Thai Cobra Snake in Our Living Room

My wife is usually a calm person so when I heard her panicked voice calling up the stairs earlier I knew it could potentially be serious. I had my music blasting in the office so I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I did pick up on the word ‘snake’. I grabbed my iPad in the hope of getting a few photos. I expected it to be one of the harmless green snakes that regularly appear in our garden. I only realized the seriousness of the situation when I saw my wife backing up the stairs waving a broom around like a weapon – this is not her regular behavior. All thoughts of photo opportunities were forgotten when she whispered that we had a ngu hao (monocled cobra) under the dining room table. I don’t know much about snakes, but I do know that having a cobra in your living room is not a good thing unless you happen to collect them.

Nature is My Wife’s Department

We have an unwritten rule in our house that my wife deals with all wildlife issues. She grew up in Thailand and seems to have an effective strategy for almost any of these types of encounters with nature. When we lived in her village she would regularly evict scorpions and other unwanted squatters. I have a strict ‘no kill’ policy when it comes to dealing with nature but my wife can be a bit more ruthless. I expected her to similarly take charge with this latest emergency. My panic levels rose significantly when I observed that she was in shock and was expecting me to take charge. I somehow managed to summon up some inner calm and I tried to move past her to deal with the situation. It came as a huge relief when she pulled me back saying that it was too dangerous. We remained huddled on the stairs for about five minutes completely at a loss about what to do.

We decided to make a dash for the front garden. On the way out I caught my first glimpse of the snake. I almost laughed because it looked so tiny, but then I realized that this was only the end of the tail I was seeing. It began to move and I could now see that it was at least two foot in length. That put an extra spring into my step. I grabbed a stick and stood outside tried to look menacing. Oa acted far more practically – she set off on her bike to get some reinforcements. She returned with the village handyman who managed to skillfully deal with the situation for 100 THB. He took the stick off me and together with a dish cloth he was able to remove the snake.

Worried About Future Invasions

Apparently the cobra in our sitting room was only a youngster, and this means that its mother is likely to be nearby. The garden next door is overgrown and this may be plenty more snakes in there. I can joke now about what happened today, but these snakes are dangerous. Apparently a bite from a Thai cobra is enough to kill an elephant. Luckily my son Timmy was at school today but what if he had been playing near the snake? It really is a worry.

P.S. I never did manage to get a picture of the snake. It didn’t seem important at the time. I was just glad to see the back of it.

BTW – I would be so grateful if people would ‘like’ the Facebook Page for my new book Muay Thai Fighter which is due for release soon.