“snake hunters” capture reptiles with their bare hands

In Thailand, Pinyo Pook is a firefighter and snake catcher. In Bangkok, he crisscrosses the city at the wheel of his car, always ready to intervene. With a headlamp on his head, with his bare hands, Pinyo Pook grabs reptiles by the head, in front of stunned residents. “I have experience, you know. I do this every day”, he explains.

Catching snakes: the main activity of firefighters

If he recalls that his job as a firefighter consists of intervening on fires and accidents, Pinyo Pook assures that, “what[ils font] the most here is to catch snakes“. Bangkok is infested with these reptiles, often dangerous, present in gardens and houses. “Some days, we are called thirty times to go to people’s homes“, he specifies, after 21 years of service. The snakes are then released in the forest 200 kilometers from the capital.