King cobras in Thailand: why some villagers worship the snake and others drink its blood
To some rural Thais the cobra is the ‘angel snake’, whose presence is a good omen; to others it is a creature to be killed to supply them with energy
A king cobra lay under grandpa’s bed, peeking from behind the elderly man’s leather sandals. The large snake was discovered by Jak, a 10-year-old boy who raced into the room after a wayward chicken ventured in from the courtyard.
At the news of the uninvited visitor, villagers in Namaipai, in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, raced to the Sukanan family’s house, where the snake had taken up residence.
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With a single bite, the cobra could have killed any one of the curious villagers. King cobras are the world’s largest poisonous snake and can grow to 5.5 metres long. Their venom contains potent neurotoxins that paralyse the central nervous system and can fell an elephant. Death can occur within an hour of being bitten.
Thankfully, some villagers managed to tease the reptile out from under the bed and manhandle it into a rice sack. They transported the snake to a nearby forest and released it.
Many people would get the shivers if they discovered a cobra in their bedroom. Not the Sukanans, though. They view the appearance of the snake as a good omen.
“Having an angel snake come to your home is a blessing,” explains Aree Sukanan,the daughter of the elderly man under whose bed the snake had hidden, and mother of the boy who discovered it. “My father dreamed about a snake and the next day we found the snake under his bed.”