More than 100 crocodiles have escaped into flooded Bangkok
by: James Hookway, Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2011 9:21AM
Crocodile caught in Bangkok
Residents carry a crocodile being caught and killed at a flooded residential area in the Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok. Source: AP
THE best way to catch a crocodile, according to Praiphan Thienthong, is to give it an electric shock with a cattle prod.
Mr Praiphan, a crocodile catcher at Thailand's Department of Fisheries, is working overtime to help chase down more than 100 of the reptiles believed to have escaped the country's crocodile farms as Thailand's worst floods in half a century washed over their pens and swept them downstream to Bangkok's northern suburbs.
"You've got to keep shocking the crocodile until it falls unconscious," Mr Praiphan said as he patted a two-metre long croc that was trussed up on the floor of his flat-bottom motorboat, about a 20-minute drive from the centre of Bangkok.
"This one was tough. It dove deep so we had to keep chasing it until we could give it a good zap."
"You've got to keep at it, otherwise you have to shoot it dead," he said, patting a handgun strapped at his side. "And we don't want to do that. We're here to save the crocodiles."
In Thailand's unfolding flood crisis, the crocodiles lend a dimension of fear and foreboding to an already heavy toll on lives and livelihoods and a threat of a greater deluge. At least 373 people have been killed since unusually heavy rains opened up on the country in late July.
Bangkok's central business district remained dry yesterday, protected, for now, by a series of makeshift barriers in northern sections of the city. But Bangkok's governor ordered an official evacuation of residents of two of the city's 50 districts, Don Muang and Bang Phlat, as floodwaters continued their relentless rise in outer districts and along the banks of the Chao Phraya River that runs through Bangkok's historic old town.
Those problems came a day after the administration of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declared a five-day public holiday through to Monday and authorities closed the city's second-biggest airport as waters spilled over it. If barriers at three key locations don't hold up, Ms Yingluck said, "all of Bangkok will be flooded."
Manifesting that uncertainty, animals of all kinds are competing with humans for patches of dry ground as floodwaters begin lapping at the northern edge of Bangkok. Stray dogs are little more than a nuisance. But many locals are terrified of an influx of snakes, or worse.
"This is the worst thing is knowing that there might be a crocodile or snake there waiting for you when you go back to check your home," said Patchara Promkaew, as she surveyed her flood-washed home from an embankment.
Reports of crocodiles have been accompanied by rumours of attacks, though no cases could be verified and authorities quickly dismissed the stories. Thailand's crocodiles, for the most part the fresh-water Siamese variety, tend to be smaller and less aggressive than some saltwater counterparts.
In centuries gone by, crocodiles were plentiful and Thais grew accustomed to living side-by-side with them. Temples dedicated to crocodile spirits can be found around the country.
But over the last 30 years, Thailand's startling economic transformation has made the country more susceptible to flooding, while also leaving many of its residents less prepared to deal with unforeseen dangers of the wild.
An influx of Japanese and US firms helped industrialise broad swaths of the country from the mid-1980s onward as property developers paved over rice fields and wetlands to build sprawling industrial estates and subdivisions of uniform townhouses. Such wetlands and floodplains previously helped contain seasonal floods.
More than one-third of Thailand's 65 million people now live in cities, where many people now trade rumours about the latest surges over social networking sites.
But rice farmers, the traditional backbone of Thailand's agricultural economy, have also inadvertently contributed to the problems. In past years many began looking for new ways to supplement their income and catch up with their richer, urban compatriots.
Some tried crocodile farming. Thai authorities estimate that tens of thousands of crocodiles are reared in more 800 farms that feed a global demand for crocodile-skin shoes and handbags.
But rising floodwaters have created a phenomenon scientists call involuntary re-population, and spurred a surge in demand for kraetong, or crocodile-wranglers, like Mr Praiphan.
Fanning out across Bang Bua Thong, a flooded suburb just north of Bangkok, Mr Praiphan and other teams of crocodile hunters carefully steer their boats past submerged buses and flooded supermarket parking lots.
Before the flood arrived over the weekend, nearly a quarter of a million people lived here, a testament to the country's rapid growth. Luxurious mansions, seedy massage parlours and dozens of convenience stores are submerged under as much as two metres of water.
"Look at it now. This is unbelievable," said local resident Phirachai Chainakul as he watched several cars bobbing near an Esso petrol station.
The day before, crocodile-catcher Wattanakorn Boonsriwong said local volunteers shot two crocodiles dead nearby. "One group cut off the head of the crocodile and tied it to the front of their boat," he said. Some farm operators are offering bounties of up to 5,000 baht, or around $A156, for each crocodile's safe return.
The Fisheries Department is keen to head off vigilante search teams, for the good of both the animals and local residents. The government kraetong use long, electrified cattle prods to stun the reptiles before snaring them and dragging them onboard to cover their eyes and secure their jaws with thick rope.
Working from reports of crocodile sightings, Mr Praiphan played cat and mouse with a crocodile in a temple complex before finally subduing it. His take raised the fishery team's haul to five crocs in two days.
It's an unusual job, even for Mr Praiphan, who usually inspects fishery stocks around Bangkok. "We have studied the crocodile's behavior and habitat, so we know what to do," he says.
Mr Praiphan has also spent hours watching crocodile shows such as History Channel's "Swamp People," plus similar programs on the Discovery and National Geographic channels. "I love them. Love them all," he says.
After Mr Praiphan and his team caught the fifth crocodile, his boss, Director-General Wimol Jantrarotai, organised a live interview with Thailand's Channel 7 network.
"It's important to use this opportunity to show people that there's nothing to fear about crocodiles," Mr. Wimol said as he waded through the flood waters to reach the news crew. "In the past we lived alongside crocodiles in all kinds of habitats. Now we just have to learn to do it again."
