The soldiers, whose contorted faces were doused in blood, were taking part in the annual Cobra Gold war games.
Now in its 37th year, Cobra Gold is one of the largest military exercises in Asia, involving thousands of troops from the United States, Thailand and other countries.
The exercise is designed to enhance security cooperation, develop peacekeeping forces and maintain readiness for humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions.
Here, troops took turns to drink blood from a severed cobra before grilling and eating the reptiles at Thai navy base in Chonburi province.
Thai military trainers also taught the group, which included South Korean troops, how to remove venom from scorpions and tarantulas before eating them.
After being taught how to kill venomous cobras by Thai naval instructors, the Marines were encouraged to experience the local customs of drinking the animal's blood.
"The key to survival is knowing what to eat," said Thai Sergeant Major Chaiwat Ladsin, who led the drill that also saw the marines take bites of a raw gecko.
"Definitely my first time drinking snake blood... It's not something we do too often in America," U S Sergeant Christopher Fiffie said after the training.
"I think I'll be able to hold my own out there," he added. "The biggest take was how exactly they get their water as well as the vegetation that you can eat."
Many of the soldiers quite happily obliged, tipping their heads back while the blood was squeezed out of the snake's body and into their mouths.
Snake blood is sold as an aphrodisiac in parts of Eastern Asia.
Other rituals included killing a chicken by biting off its neck and eating the tail of the cobras.
Some 11,075 service members from 29 countries are taking part in this year's exercise, with Thailand, the US, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia the seven main participants.
The week-long exercise, centred around the Sattahip Royal Thai Marine Corps Base, includes humanitarian components such as evacuation drills.
The aims of the exercise are to enhance security cooperation, develop peacekeeping forces and maintain readiness for humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions.
Music: "Cambodian Odyssey" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Source: The Sun, Daily Mail, Telegraph, Reuters
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