The Scorpion Lady of Bangkok

It’s true, you’ll meet a lot of people and new friends when you travel.

But there are times that you’ll just encounter a person whom you didn’t become a friend, but will leave an indelible mark in your memory.

Just like this woman in Khao San Road in Bangkok. We just finished having a foot massage that night when we decided to stay for a while and drink some beer.

Chang, a Thai beer, was surprisingly good.

It’s not so strong like beers here in the Philippines. It has a mix taste of fruity apple in it. We chatted for a while. We were thankful for our new Pinoy friends in Bangkok for showing us around the city. We were having a great time until a strange woman approached us. She has this weird hair and all. But hey we were in Bangkok, our minds were open for anything new, so it was okay and fun that she talked to us.

The problem was, she was talking in Thai so we couldn’t understand her. She tried to speak some few English and then she just danced without any hesitation and care in the world.

It was too late for us to realize she has scorpions crawling on her shoulder. Hahaha! We saw some scorpions a few minutes ago, but those were cooked scorpions. It’s a different case if you see these creatures moving!

Dare to eat these?

Of course, in a group of friends, there will always be at least one who’s afraid of spiders, scorpions or anything of its kind. So some of my friends freaked out a bit. A bit because they were still trying to control themselves. Maybe thinking, remember you’re in Thailand. You’re in a different country! Hahaha!

Let’s drink!

Then in a few minutes, the Filipina manager of the massage parlor that we’d been to showed up and talked to the scorpion lady. I just made up that name for her since she didn’t introduce herself.

They chatted some interesting and fun talk. They were actually friends, I mean the Pinay manager and her. She seemed to be more comfortable that time and showed delight in posing in front of the camera.

The Scorpion lady has arrived

She then danced and danced while Ate Pinay manager talked to us for a bit. She told us more about her friend. It’s true that she was coined as Scorpion lady of Khao San. Every night she would roam around the place with scorpions on her shoulders, sometimes she puts it on her head. Some tourists would give her money for some photos and interaction.

The bad thing is some tourists would give her beer and ask her to drink.

Looking at her that time, dancing and saying hi to everyone, we were sure that she was a bit tipsy.

There was no chance of talking to the lady scorpion and know more of her. But if I would be given a chance, I would love to.

Behind her crazy hair and outfit, what’s her story?

I didn’t get a chance to interact with her, but this travel to Thailand made me more open and sensitive, realizing the fact that just like the scorpion lady, every one of us has a story. It’s always worthwhile to observe, and talk to people while traveling.

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