Thailand. Roasted Rats for sale.

Here in Thailand, Thais eat just about anything. There aren’t many things that aren’t eaten.
They love to eat things that are still alive, such as these small jumping shrimp.


They love deep fried grasshoppers, the big steroid sized ones.


They also like little fly like insects as well.







And they also eat rats. Yes, rats. I already new this as I had seen field rats being cooked in the village, not the dirty, disease ridden ones living in sewers and so forth.
What I didn’t know was that they were on a very popular scale. It was reported a little while ago that a people were stopping on the road from Pathum Thani to Suphan Buri be it truck drivers or BMW drivers to buy these little roasted rodents.

Along the stretch of road there are around 100 small bamboo shelters selling these rats or “pig rats” as they are called.

One stall owner said even foreigners stop during the holiday season. He said the rats sell for an expensive 120-160 baht per kilogram and sell like hot cakes. He is making a very tidy 2,000 baht net profit each day for selling 50 kg’s a day. That’s very good money for a Thai stall holder. The rats are caught in several areas so villagers are making a few baht themselves.

One villager, 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.

That is very good money for a Thai village dweller. More than many qualified people such as teachers from work earn.

One of the good things the villager said was, "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 they can catch more than 20 rats per day, each weighing between 700 and 800 grams. That’s a big rat! He also 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. One of the things he looks for, he added, is footprints around the holes.

The rats are not stupid, he said. They are very smart and know how to survive threats from humans. The animals 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.
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 diarrhea 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 diarrhea," he cautioned.

I think I will pass on the roasted rodents, I usually eat anything but rats are something I will draw the line at. But again, never say never.

Brunty.
roast rats