video transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: United States Marines take part in a jungle survival exercise in Chonburi province on Wednesday. A hundred U.S. and Thai soldiers swapped skills on how to survive in a tropical forest at a Thai Navy base 90 miles or 145 kilometers east of Bangkok. Thai soldiers showed U.S. Marines how to catch a cobra with their bare hands and how to find water in the jungle as well as drinking snake blood to survive. "(The taste of snake blood was) Terrible, really terrible, but it is a good experience. It's something I can always tell my grandchildren about, " said U.S. Marine Second Lieutenant Ted Powers The exercise is intended to teach soldiers to distinguish between different kinds of jungle plants and animals that can be eaten in time of need, and how to survive in a tropical forest. Seven nations - the U.S. Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia - take part in the biggest joint military exercise in Asia with several observing nations including Myanmar. It has been hosted annually by Thailand since 1982 and involves at least 13, 000 military personnel.