BANGKOK (AP) — A 64-year-old woman was preparing to do her evening dishes at her home outside Bangkok when she felt a sharp pain in her thigh and looked down to see a huge python taking hold of her.
“I was about to scoop some water and when I sat down it bit me immediately,” Arom Arunroj told Thailand's Thairath newspaper. “When I looked I saw the snake wrapping around me.”
The four-to-five-meter-long (13-to-16-foot-long) python coiled itself around her torso, squeezing her down to the floor of her kitchen.
“I grabbed it by the head, but it wouldn't release me,” she said. “It only tightened.”
Pythons are non-venomous constrictors, which kill their prey by gradually squeezing the breath out of it.
Propped up against her kitchen door, she cried for help but it wasn't until a neighbor happened to be walking by about an hour and a half later and heard her screams that authorities were called.
Responding police officer Anusorn Wongmalee told The Associated Press on Thursday that when he arrived the woman was still leaning against her door, looking exhausted and pale, with the snake coiled around her.
Police and animal control officers used a crowbar to hit the snake on the head until it released its grip and slithered away before it could be captured.
In all, Arom spent about two hours on Tuesday night in the clutches of the python before being freed.
She was treated for several bites but appeared to be otherwise unharmed in videos of her talking to Thai media shortly after the incident.
Encounters with snakes are not uncommon in Thailand, and last year 26 people were killed by venomous snake bites, according to government statistics. A total of 12,000 people were treated for venomous bites by snakes and other animals 2023.
The reticulated python is the largest snake found in Thailand and usually ranges in size from 1.5 meters to 6.5 meters (5 to 21 feet), weighing up to about 75 kilograms (165 pounds). They have been found as big as 10 meters (33 feet) long and 130 kilograms (287 pounds).
Smaller pythons feed on small mammals such as rats, but larger snakes switch to prey such as pigs, deer and even domestic dogs and cats. Attacks on humans are not common, though do happen occasionally.
In this photo provided by Kunyakit Thanawtchaikun, a python coils itself around Arom Arunro's torso, squeezing her down to the floor of her kitchen in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Kunyakit Thanawtchaikun)
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II announced Monday he is suspending his campaign for governor and instead joining the race for secretary of state of the battleground state.
Gilchrist, a progressive Democrat from Detroit, did not cite a specific reason for the change in his video announcement, but said he is not finished being a “public servant.” His departure clears up the Democratic primary and benefits the frontrunner, Jocelyn Benson, who is the current Secretary of State, in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The secretary of state is Michigan's top election official, a highly politicized and visible role since the 2020 presidential election.
“Michigan has been ground zero in the battle for free and fair elections before, and it will be again,” Gilchrist said.
As Whitmer’s second in command and her running mate in two elections, Gilchrist struggled to match Benson’s name recognition and fundraising. He reported having around $378,000 of cash on hand as of October compared to Benson’s $2.98 million.
Benson is now set to face only Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson in the Democratic primary in August.
The inclusion of a well-known independent candidate has created a new problem for Democrats this year. Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is avoiding costly primaries altogether by running as an independent. The Michigan Democratic Party slammed the former Democrat last week for not standing up to President Donald Trump’s second term policies.
In the Republican primary, U.S. Rep. John James, former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, state Senate Leader Aaric Nesbitt and former Michigan House speaker Tom Leonard are jockeying for the nomination.
In his bid to become secretary of state, Gilchrist will face four other Democrats: Barb Byrum, Ingham County clerk; Aghogho Edevbie, deputy secretary of state; Suzanna Shkreli, a former Whitmer aide and commissioner of the Michigan State Lottery; and Adam Hollier, a former state senator from Detroit.
Michigan does not hold primary elections for the secretary of state position; the nominee is chosen by precinct delegates during party conventions. The Michigan Democratic Party convention is scheduled for April 19.
State Republicans plan to hold their nominating convention March 28 and GOP figures chasing the party's nomination for secretary of state include Anthony Forlini, Macomb County Clerk, and Monica Yatooma, an Oakland County executive.
In addition to the office of the governor and secretary of state, Michigan voters will be selecting a new state attorney general and a U.S. senator in November.
FILE - Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II waits before the State of the State address, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Al Goldis, file)
