All this week soldiers from around the world are in Thailand to jump from planes, conduct live-fire exercises, pose for photos and apparently bite chickens and snakes.
Thousands of soldiers from the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia – and for the first time ever several from China – are participating in the annual Cobra Gold joint military exercise.
The bulk of Cobra Gold 2014 are the 4,000 Thai soldiers and 9,000 Americans, who are joined by contingents from other nations ranging from a few dozen to several hundred.
Various exercises including including live-fire exercises, a strategic air drop and humanitarian mobilization occurs in locations throughout the country.
They also bite chickens. A South Korean Marine bites a chicken during a jungle survival program as part of the annual Cobra Gold 2014 combined military exercise at a navy base in Chanthaburi province on Saturday, Feb. 15. Photo: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul
Here’s a gallery of images from the first week and some videos:
Reader Interactions