A Thai Buddhist monk prepares to take part in a televised anti-plague prayer at Wat Traimit Temple (Temple of the Golden Buddha) amid lockdown restrictions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Bangkok on March 25, 2020. The monks at Buddhist temples nationwide chanted the Rattanasoot (Seven Legends) Prayer in unison in a bid to boost public morale amid the epidemic of COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

Nyaueth by Peter Zelewski – £2,000 third prize winner. This was taken near London’s Oxford Street as part of Zelewski’s series Beautiful Strangers. Zelewski explains: ‘The aim of Beautiful Strangers is to challenge the concept of traditional beauty with a series of spontaneous street portraits of everyday citizens who show character, uniqueness and a special inner quality’. (Photo by Peter Zelewski/Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2015)

Taronga's first female elephant calf explores the paddock with her mother Pak Boon at Taronga Zoo on November 3, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. The 120kg elephant was born at 1:12am and is Taronga's first female calf and fifth born to The Australian Conservation Management Plan for endangered elephants. The calf will be given a Thai name to reflect the herds' cultural origin. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

A Sphynx cat is held by its owner at the WCF International Cat Show in Hanoi, Vietnam, 02 April 2023. The two-day event opened on 01 April at the Van Ho Exhibition Centre in Hanoi. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA)

People wear clothing to protect them from the heat while riding along a street in Hanoi, Vietnam, 24 April 2019. North and central Vietnam was recently affected by extreme hot weather, with the highest temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celcius, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA/EFE)

Couples take part in the “Love and Challenge Marathon” in Hanoi, Vietnam, 16 August 2015. Fifty couples, who are going to get married, participated in the event which is held the fifth time. This year, the winners of the marathon received a honeymoon trip to Malaysia. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA)

A Thai jockey competes during an annual water buffalo race in Chonburi Province, south of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, October 26, 2015. The annual race is a celebration among rice farmers before harvest. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)