Creatures come crawling

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I know a place that I think may be the most accessible and best location in Thailand to see the bugs and arachnids of this tropical land. There I have scene 4 varieties of spiders. The largest of which was the size of my fist with legs out stretched, the smallest maybe 2 or 3 inches. There a scorpion once lay docile and a centipede dashed at record speed out from under my foot. Lizards abound daily and today, I saw a large toad crawling up the walls.

Perhaps you are asking, where is this wild location? Or perhaps, having read my Facebook statuses you have guessed it. That’s right folks, my kitchen! Tours are available daily for 100 baht, lunch included.

I have mostly been amused by this fact though I am occasionally a little grossed out and occasionally a little freaked out as well. No doubt for ventilation purposes, the kitchen is separated from the rest of the duplex and is effectively outside. It has the type of roof that looks entirely enclosed but slopes out diagonally to allow natural ventilation in the brick building. Open to the critters, they come a crawling.

The latest episode was the centipede day. Coming home from school I realized I had made a mistake in the morning rush. I had forgotten to dump out the remainder of my smoothie… I looked cautiously inside and saw a pair of eyes peering up at me from amidst the pink orange goo. Dumping it out in the sink not one, no, but TWO lizards came sprawling out slimy and bloated. They dumped off in the sink and got a little bath from the sink water before they dashed off. Laughing at the scene, I went to go back into the house. Suddenly, I saw something out of the corner of my eye and stopped my foot from stepping all the way at the last minute. Faster than any roach with all 100 legs in action a centipede dashed across my kitchen floor. I gave a little shriek and jumped back. The centipede cowered equally frightened in corner. I retreated to my bedroom, it snuggled in the darkest place it could find.

Over my initial adrenaline, I ran to get a camera. Not being able to stomach trying to kill the thing I went to look up whether it was poisonous. It was. Sadly, rather than being brave and scooping it up like I ought to have, I decided to wear shoes until it could be discovered on a brighter day. I felt pretty silly when my Thai friend saw it and scooped it up with a broom and a dust pan and put it calmly outside.

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