Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You.

“This entry contains scenes that some readers may find disturbing and distasteful”

I am not sure I should even be posting this entry. It’s uncharacteristic of the type of entries that you have found and will generally find in the Bangkok Blog. I have always tried to write about culturally interesting items that are not necessarily topical or newsworthy. So why would I now choose to report on an issue that some of you will find gross? Why would I choose to publish a report that might lose the one or two readers that I already have? Well, every so often, newsworthy topics that somehow relate to my work here need to be told, so here goes.

The actual story started just before I arrived in Thailand, sometime around May 27th. But for me, it started this past weekend, when someone I was with mentioned certain problems with toileting issues. (I’m trying to be as subtle as possible.) And then someone else in our group mentioned that during the first couple of weeks of June, all the clinics and the two hospitals were inundated with people complaining about the same irregularity issues. “Wow, that’s strange,” I said. And not only that, but I was told that this flood of irregular patients was not only taking place at our facilities, but also at facilities all over Bangkok. So I thought that maybe there was some sort of water issue, like in Flint or Walkerton. Or maybe there was a food issue like one of those Costco recalls. I was told no – none of those reasons were the cause. I was stumped and asked the obvious question. “If it wasn’t the water or some food contamination thing, what could be causing all this irregularity?“ “Snakes!” I was told. Okay, so how could snakes cause hundreds of people to become, clinically speaking, constipated?

This is where we need to go back to May 27th or thereabouts. And this is where the extreme grossness comes into play. The story is pretty simple and received massive press coverage, apparently all over the world, although I had not heard about it. I will not get into details except to say that the story involves a 3 meter python, a toilet, a particular body part and a man who lives near Bangkok. You can read the press coverage on the BBC site or on the Bangkok Post site. Or you can Google away and find all the gory details and pictures you’d like. (Try ‘Snake attacks man in Bangkok‘ for example.)  I decided to include just one international site and one local one, just for starters.  You can find others if you’d like.

It seemed that after the heavy media coverage, many folks were unwilling to use their home bathroom facilities or any bathroom facilities for days after the event. So constipation ensued causing numerous visits to our healthcare facilities.

Enough said. The situation, as far as I can make out, has stabilized. Regularity has returned. However, I should mention that the person, who shall remain unnamed and who first told mentioned this story did find a snake in her house earlier in the day, which prompted what has become this Bangkok Blog entry.

There’s probably a moral here.  Check first – sit second – or move to a higher storey.