Snakes on a Baggage Claim: BKK Apologizes for Frightening Incident

Thai airport officials apologized after a snake hitched a ride on a flyer’s luggage trolley.

At Bangkok’s main international airport Sunday, a flyer carried an unexpected traveler on a luggage cart: a snake.

The Associated Press reported Monday that flyers noticed the snake wrapped around the trolley after a traveler loaded bags onto it and was preparing to leave the arrival area.

Airports of Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK), which sits on land formerly known as “Cobra Swamp,” apologized “for the incident that frightened passengers,” the AP said.

“After being alerted, security officers captured the snake right away and no passengers were injured,” Airports of Thailand said in a statement that described the reptile as “a small baby snake” but did not identify the species.

According to an interview with snake expert Thanaphong Tawan at a Bangkok snake farm conducted by the AP, Tawan said the snake appeared to be a non-venomous Dryocalamus davisonii —known as Blanford’s bridle snake — based on a picture taken of the snake and published by Thai media.

The statement said that the airport holding company hopes to “reassure that clear and strict measures have been imposed to prevent all poisonous animals from slipping into the airport’s buildings” and said “the baby snake managed to slip into the airport because it was very small.”

Airports of Thailand is a Thai public company that manages the country’s six international airports: Suvarnabhumi Airport, Don Mueang International Airport (DMK), Phuket International Airport (HKT), Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX), Hat Yai International Airport (HDY) and Mae Fah Luang–Chiang Rai International Airport (CEI).

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