Runaway snakes cause chaos in Soi Katoey

PATONG: Tourists and denizens of the night scrambled for safety when a bunch of snakes got loose in Soi Katoey, off Soi Bangla, in the early hours of yesterday. The snakes got loose after a team from the Phuket Provincial Forestry Office, led by Sumran Cheanloy, the office’s chief, and accompanied by police, launched raids on bar areas in Patong, looking for animals being used illegally. The sweep resulted in the arrests of Niroot Onkaew, Thaweep Chankaew and Pichet Suansan on charges of operating businesses contravening laws protecting wild animals. The fun and games began when the three tried to run away from the police, dropping their snakes as they fled. The police were able to recapture all of the runaways – human and otherwise. Apart from the three arrested, the officers scooped up six reticulated pythons and a hawk. “These people ask if tourists want to take photos with the wild animals, then charge them 110 baht a shot,” explained the police officer in charge, Pol Capt Komdech Poathong. “There are still many more doing this type of business in Patong, so we will go on mounting raids.” The pythons and the hawk were taken to the Provincial Forestry Office.