Busy times for Bangkok's famed snake catcher

Back in 2009, CNNGo went along for a ride with Bangkok's most famous snake catcher, Sompop Sridaranop. Check him out in action in the video above.

Snake catcher Sompop Sridaranop is a local legend. For more than 20 years he’s been nabbing serpents around Bangkok, removing thousands of them from homes, businesses and facilities. 

Naturally, with Thailand's current flood crisis bringing in all sorts of creepy-crawlies, Sompop is busier than ever. The Bangkok Post reported that since floods began to hit the city a few weeks ago he's been fielding hundreds of calls from people who have spotted the reptiles in inundated areas. 

More on CNNGo: The Bangkok snake hunter     

Under normal conditions, the Post said Sompop deals with an average of 40 to 50 cases per month. But since the floods hit, he's been dealing with as many as 10 cases a day.

And here's an unsettling little tidbit: Sompop said out of the 17 species of snakes typically found in the Bangkok area, 90 percent of the calls were about reticulated pythons, followed by cobras and pit vipers.

However, he's not able to help out with every case as flooded roads have prevented him from reaching many locations. Sompop works on his own as a volunteer and does not have a boat or trucks to navigate the deep water. He charges nothing for his services, but survives on tips. 

He does, however, offer some valuable advice on how to react if you do get bitten by a snake.

For one, remember the description of the snake in order to get the right antivenom and get to the hospital as soon as possible. To tell a bite wound by a venomous snake from a non-venomous one, one or two fang holes means venomous; rows of teeth mean not venomous. 

For other tips and a list of hospitals that carry antivenom, check out the full Bangkok Post article. 

More on CNNGo: Inside Thailand's cobra village