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Thai snake charmer puckers up
07/10/2006 14:14 - (SA)
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| Snake charmer Khum Chaibuddee kisses on a king cobra at Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in Pattaya, Thailand. (Sakchai Lalit, AP) |
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Pattaya - A Thai snake charmer kissed 19 highly poisonous king cobras in an attempt to set a world record on Saturday.
One by one, the cobras were released onto a stage set up in the Thai beach resort town of Pattaya.
The snake charmer, Khum Chaibuddee, kissed each beast in turn.
Security was tight, with four additional snake charmers flanking the stage at each corner and a medical team waiting on the sidelines with serum in case one of the snakes snapped.
Thailand's Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in Pattaya, organised the record bid.
The museum's manager, Somporn Naksuetrong, said Ripley's planned to submit the record attempt to the Guinness Book of World Records to overtake a record set in 1999, when an American kissed 11 venomous snakes.
Khum, a part-time snake charmer for more than 12 years, urged children and onlookers not to try the feat on their own.
"I, myself, have been bitten several times by snakes," he said. "Always bear in mind the old story about the snake charmer who died (from being) bitten by snakes."
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