'No animal cruelty' at Thai-US war games

'No animal cruelty' at Thai-US war games

No animal cruelty was committed at the annual Thai-US Cobra Gold exercise which wrapped up on Sunday, a source in the armed forces said yesterday.

A soldier drinks blood from a snake in a jungle survival training course, part of past Cobra Gold war games. TAWATCHAI KHEMGUMNERD

Jungle survival training was held during the Aug 3-15 exercise but didn't involve soldiers drinking snake blood, skinning geckos or lizards or any act deemed as cruelty towards animals, said the source.

The source, however, declined to say whether the exclusion of such acts was due to protests by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). The source said the military are open to suggestions from all parties and is able to adjust to changes in society.

Certain skills such as catching a cobra will continue to be taught to the US soldiers by their Thai counterparts. The armed forces have resolved not to publish photos or footage from the joint military exercise this year out of concern that they may be sensationalised, but the source did not elaborate. US participants attending this year were reduced from more than 4,000 to 600 due to Covid-19.

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