You never really know when you’re going to see a king cobra in Krabi or anywhere in Thailand. You can count on it being a surprise, because it’s a magical moment whenever it happens.
We have seen nearly 20 king cobras in the wild, and each time it is a huge surprise and like we just hit the lottery.
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King Cobra Herping in Krabi
I was herping with a friend, Tom Charlton, the other night and after less than 10-minutes of looking, Tom screams KING COBRA! From 20 meters away. This king was found climbing up through the man-made waterfalls at a wilderness resort in Krabi, Thailand at 7:20 pm. on Friday this past weekend.
This was actually only one of few king cobras I’ve seen while actively looking for snakes. The others were just pure surprises that happened while I was engaged in other activities.
I’ve walked this area over 200 times in the past 12 years. I have never seen a king cobra on the grounds, though the manager of the resort sees them with some frequency during daylight hours.
Some frequency, meaning about once per month on average. King cobras are not known to be active much after daylight, and so seeing one at night was an extra special surprise for us.
If you are going on a herping tour to spot king cobras, you are going to be disappointed more than likely. It is a completely hit or miss activity.
You will see other snakes, but seeing the king is a gift from mother nature that comes not when you want it to – but whenever and for whatever reason or no reason at all you’re suddenly looking at one.
Highest Probability for Finding King Cobras in Krabi
Visit Khao Phanom Bencha Mountain Resort and stay for as long as you can in February/March of any year. The king cobras are highly active at this time and roaming around to find a mate. If a female is in the area, many male king cobras will come from far away to find her.
The kings are seen in the pond by the restaurant and in the grass and across the grounds at the resort. It probably doesn’t make much sense to go walk around for 8 hours a day, just be staying at the resort and if someone sees one, you’ll know because everyone screams about it.
What Time of Day is Best to Find King Cobras in Thailand?
Generally, the daylight hours are the best times to find king cobras because they are more active and easier to see. We have seen kings from 7 am. to 11:30 pm. That doesn’t mean they aren’t around after 11:30 pm., but that is the time we are usually about finished herping.
King Cobra Tours?
We don’t have King Cobra tours. There is a place in Bali that has them, but recently it was found out that they catch snakes, bag them, and then release them in front of the tour groups and tell them they just happened to find one. It’s a scam, in short.
So, by all means, go out and look for king cobras on your eco-tour, but do appreciate all the other amazing wildlife you’ll see on your trip.
There are thousands of fascinating wildlife possibilities in Thailand and Malaysia.
Krabi Herping Trip?
Join us from April to December every year looking for 2-3 hours at night in Thailand’s rainforest photographing snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, geckos, centipedes, scorpions and slow lorises?
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More Krabi Snake Info:
More Krabi Wildlife Info >