Tourist’s Hotel Stay In Thailand Takes a Chaotic, Creepy-Crawly Turn
Thailand's tropical climate is part of what makes it one of the most popular tourism countries in the world. From its lush, dense rainforests full of diverse wildlife and hidden ancient temples, to its world-famous tropical beaches that sparkle in the sun, Thailand is rich with natural beauty and biodiversity that enhances the country's unique appeal.
But unfortunately, there are also some big downsides to life in a tropical climate zone, and I don't just mean the heat and humidity. Tourist Jemma Sayer found out the hard way on May 24 that you don't get to plan every wildlife encounter when visiting Thailand. Sometimes, the wildlife takes the initiative and comes to you, even when you least expect it.
It had all started so innocently: @jemmasayer had just checked into her Thai hotel and wanted to step out for a moment when she made the grievous error of... briefly opening her door at night. Rookie mistake, I guess, because the moment her door cracked open, all the creepy-crawly critters waiting outside seized their opportunity.
"When you check into your hotel and open the door at night and a killer snake launches at you and over 2,000 moths fly in," Jemma lamented over her instantly-infested hotel room, her bed's mosquito netting full of confused moths and said "killer snake" supposedly lurking somewhere out of frame.
At first, some people clowned on Jemma in the comments, essentially blaming her for this mess for opening an outside door late at night in Thailand. But Jemma stuck up for herself: "Just to clarify, we didn't just leave the door wide open. We opened the door for a split second to go out and this jungle of moths and a snake entered our room." Talk about some opportunistic pests!
"I'd get on the next flight home," said @holly_baldock.
"I would be hysterically crying while getting all my things and checking out as fast as I possibly could," empathized @morgan_7822.
Jemma fully confessed that she considered bailing on her planned backpacking trip then and there. Nevertheless, she bravely stuck it out: "We got upgraded to a different room but yeah, safe to say, we didn't get much sleep that night."
Pesky Pests Torturing Tourists in Thailand
Thailand's humid tropical environment is home to Asian elephants, mischievous monkeys, and a vast array of Southeast Asian wildlife, but it's also hog heaven for flying bugs, snakes, and spiders. This in itself isn't really a shocker, but it's another thing entirely when your room gets invaded by pests in a split second just from opening your door at night. Is this a common problem for tourists in Thailand, or did Jemma just have bad luck?
Last month, Reddit user u/BearsBeetsBerlin asked r/ThailandTourism how common it was to encounter snakes and bugs in Thai resort rooms. While answers varied from "very rare" to "very common," the general consensus seemed to be that the age, affluence, and quality of the hotel mattered.
"Depends on the construction of the building," explained u/JHT230. "If there are gaps in the door frame, windows, walls, roof, plumbing, or anywhere else, creatures can get in. Don't be surprised if you stay at a cheaper place and you see smaller spiders, cockroaches, or small geckos, plus ants if you leave food out."
For higher-end resorts that can afford to pest-proof their buildings and implement rigorous pest control procedures, it seems like pests aren't very common. But Jemma, who was on a backpacking adventure, probably wasn't staying in one of those fancy places. Food for thought if you're planning a low-budget trip through Thailand- be careful when opening your hotel room doors at night.
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