CHON BURI, Thailand: US and Thai marines slurped snake* blood* and atescorpions in a jungle survival programme on Monday as part of the twonations’ annual *Cobra *Gold war games.

Now in its 37th year, link>Cobralink> Gold is one of the largest militaryexercises in Asia, bringing thousands of troops from the UnitedStates, Thailand and other countries for 10 days of field trainingon Thai shores.

On Monday, several dozen US and Thai marines took park in an annual junglesurvival drill on a Thai navy base in Chonburi province, where troops tookturns drinking blood link> from a severed cobralink>before grilling and eating the snakes.

Thai military trainers also taught the group — which included South Koreantroops — how to remove venom from scorpions and tarantulas before eatingthem, find water in jungle vines and identity edible plants.

‘The key to survival is knowing what to eat,’ said Thai Sergeant MajorChaiwat Ladsin, who led the drill that also saw the marines take bites of araw gecko.

‘Definitely my first time drinking snake bloodlink> … It’s not something we do too often inAmerica,’ US Sergeant Christopher Fiffie told AFP after the training.

‘I think I’ll be able to hold my own out there,’ he added. ‘The biggesttake was how exactly they get their water as well as the vegetation thatyou can eat.’

This year’s link>Cobralink> Gold exercise drew some 6,800 USpersonnel to the war games — nearly double last year’s attendance, in thelatest sign of warming relations between the two allies.

A 2014 army coup in Thailand tested ties with Washington, which urged areturn to democracy and scaled back military aid.

But the two countries have upped their engagement under US President DonaldTrump, who has taken a softer stance on human rights issues and evenembraced Thai junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha in the White House.

The US is also keen to flex its military muscle in Asia amid tensions withNorth Korea over the pariah state’s nuclear missile programme.

‘The (attendance) numbers are reflective of the US commitment in theregion,’ US embassy spokesman Stephane Castonguay told AFP at the start ofthe exercise.

‘The focus of this exercise still remains humanitarian assistance anddisaster relief, in addition to community relations projects.’

Troops from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore alsoparticipated in this year’s drills link> . -APP/AFP