[category]
[title]
This is not one of those snake-charmer shows you find at tourist markets. Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute is run by the Thai Red Cross, opened to the public in 1923 and is often described as the world's second-oldest snake farm. Its main job is research and antivenom production, with snakes milked for venom used to produce antivenoms stocked in Thai hospitals. The public side exists to educate, not entertain, and the difference shows.
The farm keeps more than 35 venomous species in indoor enclosures, alongside a larger outdoor garden of non-venomous snakes. Upstairs is a museum covering snake evolution, anatomy, reproductive biology, toxicology and first aid for bites. Crucially, the snakes here retain their venom glands, which gives even the handling demonstrations a different charge.
The venom extraction show runs at 11am on weekdays. Watch a handler coax a king cobra into biting a membrane stretched over a jar as venom runs down the glass. It is clinical, calm and genuinely difficult to look away from. The snake-handling show follows at 2.30pm on weekdays and 11am on weekends, with the option to be photographed with a python afterwards at no extra charge.
2 Wireless Road, Pathum Wan. BTS Chit Lom, then a 10-minute walk south along Wireless Road; enter via the Aman Nai Lert Bangkok hotel grounds. Open daily during daylight hours. Free entry.