Wirat, Bangkok, Thailand

The next interesting personality I have met is Wirat. I met him watching his snake handling show in the Bangkok snake farm run by the thai red cross. He seems to have no fear of snakes and casually handles some of the worlds most venomous snakes including the king cobra. After the show I got the chance to talk to him...

 What is your name? Wirat Wattanapanit

Where do you come from? I come from Chanthaburi

As a little child, do you remember what was your dream job? I always wanted to be a police man. My father was in the police in Pattaya, a bigger city not too far from Chanthaburi.

What is your profession now? I am a snake handler and look after them whilst they are in their cages. I had a fascination with snakes since a small child because there were many stories in my village about snakes. 

Are you happy with your work life? I was offered this job whilst looking for means to make money. I then started to really enjoy this job. At first I didn't like it because I had fear from the snakes and other reptiles but now I respect them and they respect me.

If you could relive your life what advise would you give yourself? Even if you dont like what you have, make most of it. That way you will not struggle every day. Soon you will realise it is good. All is good in its own way.

What does happiness mean for you? Happiness means being alive. Having health, food, and a good wife and my children. Happiness is in your mind. It depends how you look at the situation if you are happy or sad.

If you could grant yourself one wish, what would it be? Be policeman for few days to see if I would have been happy doing that job or not. But also have my own park for kids with different animals they can play with and get to know, of course I will get rich from that "big smile".

What is the most important thing in life? My family, its all I have.

What advise for life can you give me? Give everything a try and when you do look at the good. Your life is a book, you just have to keep on living it to experience it.

Another photo of him holding this huge venomous king cobra snake. Does he look scared or proud? For me his face expresses it all.

 This is the snake he plays around with. Beautiful and majestical. What you dont see here is that Wirat simply walked past about 50 of those kind cobras in their cage and cleaned their cage next to them.

He wanted to show me this snake as well. Its called the rainbow snake (my memory is hopefully correct) and its from the rice fields. When held into the sun its skin reflects the sun and it shows different colours, like a rainbow.