Security guard fights off python attack and then wins lottery

Sarayut Malachan had a rollercoaster of luck this past week. After purchasing some lottery tickets and boiling up some snake eggs to eat, he was attacked by a large python. While recovering from the vengeful snake bite, he discovered he won the lottery.

The 68 year old man was sleeping in a security post on a chicken farm when the python attack occurred. The snake was over 3 metres long and had previously visited the area where it had stolen and eaten numerous chickens.

Sarayut had been sleeping when he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his chest. Initially, he thought it was a spirit but realised it was a snake when he opened his eyes. He tried to get the python off him but it resisted and bit his foot. The snake even attempted to strike him with its tail, a typical hunting strategy of pythons.

“If I didn’t fight, I would have died. I could hardly breathe. The python’s weakness is its tail, just bite it. I grabbed its tail and bit it. It let go.”

The unlucky man believes the snake may have been seeking retribution. Earlier, factory workers had destroyed a tamarind tree, which housed a python nest with ten eggs. The workers used a backhoe to throw the two parent pythons into the forest. Sarayut collected the abandoned eggs and consumed them, which could have led the python to seek revenge.

“I think it smelt its eggs. I had taken its eggs and boiled them, all ten of them. I ate them all. I went to show the police my wound to see if it was fatal. I didn’t know what to do.”

In his past, Sarayut had been ordained for 23 years, reaching the level of abbot in Sakon Nakhon. He had been ordained as a forest monk. He had also kept one python and two cobras as pets and had a considerable amount of knowledge on snakes. He once survived a cobra bite on his hand as well.

But not all of his luck was bad this week. Sarayut had purchased ten lottery tickets for the draw on August 16. It turned out that the last three digits on his tickets matched the first prize number. There is actually a belief in some cultures that snakes are a sign of good luck in the lottery.

He usually buys 20 tickets per draw and has won big prizes several times. His earnings from the lottery have brought in over 3 million baht. In the last draw, he narrowly missed the first prize by just three digits. For the draw on September 1, he plans to perform meritorious deeds in hopes of seeing the winning number.

He intends to accept only 1 million baht if he wins the first prize and donate the rest to schools and hospitals.