RATS (with 4 legs) in BANGKOK

[mercman24]

I was walking down soi 71 last night (ok 4am), the plague of rats rummaging through the garbage was unbelievable, a bit scary if i am honest, it was like a Hitchcock movie, running from the kerb across the pavement, i wonder is anything being done about this (doubt it) is there a department, when i crossed the road to return, it was just the same. you had to see it t believe it. i suppose they are use to humans, that is why they not seem to care about running between my legs. something needs to be done soon, maybe call in the pied piper

[Thainess]

Hitchcock never made a movie about rats. I think you're talking about the movie "Rats: Night of Terror" (1984), a low-budget Italian horror movie. To answer your question, yes, the Thai government has an official "Department of Rats" whose mission it is to promote the image of rats in the kingdom and turn Bangkok into the world's no. 1 "Hub of Rats".

[NickJ]

There were those movies in the seventies. Willard and then Ben. They were about rats.

Years ago there was just an empty lot behind Soi Cowboy. It later became an impromptu bar area for a few years. But before that even it was used as a garbage dump for the whole area. Garbage bags piled well over ten feet. Talk about rats. It was like they had an enormous buffet. Hundreds that you could see. Thousands that you couldn't. 

[impulse]

Fondly recalling Friday nights at the local dump with a few 6 packs, a flashlight, and a .22.

 

What can I say?  We didn't have the internet back then.  Or money for dates.

[NickJ]

Just a. 22?...... We brought out the whole arsenal. Scopes and all. Nothing beat slugging rats at the dump. Back in the day.

[impulse]

3 minutes ago, NickJ said:

Just a. 22?...... We brought out the whole arsenal. Scopes and all. Nothing beat slugging rats at the dump. Back in the day.

 

That's all we could afford to shoot.  Back then, you could buy a brick (500 shells) for about $5 or $10.  

 

Towards the end of the month, we sometimes had to settle for BB guns and slingshots.  (Though we never ran out of beer, sometimes it was Schaeffer)

Edited September 1, 2016 by impulse

[NickJ]

You mean wrist rockets I hope. Yeah the days of cheap ammo. Gone.

[impulse]

Why, yes.  They were wrist rockets.

 

Edit:  Purchased mail order from the back pages of Field & Stream or Outdoor Life.  Could never find them in the stores.

Edited September 1, 2016 by impulse

[ClutchClark]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

Why, yes.  They were wrist rockets.

 

There is sidewalk tout selling wrist rockets on Lower Suk.

 

I almost bought one just for old time sake and then wondered if they were even legal.

 

My favorite target is pigeons...flying rats.

[meatboy]

maybe the health minister will read my post [thai news] about the dangers of WEILS DISEASE.

front page of a thai newspaper saw a photo of 2adults and 6 children playing in flooded water.

uneducated.

[MrJohnson]

Try walking around in those small so is in Siam Square after dark. Rats galore. Probably the trash from restaurants and vendors. Or take a walk along Silom Rd. One afternoon after a heavy downpour of rain. That really brings them out. 

[impulse]

7 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

 

There is sidewalk tout selling wrist rockets on Lower Suk.

 

I almost bought one just for old time sake and then wondered if they were even legal.

 

My favorite target is pigeons...flying rats.

 

I have a few different styles from Chinatown.  But I'm a tin can and paper hunter nowadays.

 

Over the past 30 years or so, the only thing I kill deliberately is mosquitoes and ants.  So, as fun as it may be to plink some filthy rats, I'd just feel too bad about it afterwards.  

 

Besides, with the size of some of the rats I've seen in BKK, I'm afraid anything smaller than a 30-06 would  just piss them off.

Edited September 1, 2016 by impulse

[ClutchClark]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

I have a few different styles from Chinatown.  

 

Over the past 30 years or so, the only thing I kill deliberately is mosquitoes and ants.  So, as fun as it may be to plink some filthy rats, I'd just feel too bad about it afterwards.  

 

Besides, with the size of some of the rats I've seen in BKK, I'm afraid anything smaller than a 30-06 would  just piss them off.

 

Our hotel had pigeons that would roost right along our window ledge each night and day and keep me awake. It was them or me...so we moved hotels.

[NoshowJones]

Have you ever walked down Beach Road in Pattaya at night? There are plenty of rats there, the two legged type.

One actually landed on my foot and straight back off.

[Nice Boyd]

Have you ever walked down Beach Road in Pattaya at night? There are plenty of rats there, the two legged type.

One actually landed on my foot and straight back off.

They are trying to tackle the problem on Pattaya News sites


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[NoshowJones]

9 hours ago, Nice Boyd said:

They are trying to tackle the problem on Pattaya News sites


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Quote

I' m not sure if there really is a problem, nobody seems to bother about them.

 

[johnmell]

Until people realise that if you leave foodstuffs on the street , the problem will never go away. Education from the authorities is required.

[Gary A]

I lived in Bangkok in a third floor apartment. There was a feral cat that hung around. After a year or so, he decided that I was no threat to him. He started coming into the apartment from my open door balcony to visit me. He got to the point that he would sit beside my chair when I was watching TV.  He tamed enough that I could pet his hard and scarred body. The building I was in had no rats. If the Thais would encourage and allow cats, the problem would be reduced considerably. It would take a very tough mean soi dog to threaten these tough hard bodied street cats.

[dddave]

16 hours ago, Gary A said:

I lived in Bangkok in a third floor apartment. There was a feral cat that hung around. After a year or so, he decided that I was no threat to him. He started coming into the apartment from my open door balcony to visit me. He got to the point that he would sit beside my chair when I was watching TV.  He tamed enough that I could pet his hard and scarred body. The building I was in had no rats. If the Thais would encourage and allow cats, the problem would be reduced considerably. It would take a very tough mean soi dog to threaten these tough hard bodied street cats.

Historians generally agree that the Bubonic Plague spread throughout Europe because many cities had pretty much eradicated cats fearing they were tools of the devil, consequently the rat population exploded.

[Thainess]

On 1September, 2016 at 11:23 PM, possum1931 said:

Have you ever walked down Beach Road in Pattaya at night? There are plenty of rats there, the two legged type.

One actually landed on my foot and straight back off.

 

The biggest vermin infestation on Pattaya Beach Road by night is females of the three-legged type. Two legs in the place a normal female has them, and another smaller one in the middle. 

[Nice Boyd]

Hitchcock never made a movie about rats. I think you're talking about the movie "Rats: Night of Terror" (1984), a low-budget Italian horror movie. To answer your question, yes, the Thai government has an official "Department of Rats" whose mission it is to promote the image of rats in the kingdom and turn Bangkok into the world's no. 1 "Hub of Rats".

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect