The generic name, Garthius, is in honor of British herpetologist Garth Underwood.

[8] The specific name, chaseni, is in honor of Frederick Nutter Chasen, who in 1931 was Curator of the Raffles Museum, Singapore.

Dorsally, it has a dark tan or reddish brown ground color, overlaid by dark brown crossbands, which are broken and alternating on the front part of the body, becoming regular on the posterior part.

It has two rows of small scales between the upper labials and the eye.

[4] G. chaseni is only found on the island of Borneo, in northern Sabah (Malaysia) in the region of Mount Kinabalu.