Jordi, the TOKAY lizard Slayer.
Last December, my team and I were in Chiang Dao, Thailand. Our home- was a quaint little orphanage.
A symphony of children’s laughter followed us wherever we went, especially while inside the compound. It didn’t matter if we were sleeping, eating, or having a cup of coffee in the morning, the kids were with us.
On one of the nights, as I lay in my bed, -which was set up against the thin wooden wall separating the rooms- I was interrupted by mischievous little giggles, and a peeking smile, as one of the girls was straining to get my attention through a crack in the wall. “A phi Noah!”, she whispered.
This is Thai, and she was either calling me- “scary white ghost Noah”, or “elder Noah” in Thai). Both of which were fitting.
Along with the Children, there were many, many, lizards. You could find them at any moment. They rested on the walls, ceiling, and tables. The caveat, was that you could never catch them. They moved like running water, and were usually only about 3 inches long.
For those wondering; they aren’t a source of food because they are too small, and they aren’t a nuisance because they keep the bugs away. It’s symbiotic.
One morning, I put out a 300 bhat ($10) reward, to anyone who could catch one of these little lizards. To add another stipulation, I told them that they each only had 5 days to catch one of these little lizards.
A few days passed, and a few jokesters came running to me. I stopped taking them seriously, because they would pretend that they caught one.
On one of the last days, I was laying in my bed writing, and listening to music. Suddenly, I am interrupted by yelling, and a figure bursting through the door. His hands were tightly clasping around a nearly 6” or 7” inch TOKAY LIZARD (not the Lizard I was formerly talking about).
For those who don’t know, Tokay Lizards are very elusive, and a rarity. There’s even a whole underground market for them in Thailand, and other Asian countries. They use them for a variety of herbal cocktails, and healing drinks. They are even considered a token of fortune, and hold sacred sentiments among the many different traditional and ancient belief systems of Asia.
According to Jordi, he was going to the bathroom, and as he peered up to the corner of the room, he saw the Tokay staring back at him.
(these aren’t your typical rooms, we’re talking about 4 walls, with exposed studs, and an unsealed roof made of tin).
He grabbed on to its tail as it tried to run, and the creature then whipped its head around to bite his hand. It took a little chunk out of his hand successfully, but then Jordi secured it’s head and neck with the other hand. He at last brought the Tokay in with his battle wound still bleeding.
Later on in the night, we let him go. As Jordi bent down and released his grip, the little dragon creeped into the drainage ditch, and swam away into the dark.
Around 4 months later, we are still laughing about it. A combination of the way the Tokay kept looking at us, accompanied by the adrenaline filled eyes of Jordi, has left an eternal impression on my mind.
