News of the closure was confirmed yesterday afternoon (January 12) by Deputy Mayor of Chalong Municipality, Chettanasak Lukchan following an inspection of the facilities operated by Bio Technology Co on Soi Palai on the south of the island, where officials met with the company's general manager Kritiporn Phumikulshawn.
Following the initial incident (video and selfie here), the company agreed to compensate the tourist for damages.
In addition to earning money from snake charming and venom extraction shows, the company also sells herbal medicine and related snake venom products to tourists.
Dep Mayor Chettanasak told The Phuket News that the aim of yesterday's inspection was to thouroughly check the validity of the operation by examining their respective permits.
The inspection found that the company was unable to produce a valid permit for operating a snake show, and the company was also unable to supply a permit for “building renovations”, Deputy Mayor Chettanasak said.
“We have advised them to get the two permits and Ms Kritiporn said her company will do it as soon as possible. At this time we order them to shut down the snake show until they have supplied the permits.”
He continued “Overall the area is equipped with safety equipment and procedures but I believed the incident happened because of recklessness of the animal caretaker who failed to take precautions when handling this wild animal.”
“Even if the company has a permit for the show they still have to pay attention to other areas such as security, safety and public health because such incident tremendously damaged tourism image.
“Many animal shows in Chalong area such as the dolphin show and crocodile show will get a visit from us soon to stress safety issues and incident prevention.” he added.