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Venom

jeremymorris1812

Updated: Feb 15, 2024

I'm in Bangkok with an appointment at the prestigious WHO and Red Cross centre for Venomous snake toxicology research. Herpetologist Heaven.



All the Thai venomous snakes are here, King Cobra, Monocled Cobra, Indo-Chinese Spitting Cobra, Banded Krait, Malaysian Pit Viper, Green Pit Viper and more.

I couldn't help thinking of Ridley Scott's Alien and was waiting for one to twitch.



Anti-venom is produced here, but unfortunately if you do get bitten you're likely to need a whole lot more than that. The two main types they deal with are:


  • Hemotoxic Venom - Acts on the cardiovascular system including the heart and blood

  • Neurotoxic Venom - Acts on the Nervous system including the brain


The banded krait is the most toxic and most people who get bitten by this nocturnal snake die in their sleep never knowing about it. The King Cobra due to its sheer size can inject the most amount of venom. Neither snake was aggressive, the Krait looked sleepy but in the heat of Bangkok the Cobra was supercharged and I wasn't prepared for the lightening speed of a 12ft King Cobra. I missed the starting gun.



Monocular Cobra




Around Bangkok

Bangkok is a very modern city with some amazing international architecture in the business district. I stayed in Chinatown as it was new year where some of the old buildings can still be found. Many of them converted into shabby chic boutiques and restaurants.


There's a fast pace here, I got some new glasses,. the optician could do an eye test straight away and incredibly the glasses were ready for collection that evening, not weeks.



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Guest
Feb 13, 2024
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Wow! Fascinating stuff, you're very lucky :)

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