Snakes alive as man flees bag search

SA KAEO: A total of 59 hypo Burmese pythons, including two baby pythons, were seized from a rucksack dropped by a Cambodian man attempting to smuggle the reptiles into the country but who abandoned them when stopped for a check, in Aranyaprathet district yesterday.

The Cambodian man was spotted by a combined team of military rangers and police stationed at Khlong Luek immigration checkpoint to crack down on smuggling.

He caught the authorities’ attention when he strayed from the path for pedestrians on to the path for vehicles, said Yutthana Poolpipat, chief of the checkpoint.

When authorities asked him to stop for a check, the man suddenly threw his rucksack on the ground and ran away, crossing the Thai-Cambodian friendship bridge back into Cambodia, Mr Yutthana said.

Thai authorities were startled by the man’s unexpected reaction and were afraid the discarded rucksack might have contained something dangerous such as explosives, he said, adding authorities similarly ran for cover.

Some bomb experts from the 1201st Ranger Forces Company in Sa Kaeo were then called in to inspect the rucksack, he said.

Authorities found 57 adult hypo Burmese pythons and two baby hypo albina Burmese pythons stuffed in 14 bags inside the rucksack, he said, adding the snakes were believed to have been smuggled from Vietnam and were destined for the Chatuchak market in Bangkok.

Saichon Phothisiri, head of the wildlife inspection checkpoint in Aranyaprathet district, later confirmed the confiscated reptiles were hypo Burmese pythons. They are normally supplied illegally to traders at the Chatuchak market.

Baby pythons sell for about 1,000-2,500 baht each at the market because of the high demand for them among people who want to keep them as pets.

The seized pythons were then handed over to the Aranyaprathet wildlife authorities.

They will later be transferred to Chong Klam Bon wildlife breeding centre in Watthana Nakhon district of Sa Kaeo.