"Delicious" crickets are a money earner for Phayao farmers

It's the cricket season and the farmers who catch these "tasty" insects are doing well as demand is high. Deep fried crickets are a popular snack in Thailand.

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Tasty crickets an extra earner for Phayao farmers

Saiarun Pinaduang

PHAYAO – Crickets have become a money spinner for residents in several areas of this northern province, who can earn an extra 300-400 baht a day just from collecting this edible insect for sale.

Known as jing reed, the insects are a popular snack with people who appreciate not only the taste but the nutritional value. Live large crickets are sold for 2-2.5 baht each and the price jumps to 3-4 baht each if the entrails are already removed. Many food shops serve deep fried crickets at 5-6 baht each.

Crickets are also a popular snack in the Northeast, where they are cheaper and usually sold by the cupful, but further north in Phayao they are carefully counted out and sold one by one.

Chukiart Techaboon, of Phu Kham Yao district, said his family grows rice and other crops for a living. During their free time, they often go to a local forest to collect wild plants and mushrooms to eat themselves and for sale.

But October and November, when the rice is flowering and grain developing, is the time when the crickets mate and lay eggs.  The female dies after laying her eggs. Mr Chukiart said this is also when farmers go out to collect crickets, which can fetch up to 2.50 baht each.

Mr Chukiart said crickets live in holes in the ground and need to be dug out. Many people collect crickets at night, but others prefer hunting them during daylight hours.

“I usually dig for crickets from morning to afternoon. I can collect 200 crickets a day and earn 300-400 baht.  When I return home there are people already waiting to buy this tasty insect,‘’ said Mr Chukiart.

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