecram

Your concern for spiders is far outweighed by your stupidity. Why leave the safety of middle class where ever and allow your Thai darling to put you on the farm in bum fuck no where. "We build big house on land mama sell us cheap" meaning twice the going rate!! pfft Stupidity such as this deserves a bite or two on the arse and if the spiders don't do it well the atm dragon probably will. Oh yes the good life of swilling beer daily and pretending the brother in law/ actually her Thai husband is a loving caring guy. What are you people thinking? Were you farmers back home? Nice looking spiders though and thanks for sharing! :smiley laughing:

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## Rural Surin

> ^Seems like I'm walking into these webs all day long on the property. And, they are industrial-strength webs too! Nothing like a face full of web to cause disorentation! The spiders never seem to bite tho - red ants are my biggest problem. Them and the 'booats' - termites.


I can deal with mot daeng, but of late have been coming across those lovely giant Thai centipedes and nasty little brown scorpions [lethal] whilst clearing underbrush during the dry season on the principle property....

Spiders. On occasion we've had those giant-legged bushy variety [big as a fucking truck] set up camp in some quite corner of the house. They're quite intimidating just by their sheer size - don't know how venomous they might be.

One certainly can't live in a country setting [regardless of your ivory palace] without the hazards and benefits of all these critters....just live with it.

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## somtamslap

^^ It's not hard to tell the ones who've been stung is it. It's ok, matey..you have the right to be bitter. How's wanking in pools of your own fecal matter working out?

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## celtic

Lecram 
Pattaya

Last Online: 05-12-2011 03:04 PM
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 6 



Your concern for spiders is far outweighed by your stupidity. Why leave the safety of middle class where ever and allow your Thai darling to put you on the farm in bum fuck no where. "We build big house on land mama sell us cheap" meaning twice the going rate!! pfft Stupidity such as this deserves a bite or two on the arse and if the spiders don't do it well the atm dragon probably will. Oh yes the good life of swilling beer daily and pretending the brother in law/ actually her Thai husband is a loving caring guy. What are you people thinking? Were you farmers back home? Nice looking spiders though and thanks for sharing! :smiley laughing: 
Lecram 
Pattaya

Last Online: 05-12-2011 03:04 PM
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 6 



Your concern for spiders is far outweighed by your stupidity. Why leave the safety of middle class where ever and allow your Thai darling to put you on the farm in bum fuck no where. "We build big house on land mama sell us cheap" meaning twice the going rate!! pfft Stupidity such as this deserves a bite or two on the arse and if the spiders don't do it well the atm dragon probably will. Oh yes the good life of swilling beer daily and pretending the brother in law/ actually her Thai husband is a loving caring guy. What are you people thinking? Were you farmers back home? Nice looking spiders though and thanks for sharing! :smiley laughing: 

Lecram 
Pattaya

Last Online: 05-12-2011 03:04 PM
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 6 



Your concern for spiders is far outweighed by your stupidity. Why leave the safety of middle class where ever and allow your Thai darling to put you on the farm in bum fuck no where. "We build big house on land mama sell us cheap" meaning twice the going rate!! pfft Stupidity such as this deserves a bite or two on the arse and if the spiders don't do it well the atm dragon probably will. Oh yes the good life of swilling beer daily and pretending the brother in law/ actually her Thai husband is a loving caring guy. What are you people thinking? Were you farmers back home? Nice looking spiders though and thanks for sharing! :smiley laughing: 

Your concern for spiders is far outweighed by your stupidity. Why leave the safety of middle class where ever and allow your Thai darling to put you on the farm in bum fuck no where. "We build big house on land mama sell us cheap" meaning twice the going rate!! pfft Stupidity such as this deserves a bite or two on the arse and if the spiders don't do it well the atm dragon probably will. Oh yes the good life of swilling beer daily and pretending the brother in law/ actually her Thai husband is a loving caring guy. What are you people thinking? Were you farmers back home? Nice looking spiders though and thanks for sharing! :smiley laughing: 


^^ It's not hard to tell the ones who've been stung is it. It's ok, matey..you have the right to be bitter. How's wanking in pools of your own fecal matter working out?



Thanks for another good thread and heartfelt congratulations for actually making it to the second page before (what I have noticed lately seems to be a trend on this forum) some cretinous A-hole that's been a member for a year or less here posts in an attempt to insult and degrade you but only manages to remind those of us with half a brain that enjoy ALL that Thailand offers the obvious reason for all that RED under their avatar and name !

 Anyway, I enjoy your posts, so mai pen rai. Thanks again.          celtic

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## OhOh

> that's been a member for a year or less here


And only 6 posts.

Remember when you joined, the nervousness of posting anything. Give the bugger a chance he may turn out to be great fellow. He may want to read all of Somtamslaps threads before commenting on his latest.

He/she will either disappear for another year or find the "right" level.

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## watdog

seen some bigguns.

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## celtic

Kor tod krap Khun OhOh, you make a good point! But it is very annoying to be reading a nice enjoyable thread and have one of those guys pop up with their six-guns blazing and yes I remember when I first joined and the reluctance to post. Even now years later I only post to thank people for their threads or if I feel that I have something to contribute or sometimes to react in jest if I think something is funny.
 Most of the members here seem to be polite, well mannered, good people and while not everyone agrees on many subjects it usually doesn't get nasty. So It was just my irritation towards some relative "newbies" who seem to think (although time on this forum does not always reflect knowledge and understanding of Thailand and it's people) that they know-it-all.
 I hope that they all calm down and realize that you can learn a lot more with your mouth closed and your ears open. You get what you give and it starts with respect. I just don't want to see Teakdoor become like that other Thai forum.
 Sorry for venting and thanks for the valid point you made.

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## OhOh

If people ignore the more obvious ranters they tend to either quieten down with the blasts or just disappear altogether of there own accord.

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## ENT

I've walked into one of these.
I was eleven, barging along a path through the bushes with a stick, not looking up, but down, for snakes, when I bounced off a huge web.
First I'd seen that size.
Catches birds and eats them.
Usually eats giant moths etc.
Later, I saw another with a small yellow and green feathered bird in it, similar to the one described below.

Signature spider in Nagaland | Demotix.com

If you're looking straight ahead as you walk, you can see the white cross to warn you.
The main web can be up to four or so feet across.

Large moths and small birds can fly easily between the arms of the cross and the surrounding vegetation, so get caught.
Large birds cant, so don't try, so don't wreck the web.

(Farmers paint a white cross on the black plastic covered hay-bales to deter birds.)

The Thai version is smaller.


The Signature Spider | Scienceray

A very pretty spider.

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## ENT

Edited double post.

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## eddysix

Scare  too  :mid: 


Spider  ==  Mae mai  dum  ?

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## somtamslap

> Spider == Mae mai dum ?


 Maeng moom, usually..

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## fiddler

I hike in the jungle a lot here in Thailand. 
I've brushed up against these big spiders, like the ones in your pics, numerous times. (sometimes with my face, as you say, they like to be around head level)
They've never harmed me in any way. 

The only thing I worry about in the jungle are the Tor, or tiger wasps. 
I've been stung 3 times and each time, it hurts like hell for about 24 hours. 
I run the other way when I see those now.

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## Stumpy

Speaking of spiders, I was shuffling my feet to the kitchen/laundry area the other night in a coma sort of state, flipped on light and saw this fella on the wall. Great to know he was cruising the place while I slept in peace.....I stared at him as I sipped my water, I shut off light and went back to bed. Of course I slept with one eye open.

[/IMG]

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## nevets

Dont know what that is , we have small jumping ones in the house and in the garden have ones in a hole with a web across the front.
Never been bothered by them . 
We get scorpians sometimes small white ones never seen mom and dad the big ones .

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## Looper

^^I think it is a huntsman. They really are scary looking fuks cause of their size and the way the run sideways at 25 Km/h. Can give you a painful bite but in practice they are pretty timid and not dangerous.

I have got some monsters in the kitchen and they are good at keeping the cockroaches down.

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## zeusbheld

> All my problems in the garden stem from these enormous green worms with yellow stripes, black spots and white circled black eyes puffed up like a green cheese curl marshmallow. They eat everything in site. 
> 
> Worst part is my wife is terrified of them and always comes to me for dealing the deathblow to the poor buggers. I have great respect for worms, and the inclusion of "Worm Karma, " certainly isn't something I encourage.


don't know if this worm is actually a caterpillar, but there's one variety of green caterpillar i've been warned away from. very, very poisonous sting apparently. that said, i'm much more scared of centipedes. aggressive, poisonous, ugly and around here, big. spiders don't bother me much i've never been attacked by one.

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## Bettyboo

> ....sadly last month, FIL was found dead on his bed in our house from three snake bites .. ..he was house/farm sitting for us..don't know where or when he was bitten..doc told us that the particular snake venom would have killed him within five minutes!...also lost our ridgeback a few months ago from snake bites .... it sure is a jungle out there ..take care out there!!!


Fuk me! Where do you live; please don't say Nakhon Nayok...  :Sad:

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## Bettyboo

> ..the fang marks were about 3in apart..must of been something large!


3 inches apart??? Can anything other than a King Cobra have such big fangs? (Other than a python and their 'venom' won't be killing anyone/thing in 5 minutes...)




> nasty little brown scorpions [lethal]


Is this a myth or true? I've heard from many folks that there are no, NO, lethal scorpians or contipedes in Thailand; though I have been treking with old Thais who were scared shitless of a big centipede and said it was lethal; I suppose they should know...




> ^^I think it is a huntsman. They really are scary looking fuks cause of their size and the way the run sideways at 25 Km/h. Can give you a painful bite but in practice they are pretty timid and not dangerous. I have got some monsters in the kitchen and they are good at keeping the cockroaches down.


I think you're right. I used to get a large one in my living room/bathroom/kitchen many years back; Boris. He liked to spend time on my pillow, in the soap dish at 6am shower time, and peeking out from under the sofa - in the end, when I woke up at 2am and he/she was on my pillow, I had to get the missus to remove him (I was standing on a chair like a big girl at the time). They are scary looking and bloody fast (not faster than the missus and her Tesco bag 'glove'...  :Smile: ).

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## BaitongBoy

> old Thais who were scared shitless of a big centipede and said it was lethal


They are ugly fckers, and have a wicked bite/venom...See my thread on Giant Centipede Attack...but not lethal...

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## zeusbheld

> no, NO, lethal scorpians or contipedes in Thailand; though I have been treking with old Thais who were scared shitless of a big centipede and said it was lethal; I suppose they should know...


from what i've read they're generally not lethal but it's a strong enough poison that the sick, children or the elderly may be at risk. 

plus they're the evil-est looking mofos on the planet. and unlike most spiders they're aggressive. saw a 6" long, 2 baht coin in diameter centipede try to pick a fight with a car tire once...

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