Filming water monitors in Thailand

Wild animals have been living alongside people in cities for centuries and as a result have often been woven into local folklore and legend. In some cultures animals can become earthly representatives of gods and are treated to a life of luxury but unfortunately not all. Water Monitors are one of the unlucky ones. In Thailand they are seen as a symbol of bad luck. In fact the Thai word for them is also used as a swear word, one of the most offensive ones there is (and too rude to translate here!).

Keen to tell the story of how the water monitors navigate the city we approached the city council to film in the sewers but were told that it would be far too dangerous due to the unsanitary conditions.

Their association with bad luck is thought to be due to their eating habitats.Historically they were known to break into chicken coups and steal valuable livestock as well as digging up freshly buried bodies to eat. Their opportunistic attitude to finding food may have given them a bad reputation but it has also enabled them to adapt as Thailand’s cities have grown around them. Surprisingly one of the easiest places to see them in the whole of the country is in Bangkok, a city of over 8 million people.

Their continued connection with bad luck though has resulted in them being forced to live in the shadows, utilising the city’s sewer and waterway systems to find their way around. If they are found to be near people’s houses they are very quickly removed. In Bangkok the fire service has a special division tasked with removing snakes and big lizards out of the city. Animals are collected, temporarily stored in the fire station before then being released back to the wild.

Keen to tell the story of how the water monitors navigate the city we approached the city council to film in the sewers but were told that it would be far too dangerous due to the unsanitary conditions. I would be lying if I didn’t say there was a quite a large sigh of relief from the crew. So in order to showcase how they use the city to their advantage we recreated their underground world in the fire station by building a replica sewer.

This was our first opportunity to see a water monitor up close and it gave us a heightened respect for these wonderful animals. They are undoubtedly intimidating to look at with their thick scaly skin, long claws and forked tongue but like many myths surrounding animals the moment you spend time with them, observe their natural behaviour the myth quickly fades away to reveal a fascinating and intricate creature that in the water monitor’s case is just making the most of what the city has to offer.

By Alex Lanchester