US Marines drink a cobra's raw blood offered by a Thai Marine instructor during jungle survival training as part of the multinational joint military exercise Cobra Gold 2018 at Royal Thai Naval Base, Thailand. // EPA-EFE PHOTOOn Monday, several dozen US and Thai marines took park in an annual jungle survival drill on a Thai navy base in Chonburi province, where troops took turns drinking blood from a severed cobra before grilling and eating the snakes. Thai military trainers also taught the group -- which included South Korean troops -- how to remove venom from scorpions and tarantulas before eating them, find water in jungle vines and identity edible plants. // EPA EFE PHOTOThis year's Cobra Gold exercise drew some 6,800 US personnel to the war games -- nearly double last year's attendance, in the latest sign of warming relations between the two allies. // EPA-EFE PHOTO"The focus of this exercise still remains humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, in addition to community relations projects."

Source: The Nation Bangkok February 19, 2018 10:52 UTC