This insect that looks like a cross between a centipede and a spider, just ran quickly across my kitchen floor and took refuge under a cupboard. What is it??

It is a centipede, a house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata). They prey on other small invertebrates.

He's come out of hiding and I have some more shots.

He's come out of hiding and I have some more shots.

This looks as though it may have been a Thai Visa moderator in its last life.

The missus says ET come.

why does anything on this earth require so many legs???

It is a centipede, a house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata). They prey on other small invertebrates.

Many thanks for that Kandahar. Do you know whether they carry any toxins or just deadly to other insect only?

In Thai these creatures are callled ตะขาบบ้านขายาว (long legged house centipede). There are several Scutigera species in Thailand, the one shown here is, however, not S. coleoptrata. S. coleoptrata is a species characerized by three long dark stripes along the back of its body, the one shown shows no traces of such stripes. I think the exact name ofd the species cannot be determined from these fotos as there are several species similar to each other in Thailand.

Scutigera species are not regarded as dangerous to humans…

Erwin