Nihiki Wanders - Bangkok's Snake Farm
- R. Boo
- Mar 28, 2017
- 2 min read
If you don't already know, Charlotte and I adore snakes and I recently had the privilege of visiting Asia's first snake farm in Bangkok!
Located in Bangkok Red Cross Institute (Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute), the Snake Farm has a walk-in garden that is home to various snake habitats and an indoor serpentarium that exhibits 35 species of snakes. A small museum is located on the second level of the indoor facility and displays various snake skins and informative facts about snakes in Thai and English.
The Snake Farm was started in 1923 under the patronage of the Thai Monarchy after it was discovered that imported anti-venoms were ineffective for many local snake species. In cooperation with the Thai Red Cross Society, the facility produces anti-venoms for South East Asia and educates the public about the more than 190 snake species found in Thailand to understand the habits of snakes and to improve the general attitude towards them. According to their website, they also provide education on snake biology, snake bites treatments and first aids for interested people, such as health science students in universities, and provide snake handling training program for volunteers and police in order to expand the ability of catching snake service in the community.
The Snake Farm has two different shows: Venom Extraction and Snake Handling. Here’s the schedule for the shows:
Monday – Friday (except holidays) 11.00 AM | Venom extraction. 2.30 PM | Snake Handling and photo-taking.
Weekends and holidays. 11.00 AM | Snake Handling and photo-taking.
Do head towards the auditorium earlier to catch front row seats as the keepers casually tames the snakes in front of you. The emcee will then speak in great detail about each snake that comes out to perform (not to worry, he speaks in Thai and English) and you might just be shocked at how easily they handle some of the most venomous snakes.
At the end of show, the audience is invited to grab photos with their friendly albino Boa Constrictor! This is my favourite part as I get to meet such a magnificent creature and have my photo taken with it.
Overall, I was rather surprised by their collection of snakes given that it’s in town, not in the outskirts, and was even more thrilled to learn that there will be a live show and photo-taking! I had the best time gushing over the cute snakes and fell in love with the adorable Rat Snake due to its round black eyes. Although I missed the morning Venom Extraction show, I’m glad to have caught the afternoon Snake Handling show and caught some dangerous moments between the handlers and snakes. I will greatly recommend it to those who love wildlife (and those who don’t) as it is priced reasonably and is easily one of the more interesting spots in Bangkok. Afterwards, you can head to the nearby Lumphini Park and continue your wildlife journey!
Information Address: 1871 Rama IV Road | Phathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Opening Hours: 8:30-4:30 on weekdays, 9:30-1:00 on weekends and holidays
Contact No.: +66 225201614 Price: 200 baht for adults, 50 baht for children
For more information, visit their website here.
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