What's For Lunch? Roast Rat
In the countryside, large rodents have become a cash crop
Story by APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
It doesn't matter if they are truck drivers or behind the wheel of a Mercedes Benz. Once they are on the road from Pathum Thani to Suphan Buri, they know where to stop.
Along the side of that road are about 100 small bamboo shelters selling roasted paddy rodents, or pig rats. These small businesses have been growing rapidly to cater to the high demand from clients, regardless of their incomes.
"My customers come from everywhere - from truck drivers to Mercedes Benz drivers. I even get foreign tourists during the holidays. I think they are happy with the delicious taste of my rats," said Sompong Malapong, a 52-year-old who has been selling roasted paddy rats on the side of the road for the past three months.
Despite the expensive price of 120-160 baht per kilogramme, the roasted rats sold on this road sell like hot cakes.
Mr Sompong is very happy to make a daily net profit of about 2,000 baht from selling 50 kilogrammes of his product, which are caught in paddy fields in several districts including Muang, Bang Plama, Bang Li and Don Chedi in this central province. "Many villagers catch rats and make good money," he added.
One of the 100 villages where local people make their living from the rat trade is Ban Don Chan in Muang district.
Boonchom Klakondee, a 46-year-old farmer from Don Chan village who has been an expert rat catcher since he was young, said his family now earns more than 10,000 baht a month selling rats to merchants.
"We invest nothing, only our energy, and place more than 200 wooden-made traps in front of the rat holes in the paddy fields. Then we have to be patient and pray. If luck is on our side, I can get snakes. The price for them is very expensive," he said.
Mr Boonchom can catch more than 20 rats per day, each weighing between 700 and 800 grammes. He and his son-in-law place their wooden traps in the paddy fields late in the morning and leave them there overnight. Then they return to count the trapped animals early the next morning.
Mr Boonchom explained that his job needs skill, and catchers have to understand the nature of the rats. Catchers have to know if the rat holes are occupied or vacant, he said. One of the things he looks for, he added, is footprints around the holes.
"Of course, we have to put the traps in front of the holes that are still active, not the deserted ones," he said.
But rats are not stupid, he said. They are very smart and know how to survive threats from humans, he added.
The animals, he said, defuse the deadly traps by throwing small pieces of soil into the traps to clear them before going out to forage in the rice field.
Despite the booming business, Mr Boonchom said he is confident that there are more rats to catch because the province still has plentiful paddy fields and water.
Sompote Srikosamat, of Mahidol University's faculty of sciences, said the population of pig rats, or bandicoots in scientific jargon, in Suphan Buri had sharply increased due to the rapid expansion of paddy fields, which is an ideal food source for the rats.
The steady decrease of snakes, which eat rats, due to the changing environment, and hunting, had also allowed the pig rats to dominate the fields, said the biologist.
"I don't think the massive hunting of the rat will cause any adverse impact to the ecological system because, with the absence of its natural predators like snakes, the practice will help control the population," said Mr Sompote.
Although people selling the cooked rats claim they taste delicious, the Public Health Ministry has cautioned the public about their safety.
Ministry spokesman Sa-nga Damapong voiced concern about the sanitation of the roasted rats.
The danger comes from the use of pesticides, chemicals and fertiliser by farmers, he added.
Roasted rats could give people diarrhoea if they are not properly cooked, he said.
"The rats have similar nutrients like pork and chicken, but less calories.
"If you want to eat them, please make sure that they are well cooked to avoid the problem of getting diarrhoea," he cautioned.
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