I Almost Stepped On A Snake Today Busy Sukhumvit

[balo]

As I was walking down the busy soi ,Sukhumvit 101, it was a terrible thunderstorm here tonight so I had to do my walking later than normal.

So it was dark and I was in a hurry , I suddenly had a feeling something was moving and I looked down for a second and there it was a big black/yellow snake. I was less than a second from stepping on it , instead I moved quiclly away.

Well I have seen snakes before but I didnt expect it to try to be a pedestrian .

I dont know anything about snakes but would it try to bite me if I had stepped on it? I guess the answer is yes

[Thongkorn]

Most people get bit because they stand on snakes, they get washed down drains and come up anywhere, if it was yellow with black rings then you had a lucky escape, it could have been a banded crate, no know antidote, but if it was big and yellow with black spots or mottled it was just a tree snake by the sound of it , they bite but not deadly . Insects are a bigger threat in wet weather then snakes.

[WilliaminBKK]

Thongkorn thanks for your insight, do you know of a site where I can see pics of different snakes so I can learn what to watch out for ?

[AngelofDeath]

The snake seems poisonous to me. You can try googling "Thailand snakes" and the first link should be what you are looking for.

[Nisa]

Where there is rats there are snakes.

[Carib]

Thongkorn thanks for your insight, do you know of a site where I can see pics of different snakes so I can learn what to watch out for ?

All sorts here: http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_poisonous.html

[Nisa]

Not sure if it holds true in the rest of the world but poisonous snakes in America can generally be distingushed by having slit pupils (like a cat) as opposed to round. There heads are also usually triangle shaped when poisonous.

[Sateev]

Not sure if it holds true in the rest of the world but poisonous snakes in America can generally be distingushed by having slit pupils (like a cat) as opposed to round. There heads are also usually triangle shaped when poisonous.

Yeah, be sure to get up close and personal with the critter, so you can check the shape of its pupils...LOL

Or, how about trying not to step on ANY snakes, so you aren't burdened with trying to find out if they are the poisonous kind or not?

Oh, and by the way, the triangle head is a characteristic of pit vipers, of which there are some in Thailand, but the most common poisonous snakes here are NOT pit vipers. Cobras and kraits have oval heads...

[meatboy]

some snake charmer from the tailors on sukv.will be looking for it,you might have had a lucky escape,you could have bumped into katoey they have a nasty bite.

[SlumdogMillionaire]

About 6 weeks ago we were driving late at night down a soi in Rama 2 when we saw a massive king cobra well over 6 foot, the only place I have seen them before was in a snake farm and never in the wild, it was side winding down the road towards us and raised its head as we got a few feet away from it, we tried to slow down but still hit it with a loud thud under the truck, it all happened so fast! we didn't stop as I've heard stories of them biting on to the vehicle when they get run over or wrapping around the axle and biting you when you get out and not being a snake lover wasn't intersted in hanging about and made sure I legged it out of the truck quick when we did get home, but I think it had be left behind when we hit it as the was no sign of the scaly fella.

I read an article about 2 years ago in a Bangkok newspaper saying they get washed down river in the rainy season and live of the rats in the drains, a local snake rescue/catcher said she averages 4-5 calls a day in Bangkok alone in the rainy season.

[Nisa]

Not sure if it holds true in the rest of the world but poisonous snakes in America can generally be distingushed by having slit pupils (like a cat) as opposed to round. There heads are also usually triangle shaped when poisonous.

Yeah, be sure to get up close and personal with the critter, so you can check the shape of its pupils...LOL

Or, how about trying not to step on ANY snakes, so you aren't burdened with trying to find out if they are the poisonous kind or not?

Oh, and by the way, the triangle head is a characteristic of pit vipers, of which there are some in Thailand, but the most common poisonous snakes here are NOT pit vipers. Cobras and kraits have oval heads...

You may want to get your eyes check if you need to get that close to a snake to see their eyes. They can easily be seen at a safe distance in the day time.

Yes, I certainly can see how somebody looking to be argumentative and sarcastic for no other reason than lack of having any constructive thoughts would believe I was advocating stepping on snakes.

Oh, A triangle head is a characteristic of most poisonous snakes and I believe most poisonous snake types (Thailand Included) fall into the Viper / Pit Viper family.

[WilliaminBKK]

Thongkorn thanks for your insight, do you know of a site where I can see pics of different snakes so I can learn what to watch out for ?

All sorts here: http://www.siam-info..._poisonous.html

Thank you for the link, I'm not leaving home this week end. LOL

[balo]

Thongkorn thanks for your insight, do you know of a site where I can see pics of different snakes so I can learn what to watch out for ?

All sorts here: http://www.siam-info..._poisonous.html

Well I have looked at the pictures and the only snake that looked similar to the one I encountered is a banded krait.

It was yellow and black banded just like in the picture

http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_bungarus.html

Maybe there are other species that looks similar but if it was a banded krait a bite from it can be deadly......must have been my lucky night then.