By Matt Gross, New York Times, June 19, 2005



AFTER two rounds of sunset cocktails at a quiet bar outside Chiang Mai, my friends and I were eager to explore the placid rural vista we'd been gazing upon all evening: Below us was a rice paddy that led down to a sprawling pond, beyond which lay a stand of tall red-flowering trees through which we could see the twinkling lights of traditional northern Thai houses.



But as we got up and made for the little wooden walkway that led across the water, a waitress deftly blocked us. It might be better if we came back tomorrow, she suggested. We asked why.



After conferring with a colleague, the waitress returned with a simple answer: "Snakes."



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