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There Was a Dead Snake in My Drink

Like a low-rent Anthony Bourdain, I’ve tried all sorts of local food and drink, and it has improved my experience in different countries immeasurably. |©iStock

There was a dead snake in the bottle. It looked like a cobra. And four Thai elders were waiting for me to drink from it… 

Early in my career with international non-profits, I went to Thailand to learn how people there tackled low-income housing. I was doing similar work in South Africa. In both places, the best approach was to work with local people, not tell them what to do. 

That’s how I ended up in a small office—really a zinc shack—being “interviewed” by four community elders. 

The men sat cross-legged in a half circle. They all had grey hair and thin grey beards. Their eyes shone as they watched me. My guide, who worked for a local non-profit, sat by the door. 

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A “Job Interview” in a Zinc Shack

It soon became clear they weren’t keen to talk about housing. They could do that any day. What they didn’t see every day was a farang—the Thai word often used for a Westerner—drinking their hooch. 

One elder grinned and asked my guide a question in Thai. My guide replied, and the man waved to a friend. He opened a cupboard and came back with a bottle of pale-yellow liquid. It held some herbs—and that dead snake. 

The elder pulled out a shot glass as if by magic, filled it, and set it on the bamboo mat between us. Then he sat back and waited. 

Three Shots and a Round of Applause

I knew what he wanted. So, I picked up the glass and downed the drink in one go. 

The room burst into laughter and applause. I got another round when I asked for a refill. By the third shot, the elders were pouring drinks for themselves—possibly worried I’d finish the bottle on my own. 

That wasn’t my first lesson in doing things the local way. I’ve lived overseas for decades and traveled to more than 100 countries. I take “when in Rome” seriously. Like a low-rent Anthony Bourdain, I’ve tried all sorts of local food and drink. 

That doesn’t mean eating or drinking blindly. Ask what’s in something and pass if it isn’t safe for you. The point is to stay curious, not to say no just because something is new. 

I later learned that this kind of infused drink is called ya dong (ยาดอง). It’s made with lao khao (เหล้าขาว), a traditional Thai rice whisky. 

There’s a lesson here for anyone thinking of moving overseas. People do things differently in other countries. Sometimes very differently. You don’t have to copy every custom, but being open to new experiences helps you feel at home. 

The Mumbai Outfit That Missed the Mark

There are limits, though. I’ve noticed that dressing like the locals can sometimes backfire. 

At a dinner party in Mumbai, I met an Englishman who had spent some time in India. He showed up in a classic North Indian outfit: kurta, pajama, and sadri—a loose shirt, trousers, and a Nehru-style vest. 

After a few glasses of wine, my hostess took me aside. The shirt and trousers were fine, she said. But apart from the Beatles, Europeans rarely pulled off the Nehru jacket. 

She had a point. Try to fit in and you might get a knowing smirk. Or, as I did in Thailand, you might get a round of applause. 

That’s the trick to life overseas: Stay curious, use common sense, and even a strange new place soon feels less foreign. 

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