Pet Cobra in Thailand Kills Expat
Pet Cobra in Thailand Kills Expat – Or, Suicide?
Pattaya, Thailand police are blaming a Naja kaouthia cobra for the December 2nd, 2010 death of an ex-pat from Norway. This 60-year-old man, Per Christian Lindgaard, kept the cobra as a pet in his condo apparently.
Here’s what is strange about the whole thing…
He was already admitted once to the hospital for a bite from this cobra. He survived and was back at the condo. He was bitten again and didn’t go to the hospital. His naked body was found on the bed… He didn’t try to tell anyone he was bitten. He didn’t call the ambulance. He didn’t even put the cobra back into the cage after it bit him?
If he was bitten once and didn’t die from it – but still required hospitalization – he had to have a real healthy FEAR of the snake and know that he didn’t know what the hell he was doing with it. Yet, he kept it in a small glass aquarium with a flimsy styrofoam lid (it appears like in the video).
A cobra – any venomous snake – could kill you very quickly if you have an allergic reaction (anaphylactic shock) to
The maid opened the door after getting no answer – and because of a foul smell from the room. She found his naked body on the bed. Police found dark blister wounds on both of his legs – presumably from the snake.
Police officers were suddenly surprised when a 1-meter-long Naja kaouthia – monocled cobra – appeared.
Does this make sense to anyone? I’m calling it a suicide – in my opinion. It just doesn’t really add up for me. If you’re bitten by a deadly snake – and WANT to live – you tell someone or go to the hospital. You wouldn’t lie naked on your bed and let it run around the room.
On the other hand, if it was an accident and the guy died so quickly that he couldn’t react… I’m completely wrong. People that don’t understand how to handle deadly snakes – should not. The only good that could possibly come out of this story is that other expats in Thailand or elsewhere in Asia, the world – don’t downplay the serious risk to life these snakes are.
Video of the room Mr. Lindgaard was found in – and the cobra – looks like the video was removed.
Dude, couldn’t the cobra have gotten out when he was sleeping? ‘Course that doesn’t explain why he’d be bit.
Did the snake end up being okay?
Possibly. Sure. The guy had been bitten by the cobra just a couple of weeks before though. You’d think if you were bitten by one – you’d be pretty careful about keeping it secure the next time. There were some other strange things about it too – that made not only me think about suicide, but others that wrote me email.
It would seem he gave himself two bites. I guess he was depressed. Suicide may be common in his age group and I’ve heard of others in Thailand ending up alone and dead.
Moke