News Forum - What to do if you get bitten by a snake in Thailand

[Thaiger]

Tropical Thailand is home to over 200 species of snakes, more than 60 of which are considered venomous and a danger to humans. Snakes don’t usually attack unless provoked or threatened, but it doesn’t hurt to be aware of how to deal with a snake bite if you live in or are travelling to the Land of Sssmiles. The way a snake bite is handled could mean the difference between life and death. The chances of crossing paths with a serpent in Thailand are slightly higher in rainy season, when some snakes take shelter from the stormy weather by slithering […]

The story What to do if you get bitten by a snake in Thailand as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Rookiescot]

This is why owning your own flamethrower is crucial in Thailand.

It allows you to kill any snake from a safe distance with fire. The only downside is I have had to rebuild my home three times.

But there are no damned snakes round here. 

[Pinetree]

If it's a Banded Krait, you die, quickly. 

[HiuMak]

13 hours ago, Thaiger said:

What to do if you get bitten by a snake in Thailand as seen on Thaiger News.

Sue the Mall?

[Guest1]

And since Covid, they are also more and more often to spot, at least more as before.

A friend of mine had on Phuket 4 closer encounters with monocled cobras, 3 of them adults, in the past year.

Which, he said, are more than in the decade before combined.

Nature was growing, 2020-2022.

[Morpheus]

If you are going to publish first aid advice, make sure you do your research first. This advice is not 100% correct.  You have missed one piece of vital information.

[Guest1]

9 minutes ago, Morpheus said:

You have missed one piece of vital information.

Which is ....?

[Bluesofa]

46 minutes ago, Morpheus said:

If you are going to publish first aid advice, make sure you do your research first. This advice is not 100% correct.  You have missed one piece of vital information.

Am I missing something? I can't see any first aid advice at all in Guest1 last post.

[Morpheus]

52 minutes ago, Guest1 said:

Which is ....?

Pressure mobilisation bandage. This is important to minimise the flow of venom. If you are not aware snake venom travels through the capillary blood vessels close to the skin surface and not the main arteries. This proceedure will increase the patients survival rate 10 fold.  Considering many snake bites happen in remote areas and time is the essence, especially here in Thailand where medical help can be a bit on the slow side. I keep a couple of 'roller bandages' in my first aid kit. If you dont have the correct bandage, you can improvise with torn clothing. There are plenty of U tube videos available to watch, I suggest St John Ambulance videos. 

Regards

First Aider

[Faraday]

11 minutes ago, Morpheus said:

Pressure mobilisation bandage. This is important to minimise the flow of venom. If you are not aware snake venom travels through the capillary blood vessels close to the skin surface and not the main arteries. This proceedure will increase the patients survival rate 10 fold.  Considering many snake bites happen in remote areas and time is the essence, especially here in Thailand where medical help can be a bit on the slow side. I keep a couple of 'roller bandages' in my first aid kit. If you dont have the correct bandage, you can improvise with torn clothing. There are plenty of U tube videos available to watch, I suggest St John Ambulance videos. 

Regards

First Aider

**When giving medical advice, please post a link**

                    Moderator

[Guest1]

3 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

Am I missing something? I can't see any first aid advice at all in Guest1 last post.

That was not towards me, that was towards :

https://thethaiger.com/guides/what-to-do-if-you-get-bitten-by-a-snake-in-thailand 

Morpheus might not be aware, that this is just a quoted and translated article from another source 

[Bluesofa]

27 minutes ago, Guest1 said:

4 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

Am I missing something? I can't see any first aid advice at all in Guest1 last post.

That was not towards me, that was towards :

https://thethaiger.com/guides/what-to-do-if-you-get-bitten-by-a-snake-in-thailand 

Morpheus might not be aware, that this is just a quoted and translated article from another source 

Ah, thanks for that.

As there was no reference to who/what it was regarding I assumed erroneously it was the immediate previous post.

[Morpheus]

6 hours ago, Faraday said:

**When giving medical advice, please post a link**

                    Moderator

<content removed>

Edited August 4, 2022 by KaptainRob
Refer Forum Guidelines

[Smiler]

All good advice, but the best bit is leave them alone they will leave you alone, I saw a monocled cobra recently in one of the parks in Bangkok I just stopped and watched it, it wasn’t interested in me in the slightest eventually it disappeared into some undergrowth but I felt privileged to have seen it. 

[Guest1]

11 minutes ago, Smiler said:

All good advice, but the best bit is leave them alone they will leave you alone, I saw a monocled cobra recently in one of the parks in Bangkok I just stopped and watched it, it wasn’t interested in me in the slightest eventually it disappeared into some undergrowth but I felt privileged to have seen it. 

Unlucky, most attacks happen while humans have not seen them before, but still coming close. 

In other cases, leave them alone, keep your distance, will be best for both sides.

Btw., the monocled cobra is a common poisonous snake in Thailand, it can also spit up to about 1.5m, targeting the eyes.

Distance is really the best thing to have!

[cowslip]

On 8/3/2022 at 1:12 PM, Rookiescot said:

But there are no damned snakes round here. 

there's someone who is so wrong....

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Khunwilko

[cowslip]

I think most people simply don't notice snakes in Thailand - they don't expect to see them and assume they are not there...they are, of course.

Snakes feel the approach of humans and will make an escape, usually before they are even noticed - hence the belief by many that there are "no snakes around here".

Fatalities in Thailand are about 30 deaths per year , [Suchai Suteparuk, M.D., Division of Toxicology, Chulalongkorn University].

In Australia which has the deadliest snakes in the world the death are is about 2. Which is even allowing for population a lot lower than Thailand.

The reason for this is the lack of good emergency services in Thailand and the problems of non-scientific "folk" cures being applied rather than going to hospital.

To be bitten by a snake you really have to interfere with it - most people bitten are trying to "clear" as snake from their presence. 

Cobras often enter houses or schools places as chicken sheds - so agricultural workers are particularly at risk. Cobras are often much larger than people thought and then the misclassification starts - King Cobras are said to be the snake - until that person eventually encounters a true Cobra up to 20 feet in length - they are often achieve 12 ft. They aren't even real Cobras - they now seem to appear in housing but this is not their preferred habitat and one suspects that many identifications are erroneous.

But one of the most "common" source of bites in Thailand are vipers and pit vipers. These animals tend not to flee in the presence of humans, their nature is to be well camouflaged and lay in wait. So unfortunately humans often disturb them - e.g. in cracks in reground or most commonly in trees - e.g. rubber plantations, mangroves

heres a good list of things to do if bitten

 

 

Call for emergency help right away if someone has been bitten by a snake. Responding quickly in this type of emergency is crucial. While waiting for emergency help:

Wash the bite with soap and water.

Keep the bitten area still and lower than the heart.

Cover the area with a clean, cool compress or a moist dressing to ease swelling and discomfort.

Monitor breathing and heart rate.

Remove all rings, watches, and constrictive clothing, in case of swelling.

Note the time of the bite so that it can be reported to an emergency room healthcare provider if needed.

If possible, try to remember to draw a circle around the affected area and mark the time of the bite and the initial reaction. If you are able, redraw the circle around the site of injury marking the progression of time.

It is helpful to remember what the snake looks like, its size, and the type of snake if you know it, in order to tell the emergency room staff.

Don't apply a tourniquet.

Don't try to suck the venom out.

At the emergency department you may be given:

Antibiotics to prevent or treat developing infections

Medicine to treat your pain

A special type of antivenin depending on the type of snake that bit you and the severity of your symptoms.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/snake-bites

 

 

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[TWS60]

Learning a bit about snakes common to your area of Thailand, or anywhere for that matter, is the smart play. 

My sense is the people who are the most fearful of snakes have the least amount of knowledge of them, and that vacuum is filed by fear - often irrational and debilitating to the extent they can't even talk about it or look at photos/videos.

In most cases, fear can be displaced by knowledge, exposure and experience.  The former can be obtained now more than ever with the Internet connection most of us have already.  20 minutes a day over a few weeks, and you'll create a  reasonably good baseline of basic knowledge.  Seems like drinking from a fire hose at first but you will catch on, and the increase in knowledge and confidence feels great. 

Don't have to become Crocodile Dundee, but when everyone else is losing their s**t , you'll be the one who calmly observes the snake and says,  "Oh, that's a Rat Snake/Golden Tree Snake (or whatever), no worries, guys."   Works the other way when you recognize a venomous species, or even if you're not sure, so you always err on the side of caution. 

Ive never become a snake handler, even the wild, non-venomous ones.  I either leave them be or relocate very nearby for their own safety from cats, dogs, cars/motorbikes, and uninformed humans who lose the plot and start swinging gardening tools, brooms, lawn chairs, shoes, empty beer bottles, etc., at them.

[Fanta]

Yell for the missus and look suitably chastened while she scolds me all the way to the hospital? Works for every other injury I have suffered. 

[GMM]

 

If bite is on a limb, apply broad pressure bandage over the bite site as soon as possible.
Apply pressure immobilisation bandages. Apply a firm roller bandage starting just above the fingers or toes and moving up the limb as far as can be reached.

 

Immobilise casualty:

● Apply a splint to immobilise bitten limb

● Check circulation in fingers or toes.

● Ensure casualty does not move.

 

 

[Marc26]

4 hours ago, GMM said:

If bite is on a limb, apply broad pressure bandage over the bite site as soon as possible.
Apply pressure immobilisation bandages. Apply a firm roller bandage starting just above the fingers or toes and moving up the limb as far as can be reached.

Immobilise casualty:

● Apply a splint to immobilise bitten limb

● Check circulation in fingers or toes.

● Ensure casualty does not move.

Move 

Sell everything and move...

 

 

[Pinetree]

Die