A Casual Stroll with the Lizards of Thailand

Today's adventure started out as a casual stroll to the huge and beautiful Lumpini Park. Up until 1925 it was part of the area only the king and his family had access to.  But in 1925, the king gave it to the city and the people.  Our time there showed that the people use, take care of and really love this space.  There were may lovely buildings where picnics and gatherings could take place.  Exercise equipment and playgrounds are placed in certain areas and there is an Elders Building for older Thais to gather, do Tai Chi and visit (we saw many seniors throughout the park).

There was some elephant shaped topiary:

A few Siamese kittahs (well, Siamese in that they live in Thailand - formerly Siam).  Locally, they are called Mow-mow (don't know how they spell it - I will find out...)

And some pretty buildings like this one - the Chinese-Thailand Friendship Building

But we were not quite prepared for this:

We were strolling near the water when we spotted a VERY large lizard-like reptile in the water.  Whoa - double take - WHAT is that?  Tried to ask a passing Thai that spoke a little English - he didn't know the name in English, but seemed familiar with the creature that we had just seen.  We kept walking.  Got to a place they call the Floating Island.  Oh my gosh - there's another one sunning itself on a tree trunk.  Then two or three more in the water water... WHAT is that? It looks sort of like a Komodo Dragon I saw in a zoo once.  Just not as big.

A local sees our surprise and motions for us to look in another direction because he can see one we haven't noticed.  While Derrick is taking the picture, I try to talk with this nice gentleman - he speaks little English and I speak one word of Thai (Sawadee ka - means hello - I think).  So we use sign language.  He "tells" me they swim, walk in the ground and indicates they can climb trees.  I "ask" him if they bite by using one hand to "bite" my arm.  I am shocked when he says No, they no bite!  What? Some of these guys are HUGE!  The one in this video is pretty small compared to ones we saw later.

I found out tonight from my friend Google that they are called a Water Monitor and ARE related to the Komodo Dragon (which is from Indonesia). We also found out they really don't bother the people - and saw one chowing down on a fish - which is about all they eat.  There are upwards of 400 in Lumpini Park (the attached article says 200.  The ranger told me around 400) and are pretty much harmless to park visitors - but we did notice a definite lack of squirrels...  Nowadays their job is to shock the tourists.  They do their job well. So there you go - another typical day in Bangkok!