Was Norwegian Killed By A Cobra In Pattaya Plotting Revenge?

[XXpate48USA]

A man died and because he liked a beer, like a lot of westerners do, and because he wasn't as popular as the other residents (maybe even a case of the others ganging up on him and shutting him out).

I detect from the first few posts that a lot of people seem to be rather happy that this guy is dead.

Shocking response, and to call someone who has lost their life, a moron is quite frankly disgraceful behaiviour, and karma does work, even against those who speak ill of the dead.

So quit it with the insensitive comments levelled towards an unfortunate individual. Whatever the TRUE background to the story, you should NEVER speak ill of the dead.

Remember, this story came from the gutter press, as you can clearly tell by the style of writing.

Love your post and you make me laugh so hard especially about the Gutter press. Well I am sorry about this man who died and my heart goes with his family and friends.

Let me interject a little. Most westerners like beer? Not only that, but Thai's Definitly like their singh and chang and hieneken every bit if not more than westerners., I live in Thailand and the usa and I have had to drink beer much more in Thailand as a friendly get together,, wayyyyy more than I ever do in the US. But hey, we all like to enjoy ourslelves...right? I just hate to see it written or stereotyped as only westerners are drinkers......sorry, but I just had to put my 2 cents in....It's everywhere people drink beer.....cheers!!........I just wish falang's didn't have this type of thing hangin over thier heads as just drinbkers and girl chasers....It;'s not that way of most of us. we're just normal the same as anyone and I suppose there has been way too many of the wrong kind of westerners coming to thailand for the wrong reason's. This is where this comes from....Please understand people are just people and there are all kinds from all country's.....personaly I don't drink as much as my thai wifes familys does but I feel a need to join in when the beers are opened.....no ice please.......thanks....sorryif I took that our of context as I only read this one thread(portion)....

I personally don't like the kind that get drunk and beligerent all the time. I am with you on that one!!!....

[dighambara]

You can only imagine where he managed to get a deadly and un-defanged cobra; so he planed to use it as a weapon against other residents and which backfired, my guess is he was going to set it loose in a common area to kill or terrorize the first person unlucky enough to encounter it and then deny responsibility.. and the fact that he was able to bribe his way out of an assault charge emboldened this idiot to do something even more retarded..

as this illustrates a cobra snake venom is so deadly that it's victim doesn't even have enough time to seek medical help before he collapses and expires.. hope i never run into one of those things, or that very dangerous green snake I heard about that is native to Thailand.

Green Tree Viper - killed one in 1973 in the hills between Mae Sai and the Burma Border - lots of 2 steppers here...LOL

[gamini]

An alledged alcoholic with a history of violent assault is found dead.

It seems that the lack of a prosecution was due to corrupt Police accepting a bribe. May be a prosectuion would have helped turn his life around. Put the brakes on him. Put him 'in the system' and help to curb his wanton behaviour. But the Thai way doesn't work that way. Money is god. Money is taken and the welfare of an ill man is ignored.

Then fast forward to the alcoholic buying a venomous snake and taking it home. Needn't have happened then. But it did.

Any error whether sober or drunk with any one of Thailand's most venomous snakes would lead to death. Then there are the not so venomous snakes which could still kill you depending on the circumstances.

So what were the circumstances? It seems he was alone when bitten, unable to call for help and most likely unable to help himself.

The discussions on cobra bites are well meant. However, any cobra will kill you. One, quite easily, the other depending on how much venom it venomates - injects into you. Again consider the circumstances; a calm, rational individual with knowledge would react to remove the snake quickly. That would be without causing more venom to be pumped in [wrongly grasping the head] or by dragging the fangs [ the upper ones inject the venom] through the skin.

An alcoholic has knowledge of BARS but not coBRAS. Possibly panicked by the bite and received a considerable amount of venom causing death reatively quickly.

A Thai boy in Phuket was bitten by his pet Krait and hospitalised for 12 days. Speedy response, hospital treatment and a small bodied person. Our European Alkie, larger bodied but unhealthy condition, no treatment, dead and found after 3 days.

One comment on the reporting; scandalous, unsubstantiated supposition. How any one can conclude this was anything other than a poor decision in pet choice, I don't know. If he'd bought a dangrous breed of dog and it had ripped his throat out, would the rumour mill circulate he was planning a mass murder revenge on the cleaning staff?

According to that logic we're all rapists as we carry the equipment. Is that true? If that is the case then every male death should be reported as 'Rapist found dead in room.'

And in these times of PC and equality let's not forget the ladies. As every woman has an organ of reproduction, which she is capable of reanting out, ergo: is Pattaya not full of whores? That's Newspaper logic for you.

What I find tragic about this story is the wasted life; a permanent unhappy alcoholic haze that ended in mis-adventure. Lonely, isolated, anti-social and perhaps oddly behaved. Perhaps then pyschologically unbalanced. If he did behave oddly, they say he was socially rejected, an outcast, the sort of person you'd be wise to avoid, then it added to his isolation.

But that condition seems to be quite common amongst many Pattaya ex-pats. Certainly alone. The male ex-pat dominates the profile of residents. They come here alone. You don't get groups of retirees in the same street all waking up one day and agreeing to move to Thailand. Do you?

Friendless also. Mixing with strangers in bars hardly has the social cohesion that bowling club memership brings, or work affiliations once held back home. Also, if an alcoholic as stated, then how in control of his faculties was he? The incident of violence at his home certainly raises the question of a loss of self control. Often associated with drunkeness. He wouldn't have bribed his way out of it back in Norway. No way.

How many tee total persons do you know in Pattaya? How many people can not control the amount they drink? Subtract the the total from 10 and the answer you have would be ........ 10.

How many middle aged or late middle aged men still need to get drunk? If the answer isn't all of them go back and do the question again until you get it right.

Should drunkeness be some thing left behind with maturity and responsibility? The answer is 'yes'. If you got that one wrong try again in five years time.

These are questions you can measure yourself against. Whether or not you live a life that is in control or breaking out of control, and with what level of regularity. Because this explains why he ended up as a bar stool Alki in Pattaya. An insatiable sot who pours the Changs down his neck throughout the day; day after day. By Thursday he gets something to eat and washes it down with another Chang.

All the time ignoring the swelling liver he calls a beer gut, the yellow eyes he calls tiredness,the peeing in the night he explains as forgetting to go, the atrophying muscles he puts down to aging, the bleading gums due to a hard toothbrush, the yellowish whitened tongue he believes is the Thai food additives, the dry skin he thinks is the sun and the browny red blotches on the skin he blames on the mossies.

So there is the life. Paradise becomes a place of boredom, full of disappointment and lack of things to do. There are no libraries, museums, exhibitions, concerts, operas, theatre, talks. Please don't defend Pattaya as having a cultural menu. It has a greasy road side cafe menu; a prison diet of cultural activity. It does not feed the European appetite. Neither accept or defend that a hundred bars is what you want. People are capable of sensitivity, creativity and perception. Don't argue that the meaning if life is found in the bottom of a bottle. It never was and it never will be.

You can spend only so long walking the beach, which is a squalid experience. No walks, no talks, no culture, banal local TV, and then there's UBC / HBO. Newspapers that have no news. Radio ga-ga. Surrounded by a language you can't speak. In a relationship where you can't communicate above a simplistic predictable level of 'what would you like to eat / where shall we go today?' No shared culture or understanding of personality. A myriad of foreign languages, foreign restaurants, foreign businesses that merely compound the sense of isolation. A Police force to be avoided. Your own command of your own language being reduced to some pigeon English - verb free patois that leaves you frustrated and unable to say exactly what you mean. Any time you step away from this life you falter unable to ask for anything as it's not in her or your vocabulary. And that's if you have apartner, as it's worse if you don't. Unable to trust anyone as they have a hidden threratening, dangerous agenda of their own.

An agenda that leaves you penniless, cheated, beaten and broken. How many of you have that sad story to tell. And again, the most bitter, hardened, cynical bar stool bum has the chequered past of 'falling' for the bar girl who ripped him off. Don't fear the relationship as they do. The bitterness eats into them and spews out with every word; unable to move on and trust again.

I can well understand the deep emptiness that was experienced daily. The pointlessness of an existence. A life that was clearly on the downhill ride long before age, old age, had raised its head. A life that was slaved in drink and salved in drink.

A sad, pathetic and tragic end.

A misadventure in Pattaya.

WOW!!! A very insightful response.

So true. but I bet a lot of vested interest in Pattaya like all the Farang owned bar/brothels will object to your views.

[atyclb]

An alledged alcoholic with a history of violent assault is found dead.

It seems that the lack of a prosecution was due to corrupt Police accepting a bribe. May be a prosectuion would have helped turn his life around. Put the brakes on him. Put him 'in the system' and help to curb his wanton behaviour. But the Thai way doesn't work that way. Money is god. Money is taken and the welfare of an ill man is ignored.

Then fast forward to the alcoholic buying a venomous snake and taking it home. Needn't have happened then. But it did.

Any error whether sober or drunk with any one of Thailand's most venomous snakes would lead to death. Then there are the not so venomous snakes which could still kill you depending on the circumstances.

So what were the circumstances? It seems he was alone when bitten, unable to call for help and most likely unable to help himself.

The discussions on cobra bites are well meant. However, any cobra will kill you. One, quite easily, the other depending on how much venom it venomates - injects into you. Again consider the circumstances; a calm, rational individual with knowledge would react to remove the snake quickly. That would be without causing more venom to be pumped in [wrongly grasping the head] or by dragging the fangs [ the upper ones inject the venom] through the skin.

An alcoholic has knowledge of BARS but not coBRAS. Possibly panicked by the bite and received a considerable amount of venom causing death reatively quickly.

A Thai boy in Phuket was bitten by his pet Krait and hospitalised for 12 days. Speedy response, hospital treatment and a small bodied person. Our European Alkie, larger bodied but unhealthy condition, no treatment, dead and found after 3 days.

One comment on the reporting; scandalous, unsubstantiated supposition. How any one can conclude this was anything other than a poor decision in pet choice, I don't know. If he'd bought a dangrous breed of dog and it had ripped his throat out, would the rumour mill circulate he was planning a mass murder revenge on the cleaning staff?

According to that logic we're all rapists as we carry the equipment. Is that true? If that is the case then every male death should be reported as 'Rapist found dead in room.'

And in these times of PC and equality let's not forget the ladies. As every woman has an organ of reproduction, which she is capable of reanting out, ergo: is Pattaya not full of whores? That's Newspaper logic for you.

What I find tragic about this story is the wasted life; a permanent unhappy alcoholic haze that ended in mis-adventure. Lonely, isolated, anti-social and perhaps oddly behaved. Perhaps then pyschologically unbalanced. If he did behave oddly, they say he was socially rejected, an outcast, the sort of person you'd be wise to avoid, then it added to his isolation.

But that condition seems to be quite common amongst many Pattaya ex-pats. Certainly alone. The male ex-pat dominates the profile of residents. They come here alone. You don't get groups of retirees in the same street all waking up one day and agreeing to move to Thailand. Do you?

Friendless also. Mixing with strangers in bars hardly has the social cohesion that bowling club memership brings, or work affiliations once held back home. Also, if an alcoholic as stated, then how in control of his faculties was he? The incident of violence at his home certainly raises the question of a loss of self control. Often associated with drunkeness. He wouldn't have bribed his way out of it back in Norway. No way.

How many tee total persons do you know in Pattaya? How many people can not control the amount they drink? Subtract the the total from 10 and the answer you have would be ........ 10.

How many middle aged or late middle aged men still need to get drunk? If the answer isn't all of them go back and do the question again until you get it right.

Should drunkeness be some thing left behind with maturity and responsibility? The answer is 'yes'. If you got that one wrong try again in five years time.

These are questions you can measure yourself against. Whether or not you live a life that is in control or breaking out of control, and with what level of regularity. Because this explains why he ended up as a bar stool Alki in Pattaya. An insatiable sot who pours the Changs down his neck throughout the day; day after day. By Thursday he gets something to eat and washes it down with another Chang.

All the time ignoring the swelling liver he calls a beer gut, the yellow eyes he calls tiredness,the peeing in the night he explains as forgetting to go, the atrophying muscles he puts down to aging, the bleading gums due to a hard toothbrush, the yellowish whitened tongue he believes is the Thai food additives, the dry skin he thinks is the sun and the browny red blotches on the skin he blames on the mossies.

So there is the life. Paradise becomes a place of boredom, full of disappointment and lack of things to do. There are no libraries, museums, exhibitions, concerts, operas, theatre, talks. Please don't defend Pattaya as having a cultural menu. It has a greasy road side cafe menu; a prison diet of cultural activity. It does not feed the European appetite. Neither accept or defend that a hundred bars is what you want. People are capable of sensitivity, creativity and perception. Don't argue that the meaning if life is found in the bottom of a bottle. It never was and it never will be.

You can spend only so long walking the beach, which is a squalid experience. No walks, no talks, no culture, banal local TV, and then there's UBC / HBO. Newspapers that have no news. Radio ga-ga. Surrounded by a language you can't speak. In a relationship where you can't communicate above a simplistic predictable level of 'what would you like to eat / where shall we go today?' No shared culture or understanding of personality. A myriad of foreign languages, foreign restaurants, foreign businesses that merely compound the sense of isolation. A Police force to be avoided. Your own command of your own language being reduced to some pigeon English - verb free patois that leaves you frustrated and unable to say exactly what you mean. Any time you step away from this life you falter unable to ask for anything as it's not in her or your vocabulary. And that's if you have apartner, as it's worse if you don't. Unable to trust anyone as they have a hidden threratening, dangerous agenda of their own.

An agenda that leaves you penniless, cheated, beaten and broken. How many of you have that sad story to tell. And again, the most bitter, hardened, cynical bar stool bum has the chequered past of 'falling' for the bar girl who ripped him off. Don't fear the relationship as they do. The bitterness eats into them and spews out with every word; unable to move on and trust again.

I can well understand the deep emptiness that was experienced daily. The pointlessness of an existence. A life that was clearly on the downhill ride long before age, old age, had raised its head. A life that was slaved in drink and salved in drink.

A sad, pathetic and tragic end.

A misadventure in Pattaya.

WOW!!! A very insightful response.

So true. but I bet a lot of vested interest in Pattaya like all the Farang owned bar/brothels will object to your views.

Some in recovery appreciate and accept, whether they own bars or not. There is tons of insightful stuff written about alcoholism by those in it or out of it. No therapy or reading has ever threatened to cure alcoholism, nor has any begging or pleading by loved ones.

I'd take an educated guess and say the Pattaya alcohol related businesses not in jeopardy from any of these posts.

And certainly nobody wakes up one day and chooses to be alcoholic.

Reaching maturity is not a cure for it either. Having enough of being sick and tired of being sick and tired just may be a reason to sober up.

[sharecropper]

This is disgraceful! I have no idea who or what this man was. But the gloating over a probably sorry life? It's too much! Who are you people? Why do you need to do this? A man good or bad is dead.

What does this gloating make you? I picture you: Pattaya resident of long time with motorbike or scooter, beer-belly, snake-expert, according to yourself and full knowledge of Thai culture and luckily you still have not yet lost it. Like you say he did. Cannot loose it, can you with the exchange rates we have now?

A man is down. Perhaps he always was. Use this for all it is worth, loosers, but it will never never add quality to your sorry lives.

Merry X-mas to y'all!

You say don't speak ill of the dead man, but then you viciously lay into the living with your own brand of venom.

A lot of posts on here have been very interesting, informative even philosophical (for Thai Visa, that is).

[ginjag]

You can only imagine where he managed to get a deadly and un-defanged cobra; so he planed to use it as a weapon against other residents and which backfired, my guess is he was going to set it loose in a common area to kill or terrorize the first person unlucky enough to encounter it and then deny responsibility.. and the fact that he was able to bribe his way out of an assault charge emboldened this idiot to do something even more retarded..

as this illustrates a cobra snake venom is so deadly that it's victim doesn't even have enough time to seek medical help before he collapses and expires.. hope i never run into one of those things, or that very dangerous green snake I heard about that is native to Thailand.

t it

To set you straight. There are diferent types of cobras. Some are deadly some are not. I live in the country and I have seen at least three different typs of them . I found one on my balcony one day and everyone said if iy bites you you will get sick - REAL SICK. But you won't die. If treated.

Excuse me for saying--TO SET YOU STRAIGHT---ALL cobras are deadly--there is no mistake about it. depending where it bites, how old you are, if you panic many different severity,s-----some people can get instant help--and some hospitals can treat----ALL cobras to be respected --they are deadly-or can be !!!!!!! WHO told you some are not deadly ?????---ask a reptile expert--or ask at a zoo---but think again.

[smedly]

was he wearing a helmet ????

[norwayeagle]

This Malaysian Pit Viper Just killed one of my Cobras..And this Viper do not "only" have 2 Fangs but 3.

The Krait,,...,,,

Ps; We all are in danger just by living,so watch our steps guys n gals .

[atyclb]

Pattaya is certainly not for everyone, but many seem to enjoy it. For any of us criticizing(myself included) perhaps we best let God be the judge.

I guess it is easy to dislike a person such as was the description given, that of a hostile active alcoholic.

For an active alcoholic, Pattaya may appear to be the ultimate "geographic escape".

A town filled with girls that seem to adore the expats, always a kind remark/compliment, always an interest in "being with you" (unless already booked)

Alcoholic beverages everywhere

Happy hours everywhere.... actually you might categorize as happy hours, days, weeks, ......... >. >> years

Lots of drinking buddies who usually are buddies as long as the drinks are flowing

Lots of dentists and hospitals

A "geographic escape" is really an illusion or delusion. Believing all the problems will go away and all those terrible people who are all at fault for the alcoholics life being so problematic.

The problems will not go away because the root enemy "alcohol" is still flourishing and growing. They don't perceive alcohol as the problem.

Alcoholics are not automatically bad people.

A loved one is currently losing the battle with alcohol. I have seen alcohol take a lovely, kind, intelligent person and twist and distort that person to the point of being physically and emotionally unrecognizable to people that have known her.

I say a prayer every night for that person.

I wonder what % of people have found sobriety while in Pattaya?

I wonder if Pattaya's perceived positive intensity prolongs drinking or actually motivates one to sobriety?? For an alcoholic, Pattaya can be like a virtual meat grinder.

=======================================================================================

I used to have snakes as pets. I had the non venomous ones and the ones that did not scare my family.

Many of the venomous ones are quite beautiful, including sea snakes, all to be very well respected.

I have a covenant with sharks, I don't eat shark fin soup and they don't eat me(hopefully)

[ginjag]

This Malaysian Pit Viper Just killed one of my Cobras..And this Viper do not "only" have 2 Fangs but 3.

The Krait,,...,,,

Ps; We all are in danger just by living,so watch our steps guys n gals .

The black and white snake is a BANDED KRAIT--you can recognise him with the ridge on his back--he is classed as dangerous-and is fairly widespread in thailand but not that common--good pictures--I think the snake coverage was interesting -though off track a bit--finally the guy who did say not all cobras are deadly--a suggestion for him--get some of the none dangerous ones keep them in the home-free to roam--and phone me in a week and let me know how you are--5555555555555. hope we don,t get anymore repeats, of this sad storey.

[tombkk]

I live in Issan and in our village you encounter these types---unless you can get to the city quick--no hope--there are NO anti venom in local town hospitals

Let me know where you live. I know that there are hospitals all over Thailand (that most likely includes your local town hospital) which are required to keep anti-venoms to all the common snakes over here. This is one area in which Thailand is very well organised, down to the expiry dates of the anti-venom and replenishments.

In fact, I can check if you give me the snake name (Latin name preferred but common name will do) and province and amphur.

Thanks for your concern, The nearest town to my village is amper Si-That, Udon province 41230. I made an enquiry some time ago-because of my concern-refer to Cobra--Krait(banded) keelback, are abundant in this area Farming--ie rats ie.snakes--schools do not warn children--and as I say the local hospital does not to my knowledge have anti venom---

I have sent the request to my friend to check the closest hospital to your place that carries the anti-venom for this snake's bite. As this is not an emergency and I am asking her for a favour, I expect this to take a few days' time.

[onnut]

That was funny reading. What a moron.

Please be respectful to the deceased...

I am respectful to those who deserve respect, this guy clearly didn't. Fancy taking a snake home with the idea of killing somebody! Only to be bitten himself!!!

Yeap, Moron.

And to the other poster, yes I drink beer! What's wrong with that? I do not live in Pattaya, and even if I did, what is wrong with that? I don't get your post!!!! Some moron took a snake home to kill somebody but got bit in the process. Karma, I think so.

God bless this guys soul anyway.

[onnut]

This is disgraceful! I have no idea who or what this man was. But the gloating over a probably sorry life? It's too much! Who are you people? Why do you need to do this? A man good or bad is dead.

What does this gloating make you? I picture you: Pattaya resident of long time with motorbike or scooter, beer-belly, snake-expert, according to yourself and full knowledge of Thai culture and luckily you still have not yet lost it. Like you say he did. Cannot loose it, can you with the exchange rates we have now?

A man is down. Perhaps he always was. Use this for all it is worth, loosers, but it will never never add quality to your sorry lives.

Merry X-mas to y'all!

I may not have the perfect life, but I'm happy. And don't feel the need to join the Darwin awards like this poor soul.

[norwayeagle]

That was funny reading. What a moron.

Please be respectful to the deceased...

I am respectful to those who deserve respect, this guy clearly didn't. Fancy taking a snake home with the idea of killing somebody! Only to be bitten himself!!!

Yeap, Moron.

And to the other poster, yes I drink beer! What's wrong with that? I do not live in Pattaya, and even if I did, what is wrong with that? I don't get your post!!!! Some moron took a snake home to kill somebody but got bit in the process. Karma, I think so.

God bless this guys soul anyway.

Yes Gods Blesses to him.Guess we never will know what really happened that fatal day!

[brahmburgers]

Should we be so quick to judge the guy?

We all have our personal histories - which contribute to molding our individual character traits.

[ginjag]

I live in Issan and in our village you encounter these types---unless you can get to the city quick--no hope--there are NO anti venom in local town hospitals

Let me know where you live. I know that there are hospitals all over Thailand (that most likely includes your local town hospital) which are required to keep anti-venoms to all the common snakes over here. This is one area in which Thailand is very well organised, down to the expiry dates of the anti-venom and replenishments.

In fact, I can check if you give me the snake name (Latin name preferred but common name will do) and province and amphur.

Thanks for your concern, The nearest town to my village is amper Si-That, Udon province 41230. I made an enquiry some time ago-because of my concern-refer to Cobra--Krait(banded) keelback, are abundant in this area Farming--ie rats ie.snakes--schools do not warn children--and as I say the local hospital does not to my knowledge have anti venom---

I have sent the request to my friend to check the closest hospital to your place that carries the anti-venom for this snake's bite. As this is not an emergency and I am asking her for a favour, I expect this to take a few days' time.

brilliant--thanks again----this could be vital-at some time-----Tony

[mahtin]

I wonder how Somerset Maugham would have written this story.

[crazydrummerpauly]

A man died and because he liked a beer, like a lot of westerners do, and because he wasn't as popular as the other residents (maybe even a case of the others ganging up on him and shutting him out).

I detect from the first few posts that a lot of people seem to be rather happy that this guy is dead.

Shocking response, and to call someone who has lost their life, a moron is quite frankly disgraceful behaiviour, and karma does work, even against those who speak ill of the dead.

So quit it with the insensitive comments levelled towards an unfortunate individual. Whatever the TRUE background to the story, you should NEVER speak ill of the dead.

Remember, this story came from the gutter press, as you can clearly tell by the style of writing.

Mmmmm - NEVER ? - good news for the ghosts and reputations of Cromwell ( ask the Irish ),Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Pol Pot.+++++ ?

Never-speak-ill-of-the-dead, is just one of a host of old sentimental proverbs created with good intentions but barmy logic; of no practical or

intellectual value. It is prefectly possible to express honest critical opinions and judgements about this kind of case, at the same time

as showing sensitivity and sorrow that human lives can end so tragically.

[tropo]

That was funny reading. What a moron.

There's nothing at all funny about this story.

[p_brownstone]

Often cobras of all types don't inject a full load of venom and scuttle off after one bite which gives a healthy adult a better chance of survival.

This is an important point to note - many people assume that a smaller, i.e. younger, snake is less deadly than a fully grown one; often the absolute reverse is true.

An older snake has learnt that producing venom is a costly process - in terms of what food intake is required to sustain life and still produce the next "load", and so it in some way knows how - and is able - to preserve or limit the amount it injects into prey or a potential predator; just enough to do what is required, kill the prey or simply deter the predator.

A young snake has no such experience or control, and when excited will inject the full contents of the venom sac, regardless of whether the target is prey - a small rat for example, or an adult human which it regards as a predator.

Patrick

Edited December 18, 2010 by p_brownstone

[thailand49]

This comes from the story in the Pattaya Mail paper this week regarding this story. Believe what you want? In the end two things are fact, the guys dead and it was by a snake.

A. Died of several bite wounds which was lying on the bed next to the nude body.

B. Kept the snake in a glass tank in his room, but often slept with the creature He'd previously been treated several times for bite wounds.

C. September 2009, arrested for stabbing electrician atter repeated request to get Norseman to turn down his loud music.

D. A friend who owned the Bom Didy beer bar, reappeared after a month showing off receipts for how much he paid to get out of jail.

E. Known as a troublemaker at the Soi 4, bars, the bar owner said the Norwegian talked often about his snake encounters and was unsurprised when told of Lindgaard's death from said bites.

Believe it or not? but it's over so r.i.p.

[JackSterling]

Now, if he only had know that a Thai Ridgeback Dog (TRD) would have protected him from that snake maybe he could have avoided the bite. I have seen a video of a TRD taking on a 10 ft. King Cobra..and the dog won..

[brahmburgers]

C. September 2009, arrested for stabbing electrician after repeated request to get Norseman to turn down his loud music.

You sure it wasn't the other way around? More plausible: an altercation stemmning from the Norseman wanting a Thai neighbor to turn down loud music.

[TechnikaIII]

You can spend only so long walking the beach, which is a squalid experience. No walks, no talks, no culture, banal local TV, and then there's UBC / HBO. Newspapers that have no news. Radio ga-ga. Surrounded by a language you can't speak. In a relationship where you can't communicate above a simplistic predictable level of 'what would you like to eat / where shall we go today?' No shared culture or understanding of personality. A myriad of foreign languages, foreign restaurants, foreign businesses that merely compound the sense of isolation. A Police force to be avoided. Your own command of your own language being reduced to some pigeon English - verb free patois that leaves you frustrated and unable to say exactly what you mean. Any time you step away from this life you falter unable to ask for anything as it's not in her or your vocabulary. And that's if you have apartner, as it's worse if you don't. Unable to trust anyone as they have a hidden threratening, dangerous agenda of their own.

I live in Australia, beaches are nice but I don't like the beach. Been to a museum, seen it once, no need to go again, overrated. Culture is what you make it. Local tv? watch cable for the movies. Don't read the newspapers in Thailand, rarely read them at home. Radio is only on in the car and I only like background music in bars. One of the great things of Thailand is not understanding or being understood. My thai gf and I get on fantastic, maybe the lack of communication is good, it's better than the relationships I've had with english speaking women with western ideals. No shared culture is good, it allows me to learn a new culture and be both evolve. A myriad of foreign languages, fantastic to meet diverse people. Don't care about foreign business or who owns what. Police to be avoided, same in Australia. No reason for your own language to be reduced as many english speakers in pattaya.

The Pattaya that you describe is the one I love.

An extraordinary and wonderful juxtaposition of views from the above, "Housepainter" and "Wallaby". If only such views of life could serve as disqualification, or qualification for entry to Thailand (perhaps travel in general). The former with a maximum 14 days on a leash, and for the latter, a flexible permission to stay.

It is about mindset, however aquired. I share the approach of Wallaby, yes, but for all of us who may happily agree with Wallaby, take care, and with respect for those who lack confidence and social facility, utter the words:

"There, but for the grace of God, go I."

( ... and I am not a church man either. I just like some of the language of the St. James version. )

There are many stories about phycological challanges facing individuals in foreign and not-so-foreign cultures. Take for example the characters in the ficticious events depicted in the film "Deer Hunter", a Vietnam war story. (Do a Google if you don't know of it.) Then for Australians, the Australian film "Wake in Fright", which is about an Australian in Australia who slides down a path no less deadly.

( Re "Deer Hunter": For the purpose of discusion it is worth seeing, but I have serious misgivings about the actual events, which the director has since openly admitted, were contrived for effect, and are not based on any known fact. I hasten this caution because the locality is Vietnam and the similarities with Thailand may well be fodder for fear.)

Edited December 19, 2010 by TechnikaIII

[neverdie]

Darwin Awards have another candidate

don't be so hard on yourself

[neverdie]

That was funny reading. What a moron.

Please be respectful to the deceased...

One shouldnt speak poorly of the dead.

Where I am from, people earn respect & from the information provided, its highly unlikely any would of been earnt.

[tombkk]

Let me know where you live. I know that there are hospitals all over Thailand (that most likely includes your local town hospital) which are required to keep anti-venoms to all the common snakes over here. This is one area in which Thailand is very well organised, down to the expiry dates of the anti-venom and replenishments.

In fact, I can check if you give me the snake name (Latin name preferred but common name will do) and province and amphur.

Thanks for your concern, The nearest town to my village is amper Si-That, Udon province 41230. I made an enquiry some time ago-because of my concern-refer to Cobra--Krait(banded) keelback, are abundant in this area Farming--ie rats ie.snakes--schools do not warn children--and as I say the local hospital does not to my knowledge have anti venom---

I have sent the request to my friend to check the closest hospital to your place that carries the anti-venom for this snake's bite. As this is not an emergency and I am asking her for a favour, I expect this to take a few days' time.

brilliant--thanks again----this could be vital-at some time-----Tony

She said that every provincial hospital should have the anti-venoms in stock. Check with the office of the Ministry of Public Health in your province . Note that if (for some reason) there is no anti-venom at provincial hospital you need to check for the provincial distribution center, which will distributed it.

Original reply (which is moire correct than my translation at this time of night):

ปรกติ snake anti-venom จะต้องมีในทุกจังหวัดค่ะ ที่ ๆ จะสอบถามได้คือที่ สำนักงานสาธารณสุขจังหวัด (ปิด เสาร์ อาทิตย์)โรงพยาบาลประจำจังหวัด ปรกติต้องมีค่ะ

ระบบโรงพยาบาลของประเทศไทยเป็นแบบโครงข่าย หากโรงพยาบาลจังหวัดไม่มี ต้องตรวจสอบดูว่าโรงพยาบาลศูนย์ เป็นที่ไหน ซึ่งโรงพยาบาลศูนย์จะเป็นศูนย์ส่งต่อผู้ป่วยกรณีโรงพยาบาลประจำจังหวัดไม่สามารถรักษาได้ค่ะ

Hope this clarifies the matter.