If you’re looking for something to do in Bangkok aside from visiting temples, a great choice would be the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute – the Bangkok Snake Farm. The institute is one of the world’s largest and leading snake farms and venomous snake husbandry. The institute specializes in the extraction of venom, the processing of it into antivenin, as well as the production of the rabies vaccine.

Bangkok Snake Farm

Originally founded in 1912 by King Rama VI to distribute rabies vaccines, upon the suggestion of Prince Damrong. Her daughter Princess Banlusirisarn had died of an infected bite. It was placed under the authority of the Thai Red Cross organization and began producing vaccines for smallpox as well. To this day, the institute still offers vaccination and pre-travel consultation services.

In 1922, construction finished for a snake farm in an effort to produce antidotes to snake bites, as Thailand contains many deadly snakes. The institute was then renamed from the Pastura Institute to Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute (named after the King’s mother). We learned a little bit about snake bites, what to do if you get bit and treatment of snake bites on our visit.

Extensive Remodels Bring The Bangkok snake Farm Into Modernity

The institute began to show it’s age and underwent extensive remodeling. The original building was torn down and replaced with a five-story modern building in its place in the early 2000s. Today, the institute sits beside the Chulalongkorn Hospital (which is nice to know if you’re worried about getting bit.) 

The attraction is one of the top-rated activities on TripAdvisor, and I when I saw it, I immediately wanted to go see it. I have always liked snakes, and have found most zoos tend to treat snake exhibits as an afterthought, so I thought that a snake farm would be a great adventure. A little research showed:

• Venom extraction demonstrations –  weekdays at 11 am
• Snake handling shows – weekdays at 2:30 pm and 11 am on weekends

Visiting Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute

We decided to make our way to the farm on a Monday morning to try and see both shows. Unfortunately, we got a little later start than we intended and messed up on the Metro station and had to backtrack a little, so we arrived just a little after noon and missed the extraction.

The farm is behind the front building that you see from the street. Simply walk about 100 meters and follow the signs. There is a little cafe directly in front of the ticket booth. Tickets cost 200 Baht for adults and 50 for children (~$5.70 & $1.50). The tickets allow you to leave and enter again on the same day as purchase, should you decide to leave to grab lunch.

A large Outdoor Display

Upon entering the farm, you will find yourself in a large courtyard, with various snake enclosures dotting the perimeter. Some of these enclosures are quite large – the one for the King Cobra was huge stretching over 50 feet long with a very natural looking habitat. Other exhibits showcased pythons and anacondas. Under the sun cover in the center, are large open pits that contain nonvenomous snakes from around the world – many water snakes.

A Quiet Respite Inside

As it was hot, we decided to go inside the building for their indoor exhibit. Here we found the more traditional terrariums that you find in most zoos. The first floor contains a few dozen exhibits of snakes, showcasing the various snakes found across South East Asia, particularly Thailand.

We were able to see front-fanged, rear-fanged, vipers, and nonvenomous snakes. Several Cobras were on display – but most were just lazing about. There were a few really active snakes though. One tree-dwelling snake kept us entertained as it slithered about and seemed to be interacting with us.

Great Displays

There is information for each snake with labels. They displayed whether they were venomous, rear-fanged, or nonvenomous, where you can find the snake, if it is diurnal or nocturnal, where it prefers to reside – caves, trees, mangrove forest, etc. – and if it’s egg-laying or live-bearing.

Upon finished the first floor, we then made our way up to the second-floor museum. Here you will find numerous snake skeletons and preserved snakes.

If You Are Lucky, You Can See Snakes Hatch

Exhibits go in depth explaining the evolutionary process that brought about snakes, their reproduction cycles, anatomy, and venoms. There are two videos in both Thai and English and a presentation going over snakes in mythology. There is also an egg incubator, and if you’re lucky you’ll see the babies hatch. The eggs for us wouldn’t hatch for another month.

 

 

Finish With A Show

We finished the building and exited outside to the concrete bleachers for the snake handling show. We were at the very top, and it was a little difficult to see well. But the presentation was quite interesting. Several Cobras were brought out, and the handlers demonstrated their ease with which they could handle the deadly snakes.

The speaker was quite animated and easy to understand as snake after snake was brought out for display. It was interesting to see how some of the venomous snakes were simply picked up and handled in a lazy manner, while others had to be very careful to not be bitten.

The show lasts about 30 minutes. At the end, a Burmese Python is brought out to take a picture with. We elected not to primarily because of time and we were hungry.

It was an enjoyable experience, it lived up to my expectation. I do wish we could have seen the extraction demonstration though. The institute is worth the visit if you are burning out on temples. This would also be appealing to children. You can easily make two hours of the place, and stretch it a bit longer if you take it at a leisurely pace.

 

Visit the Bangkok Snake Farm

• Address: Find the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute at the corner of Henri Durant Road and Rama IV Road.
• Hours: Open Monday – Friday 9:30 – 3:30 and Weekends 9:30 – 1:30.

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