I spotted this large, long legged and rather scary looking spider (pictured below) while taking a walk in Pattaya Fitness Park on Phratumnak Road. It was sitting in the middle of it’s web which spanned a couple of meters between the tops of 2 trees high above the footpath of the Pattaya Fitness Park. I have no idea what species this spider is but i suspect it is either a Huntsman, a Giant Crab Spider or a Giant Orb Spider of some kind, any arachnid experts reading this are welcome to give a correct name and description of this spider in the comments section below this post.
I had to photograph the spider against the midday sun with the limited zoom capabilities of my camera which meant that capturing color and detail was quite hard, in turn, the loss of detail and color has made it hard to identify what species this spider is.
Bugs grow large in Thailand, and this spider was no exception, the photographs fail to give a true scale of the size of this spider but I can tell you this spider was easily as big as my hand.
I’m no lover of bugs, the over sized bugs which you encounter in Thailand scare me to death, but it’s nice to see nature thriving, even in a high rise, sprawling tourist mecca like Pattaya, giant spiders, monster poisonous centipedes, snakes, giant hornets, scorpions and lizards of all kinds have adapted and overcome, much to the surprise and or shock of unsuspecting tourists.
It’s also nice to know what you are looking at, first time travelers to exotic countries like Thailand often see “the biggest spider they ever saw”, see a snake crossing the road, share their bedroom with a Ghekko for the first time, hear a Tokay for the first time, suffer mosquito bites for the first time, see a giant centipede for the first time. Here on Pattaya Unlimited I’m gathering information which can be used by people as a knowledge reference base covering all aspects of life in Thailand, from bugs to culture, you’re input is welcome.