The King Cobra Village is otherwise known as Ban Khok Sa-Nga, Located on the edge of what was a forest in Khon Kaen Province. In 1951 Ken Dongla was looking for ways to sell his herbal medicine and realized that a snake show would be the way to gather a crowd and sell his plant materials. He developed "snake boxing," a 10 minute event where he demonstrated his mastery over the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). Over the years he shared his cobra handling skills with other members of the village and today the village has become a major tourist attraction. Buses roll in with tourists throughout the day, and the visitors pay 10 baht to watch the show, and be offered a variety of merchandise. The villagers consider this an opportunity to educate the public about the importance of snakes (and nature). Villagers keep snakes, and their children are raised with snakes. Snakes of various species are on display, and the villagers may put on dozens of shows per day.

The villagers insist that if they are bitten a plant (second photo) will protect them from the venom. The leaves are dried and applied to the wound and ingested should someone be bitten. Scientific evidence is lacking and it seems unlikely that the plant has any real ability to block the action of the venom. However, dry bites and sub-lethal bites probably give the illusion that the plant is protecting them.

Don't try this at home!

Snake priests and priestesses have used the king cobra as a source of power and way to convince their followers of their ability to control nature for thousands of years.