Meet the Scorpion Hunters Behind Thailand's Newest Photography Craze
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If your friend is in Thailand, you're sure to recognize it by the sheer amount of photos they post of deep-fried critters in small markets across the country.
But, the most sought-after insect is sought after not for food, but for the selfie-tourism industry.
The large black scorpion, named aptly since they can grow as large as a human hand, is a terrifying creature. Not as terrifying, however, as the men trained to hunt them.
Scorpion Hunters
Somporn Saisuwan, a middle-aged Thai man, hunts scorpions for a living. He spends each day hiking over rough terrain, flipping rotting logs over, and shoving his hands into holes in the ground searching for the bugs.
If this is horrifying to you, you'll be thrilled to find out the sting of a black scorpion is considered mild, and "rarely" causes death.
Saisuwan, for example, grew accustomed to the sting over the years. He has grown callouses on his hands and believes the sting doesn't hurt more than a wasp sting.
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Once Saisuwan finds the bugs, he grabs them by the tail and throws them in a bucket.
Another Thai local, Udon Thani, visits small villages and purchases the nuisances from the villagers and brings them back to the capital to sell.
Villagers are rarely afraid of the beasts and will pick them up by the tail, which is a little braver than the selfie-tourist cop out of waiting until they are fried to snap a pic.
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See The Black Scorpion In Action
Scorpion Selfies and Skewers
Although Saisuwan is willing to sell his scorpions to the highest bidder, they are gaining popularity as a tourist attraction after being a local delicacy for hundreds of years.
Black scorpions have a history of being used as food and medicine in Thailand. Ask a local and they'll be sure to tell you their favorite black scorpion dish.
Some like them drowned in whiskey or rice wine and eat them soaked in alcohol, while others like them over a spicy banana blossom salad.
There's also the classic version-deep fried black scorpion.
The scorpions usually sell for around $3 apiece, and considering the average salary in Bangkok is $10 per day, that's not a bad living for scorpion hunters.
Thani, who runs the scorpion enterprise and sources them from villages all over Thailand, sells around 2,000 scorpions per month. However, he still can't find enough of them to fulfill all of his orders.
Phuket, a resort island hundreds of miles from Thani's business, purchases black scorpions from him.
Photo by Robin Noguier on Unsplash
"I can never have enough of them," Thani said. "Some restaurants and insect vendors want to buy my scorpions all at once."
Thani, overcome with orders, now runs scorpion breeding grounds out of his home.
The upside of such a venture is that no criminals will break into his house. The downside is he can't find a housekeeper.
