Hunting for Thailand’s 'Cancer-Curing' Crocodile Blood

A surefire way to make someone think you're crazy is to ask them if they sell crocodile blood. I asked a lot of people this in Bangkok, not because I'm crazy, but because I was hunting for answers. My questions were as follows: Do Thai people drink crocodile blood to cure or prevent cancer? And if so, is that crazy?

A Thai friend recently told me about the practice, and I was immediately intrigued. I knew that snake's blood and venom are consumed medicinally all around the world, but I'd never heard of any crocodile-based cures before.

My friend put me in touch with Sivanuj Rung Pavarodom, a Thai girl whose parents own a crocodile farm in the Nakhon Pathom Province. The family has about 20,000 crocodiles on the farm, and exports the skin to countries like France and Japan.

Although the farm is closed to the public, the Pavarodoms welcome visitors with cancer who have proof of their illness from their doctors. These visitors are then given the blood from the crocodiles, which they take believing it will cure their affliction. Sivanuj told me that many people with cancer come to the farm, although she didn't know the exact number.

"I knew of some people who took the crocodile blood from us and recovered from cancers, depending on the case," Sivanuj told me online. "If it is a final stage then it only helps them but not totally recover."

In case you were skeptical, the Pavarodoms aren't scamming sick people. This isn't something they do for money.

"My crocodile farm doesn't sell the blood to the customer—we actually give them for free," Sivanuj said. "We don't do any advertising, since we are giving them for free."

This isn't a shotgunning-reptile-blood situation. It's more of a refined process.

"People usually put the dry blood into a capsule when they take it, not exactly drink the blood," Sivanuj said. "We dry them and put in the capsule, so it's like taking medicine."

While Sivanuj recognizes that it's not an official medicine that a doctor would prescribe, she's partaken in the practice.

"I took the crocodile blood before to prevent from having cancer in the future," Sivanuj said. "It also good for my health, and I believe it is so I take it."

I tried to get in touch with other people who had taken the blood, but I couldn't find anyone who had done so personally. Most Thais I reached out to hadn't heard about the custom, but a handful seemed to know that drinking crocodile blood as medicine was a thing that existed in Thailand.

Author and photographer Philip Cornwel-Smith has been living in Thailand since 1994. He's penned and edited guidebooks on the country and its culture. His book Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture digs into the often confusing idiosyncrasies of Thainess. Surely, he had to know a lot about the bloodthirsty practice, right? Unfortunately, not much. But he did have some insight.

"I'm not surprised if some Thais drink crocodile blood, as such natural tonics are an ingrained ancient practice, either for healing or fortifying," Philip said.

The author also noted that the crocodile is depicted as a survivor in Thai folklore. While Thais embrace Western medicine, some still turn to phum panya, or "local wisdom," to fix ailments, or at least believe that these folk remedies could work.

"Drinking croc blood is one of those cultural touchstones that gets denounced by many Thais as primitive and face-losing, whilst most probably believe in its powers, even if they might not try it themselves."

Philip explained that the Thai populace is prone to jumping onto obscure crazes that spread quickly, then fizzle. "Perhaps drinking croc blood was sparked by news of scientific reports that it contains a natural antibiotic," he said.

And those scientific reports actually exist. The news that Thais may have picked up on came from Louisiana, at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in 2008. Dr. Mark Merchant of McNeese State University reported to meeting-goers that proteins in alligator blood could help make potent new antibiotics. "We're very excited about the potential of these alligator blood proteins as both antibacterial and antifungal agents," Mark said in an American Chemical Society press release.

While the media had a little field day over the story, Mark (dubbed by some as "The Alligator Man") continued his research on the immune systems of crocodilians, something he's now done for about 14 years. His interest in the idea started when he noticed that even when crocodilians suffer from serious injuries like losing limbs, the reptiles were hanging in there.

"Despite the fact that these animals live in aqueous environments with a lot of potentially infectious microbes, they heal very rapidly, and almost completely without infection," Mark told me.

Since Mark published the first paper on crocodilian immunity in 2003—the first study of its kind ever released—he has found results suggesting the proteins could help fight major diseases. Mark and his team are currently studying those proteins and hope to synthesize them in a pharmacological setting.

I asked Mark what he thought about Thais popping croc pills based on his research. He doesn't think there's any risk to the custom, but isn't telling people to run out to their nearest crocodile farm either.

"I'm not sure that this practice really provides health benefits," Mark said. "It might, but I find that most practices like this are built into religious and cultural activities, and do not have a scientific basis." I reached out to the oncology department at the University of California, San Francisco, but was told that they, too, cannot offer any insight into the blood's potential medical applications.

I went about trying to get some pills for myself. Philip had mentioned that some animal-related Thai folk remedies have a strong Chinese influence, so I figured that I'd be able to get my hands on some crocodilian concoction in Chinatown.

In Bangkok's Chinatown, you can get your hands on just about anything from Furbies to the most minute car parts. I entered the bowels of the cluttered maze and asked shopkeepers if they knew where I could buy crocodile blood pills. They looked at me, a sweaty farang lady, in amazement and confusion before telling me no, no, they do not know where I could get reptile blood capsules.

I continued my search on Chinatown's Yaowarat Road, where a shopkeeper with a crocodile painting in her store window told me to try the nearby Chinese pharmacies. One pharmacist gave me his card and told me that he could get me the pills if I called him back and placed an order. Another retrieved dried crocodile skin and told me to boil it, that it would yield the same results.

I left Chinatown in failure and went to Khlong Toei Market, one of Bangkok's biggest fresh markets where you can get your fill of unsightly meats. I thought someone might be hawking croc meat there, and wandered the crowded aisles of the outdoor market weirding people out with my inquiry. Even though crocodile is eaten, albeit infrequently, in Thailand, no one seemed to be selling it at the market, at least not that day. I abandoned my mission unfulfilled.

Like the cure for cancer, Thailand's crocodile blood reserve still remains elusive, and only anecdotal.