The Fickle Ways of Fortune and Giant Lizards

Being from Florida, I'm used to lizards, and the little guys running around Thailand have never bothered me. I even had one living in my bathroom.

But the 3 or 4 times I've come across one of these things (see below), I've squealed like a 10 year-old girl.

They're not small either, growing up to 5 feet long.

In Thailand, monitor lizards are known as 'Tua Nguen Tua Tong' (or Silver and Gold Body??? in Thai). They're also called "Tua Hee-a", which is not polite and can be used to describe someone driving slow in the fast lane.

Although they pose no threat to humans, "Hee-a's" are traditionally seen as bad omens, since they're creepy and feed on the rotting flesh of dead animals. To me that makes perfect sense.

However, I'm told that these days when a "hee-a" comes to your house, it can be a sign of good luck. How a bad omen can be good luck I have no idea, but several people have told me that if I see a monitor lizard in my yard (or in my house), I should not scare it away. I should refer to it by its more proper name, "Tua Nguen Tua Tong" and politely ask it to bring me money and good fortune. Apparently, Nuch's masseuse did this and the following week she won the lottery.

Yesterday in Bangkok, two "tua hee-a's" made front page news, when they were caught fornicating in the pond next to the Prime Minister's office. To make matters worse, it was his first day on the job, after being elected last month and sworn in earlier this week.

Ah..., true love

I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but the consensus of the media is that it is most definitely not good. Below is a brief article from the Nation newspaper. (Click here for a slide show)

Mating Lizards 'bode ill'

Two monitor lizards mating at Government House had a horde of media people rushing to record them yesterday.

For some it was a rare occurrence, even though lizards are often spotted inside the compound. But for others, it was inauspicious and even a bad omen ahead of the birth of the country's new Cabinet.

The reptiles, each measuring over one metre, were spotted in a pond behind the Thai Kufah Building, which houses the offices of the prime minister and other senior Cabinet members.
To the superstitious, the presence of a monitor lizard is believed to augur bad luck. The mating lizards at Government House, therefore, might bode ill for the next government.

Witnesses said they mated for more than two hours. Although monitor lizards are seen in the compound occasionally, mating scenes were quite rare. An unknown number of monitor lizards inhabit the sewers and canals around Government House.