The opportunity to get within spitting distance of an uncaged 12-foot-long king cobra doesn’t come often. But there’s a way to correct that.
A visit to the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute — just say Snake Farm when you’re asking for directions — in Bangkok, Thailand, provides the opportunity of a close-up look not only at the king cobra but a selection of Thailand’s other majestic serpents as well.
Expert handling
During a recent visit, spectators sat on concrete bleachers, looking down at the narrator and the handlers as various snakes were brought out one by one.
A handler opened a plastic box and released a large and especially unhappy king cobra to the awed gasps of spectators.
With its head nearly a yard in the air and hood spread wide, it stood ready to strike at the keepers.
And strike it did. Its open mouth flew forward towards a handler and though the muscular reptile missed, its neck hit the brick floor with a slap. But there were more strikes to come.
The two handlers leapt and dodged the flying fangs as the show’s narrator, a few feet away, nonchalantly explained the paralysing effects of the creature’s neurotoxic venom.
The cobra stoked the fears of the audience by heading for the bleachers a couple of times, but the handlers turned it back.
The drama came to an end when the senior handler recaptured the snake with his hands.
After a tense stand-off and a few quick moves with one hand to distract the snake, the handler grabbed the snake by the neck with the other.
Two Siamese cobras came next, much smaller than the king cobra, but with more potent venom.
After they hissed loudly and struck often, they were corralled and taken back to their island at the centre of the snake farm.
Next up was a banded krait, a flashy yellow-and-black reptile, which a handler carried on his arm. Though very poisonous, the snake is not aggressive during day.
The show also included a mangrove snake and a copperhead rat snake, which, though non-poisonous, strikes aggressively.
After a demonstration of how venom is milked from a cobra and an instance of force-feeding, out came a small Burmese python.
Strong purpose
Though the snake presentations create a bit of a circus atmosphere, there are serious purposes behind it. Thailand is blessed with 180 species of snakes, according to a slide show before the snake show.
And of those 180 species, one third are poisonous — which means snakebites. The nation, with a climate ideal for snakes, has many farmworkers who run the risk of encountering these venomous reptiles.
So, the more-than-eight-decades-old institute has a mission of producing antivenin to treat snakebites. The centre also breeds snakes and conducts researches on diseases affecting them.
After the show, it is definitely worth staying around to talk to the handlers.
On one of my three previous visits, a handler gestured while answering a question about a snake, and that was when I counted his fingers — one was missing.
“King cobra,” he explained. His index finger had to be amputated after a bite.
And there was nothing subtle about a Siamese-cobra bite a veterinarian had suffered. There was a huge area, swollen and bright-red, extending the length of his forearm.
Quite a selection
There are also a few outdoor snake exhibits besides the enclosures for the cobras. In one, two white-lipped green pit vipers lounged in a plant as three white mice went about their short lives below them.
A large enclosure nearby housed Burmese pythons of several sizes. In an aquarium was a brood of rainbow snakes.
There is also a brochure that comes with the admission ticket, which tells you in detail what to do if a poisonous snake bites you.
Go there ... Bangkok
From the UAE ... From Dubai
Package includes return economy class ticket on Emirates;
4 nights stay in a deluxe view suite on double sharing basis at The Banyan Tree Bangkok; daily breakfast; and return airport transfers
Fare: Dh5,170
— Information courtesy:
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Phone: 04-4298576
Getting there
- The Snake Farm is in central Bangkok near Lumphini Park on Rama IV Road, inside the Thai Red Cross Institute.
- Hours: Snake-handling shows are at 11am and 2.30pm on weekdays and at 11am only on weekends and holidays. A half-hour before the snakes appear, a slide show gives background information.
- Admission: 200 baht, or $6.40 (Dh24).
- Update: A new building with extensive snake exhibits opened early this year.
