3 minutes ago, tifino said:

I wouldn't want to be 'standing' anywhere near it!

 For if it gets spooked, it could be scarpering for the nearest tree

 - and the nearest tree could be 'you'

if that thing climbs you... goodbye to your face as you remembered it!

Actually, they are extremely timid and will always look for a way out, unless you look like a chicken, of course!!

and. believe it or not, they can scale concrete walls!!!

13 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

They are common all over but there is some superstition ( as if there wouldn't be) surrounding them.    The tails can do some serious damage but having said that where I used to live a Grand-Daddy one used to reside close by.  It used to wonder up and after a few locals wet their pants a guy used to calmly come along, grab its tail and drag it 100 metres back to its watering hole.

Ha ! And I thought lizards tails broke off when being attacked ...  I guess the big boys don't !

The world is inhabited with many many wonderful creatures...too many to name them all....methinks.   Just enjoy and be happy that we got to see another one that we never seen before.

15 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

I know I shouldn't ask but, what does it eat?

 

tom yang goung

looks like  a monitor lizard to me.....why not do a google search??

16 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

Yikes! You expect to find these things up-country, but I came across an 8' Python in Bangkok the other day. I am sure it looked upon me as lunch...... Beep! Beep! gone.

I have seen big ones in Chatuchak Park, and I hear Lumpini is crawling with them.

This puppy was napping on a neighbor's porch. We live in the city!

 

The storm drains make great highways for such creatures.

 

Friend had one named Elvis lived under his house for years. Disappeared one day, but he's been sighted all over the world since.

Where's your cat?

 

Its only when you find one of these in your garden should you worry

If you ever get bitten by one of this, I suggest immediate medical treatment with antibiotics.

19 hours ago, nikmar said:

What's Khun Suthep doing in your back garden ????

 

Seriously though, it's a water monitor. Dtua ngeun dtua yai. Or "hia", which also doubles up as a Thai expletive.

The polite colloquial name for it is actually Tua ngneun dtua thong (silver and gold creature) or Water Monitor Lizard in English.

1 minute ago, Arkady said:

The polite colloquial name for it is actually Tua ngneun dtua thong (silver and gold creature) or Water Monitor Lizard in English.

yep. i miss printed "yai" for "thiong". well spotted, I mustve been thinking of my wife's backside as I was writing. ????

19 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Feed him they make wonderful pets. 

Can they be toilet trained?

This time of year is the mating season, and they get the wander lust, so you are more likely to see them.

5 hours ago, essox essox said:

looks like  a monitor lizard to me.....why not do a google search??

I don't think it is a water monitor , I think it is one of these from ' Snakes of Thailand '.

Komodo Dragon. Beware their bite, it will leave you bleeding to death. Which is how they kill their prey. Not safe as one guy posted. They can bite small children.

Any ideas?
You could invite your local neighbors to a BBQ-party...????

7 hours ago, geronimo said:

and. believe it or not, they can scale concrete walls!!!

Had 1 in the garden last year....scaled a 12 foot wall, seen me and disappeared over the same wall.

3 hours ago, Arkady said:

The polite colloquial name for it is actually Tua ngneun dtua thong (silver and gold creature) or Water Monitor Lizard in English.

Or Goanna,Bungarra,  depending on where you come from.There's also as desert version called a sand monitor. All references above to the Aussie versions of the same thing. 

 

Pretty harmless IF you leave them alone...... Like most creatures are. 

 

The wife saw a big bugger at the house in north Queensland. She still tells the tale in the village of the day she saw a dinosaur. It would have been two metres at a stretch, closer to six foot really.  He wandered across the paddock as though he owned it. I threw a piece of meat at him and hit his back leg.  He turned his head and looked at me as if to say " you idiot"

Nothing would have bothered him,  I doubt a wedge tail eagle would have had a go. 

1 hour ago, Sumarianson said:

Komodo Dragon. Beware their bite, it will leave you bleeding to death. Which is how they kill their prey. Not safe as one guy posted. They can bite small children.

Wrong country mate. 

On Samui where I stayed was a family of them living below a bridge we walked over every day....the Papa was six feet and pretty nasty to the others. One year at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix one ran across the track during practice. Damon Hill commentating said he thought it was an Iguana, which was pretty funny....wrong continent. 

It's a Water Monitor Lizard. Eats small mammals, reptiles, eggs fish, birds...just about anything it can fit in it's maw. Very shy to humans and scurry or swim away. Would stay clear of it to be sure, especially of the tail and teeth, but rarely aggressive towards people. Tail can and is used in self defense. 

 

Lumphini Park BKK used to be loaded with them. Saw a smaller 1 around the klong near us in BKK recently. Quite common. 

Our dogs were just freaking out and we had a monitor lizard running around, but soon left for neighbor's house. About the same size.

 

   I wouldn't play with it, to be honest, nor would the dogs. 

On 5/27/2019 at 4:56 PM, DaRoadrunner said:

I know I shouldn't ask but, what does it eat?

 

TVF members who think that they've got a new pet. 

22 minutes ago, GreenGurnish said:

I think they're really cute

 

I sometimes worry about our members

Run .

Like most critters, Water Monitors are usually no bother if you don't mess with em. But I would be wary of their bite and especially their smaller cousin the Tookae. They are not known for using a toothbrush, consequently their mouth is full of nasty bacteria.

 

Another problem, particularly with the Tookae, when they bite they won't let go. You can end up going to hospital with a lizard hanging off your arm. You get em off with Chloroform.

 

The Tookae is also rather impolite. If you listen to their repetitive call it sounds like they're saying "F-you." ....... Naturally, we have renamed it as such.

Keep away from its tail they use it like a whip !