October 25,2000

Bangkok, Thailand

Just wanted to briefly mention a show that I went to today. S and I took quick canal / floating market tour today and one of the stops was at a snake show. Snakes aren't exactly my favorite creatures, but there's something about a good snake show that intrigues me. This had to be one of the best I have ever seen. Most of the snake shows I have seen keep the audience a bit of a distance from the snakes. This one had the audience directly by the snakes, a tiny one-foot-high wall separating us.

The MC encouraged all of the fearless among us to sit in the first row. "All of you not afraid of snakes, please sit in the front row." It was sort of said like a challenge. I selected row three (of three). No sooner had we been seated than the handlers bring out a couple king cobras, which they slap around. The cobras are sliding around all over the place. They are both about six or seven feet long. Then they grab one and milk the poison from it. Two people pick up the snake and carry it around. They take the cobra into the audience and one of the men 'accidentally' drops his end of the snake on a girl sitting in the front row. She let out a scream that could have been heard all over the park. The man apologized with a big grin on his face. By this time I'm sure that this is a show that could not have been produced in the US. Another man opens a cage and a long flat snake they called a 'racer' quickly crawls out. It's very active - moving from place to place. Suddenly the man picks up one end of it and swings it out into the audience. It was inches from the face of another young lady in the front row who also let out a 'scream-heard-round-the-park'. The handlers felt much joy at this. A python was next. It slithered toward the crowd and the man picks it up and gives it a toss toward them. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. I got up from my seat, left the demonstration, and continued my canal / floating market tour.