Birds Nest Climbers of Thailand

Rock climbers who want to climb off the beaten track are advised to learn little about the bird nest collectors who control a large number of perfect climbing islands in Fang Nga Bay and off the southwestern Thai coast. Climbers who climb such hawks without permission will find themselves in a very deep predicament. Please be advised not to do so under any circumstances. The nests of birds in the Naman Sea have been consumed in China for at least 1500 years and were exported by the collectors of the Malay Peninsula and southern Thailand was established well in the early 18th century.

At present, the biggest market for them is Hong Kong, which consumes 100 tons of them, worth THB 1,000,000,000, every year. Black nests are sold at an average of THB 10,000 per kilo, while the ideal white nests can reach up to 50,000 THB / kg. The chicken nest of "Kolokalia Fusiphaja" is considered to be one of the best Chinese in terms of being a strong stimulant and is usually eaten in the rich banquet in the form of bird's nest soup.

The nests themselves are small transparent cups around the size of a small egg. It is made of masculine Swiftlet from the spiral filaments of its saliva, which are woven into a dry cup to become as thin and translucent as soft porcelain. Chinese parents feed the bird's nest soup, cooked with chicken broth or coconut milk, to their children in the belief that it will improve their complexities, promote growth and generally function as a booster. Recent research has already shown that nests, which contain a taste like pasta, contain a water-soluble glycoprotein that can promote cell division in the immune system.

From bottom down - bird climbers nest from Thailand

Collecting the nest is a skilled and dangerous work, high on the ceilings of the caves that abound on the Thai coast and its islands abroad. The bold mosque blends barefoot barefoot of bamboo legs, ropes and bridges, and clicks on it to make sure the bamboo sound is sound. He lights his way in the black caves with the resin-shined bark of his teeth and uses a special trellis called the Raada to harvest the nests. To use bare hands to choose the lament of the nest and anger the gods.

If the nest is too old, it can not be turned into a high-quality soup, but it can be prepared in a second-rate soup. The nest must be made of fresh saliva, without feathers or dirt. New white nest, old black. Bird's nest is made of saliva, no saliva, nothing else. They are made in a similar way to glass fibers, where birds lay a lot of threads on top of each other.

The sustainable supply of bird nests and survival protection is ensured because species are collected only when they are empty. The most productive island of nests is Koh Petra, which is collected more than 100 kg of nests 3 times in a good year. Koh Lao Liang provides about 30 kg of nests 3 times a year. After the chicks fly away, the mother will eat the nest in order to refuel it. Collectors, of whom there are 60 at Koh Petra Marine, must find the nest before the mother eats.

If the collector accidentally touches the nest he will descend immediately, considering it a sign of the gods that he would be dangerous to continue climbing that day. During the collection season, from February to May, they work without food from sunrise to sunset, when the caves are filled with a flock of bats and frozen bears. Sometimes the nest is forced to swim under the water to reach an underwater cave or to squeeze through small holes to reach the roof of the cave. Caves caves themselves are often stunning cathedrals of stalactites and stalactites, covered with thick carpets of guano and boil with hordes of golden cockroaches.
Big Business - Bird's Nest Climbers from Thailand

Collecting a bird's nest is a profitable and tightly controlled business. The campers have exclusive governmental privileges to collect nests in the marine park. The collection price of the nest, which is sold at auction every five years, is about 100,000,000 Baht. Nests are so expensive that they are protected by guards during the gathering season, in order to deter thieves who may steal them. The guards also protect birds from natural predators such as snakes, crickets and eagles. Despite the protection provided by the legitimate authorities, the guards were bribed and the nests were stolen. One of the bad guys, whose results were very negative, was revealed by his sudden display of wealth, which he spent on gold necklaces and pickup trucks.

Western rock climbers, including Trevor Macia, Steve Findley, Mike Weitzman and Dan Donovan, secured anchors inside some caves, allowing collectors to express ropes in perfect safety. Kuo Lao Liang's scholars have told this editor that the most useful ropes in 2006 is the rope developed by Steve and Dan in Lao Liang South. The rope placed by Trev and Mike in the place was impressive and almost impossible, but not very helpful, as the birds had abandoned the cave.

Mike's description of the anchor mode process:

"At one point I saw Tri T face a 20-meter pendulum swing if he dropped in. What's more, the only thing that prevented him from landing in the sea at a depth of 30 meters, was a small metal nut that was not enough in the crack, On the life of my leaders more than I had before, or since then, perhaps you are about to become a forced landing pad for 80 kg of Antiguan / Bristol meat Trying to throw a strap around a thin rock of his sight, so he can secure the rope to the launcher, He was looking for a rocky barrier blindly while he was barely clinging to the greasy rocks with dirty bat bats.

I was locking Trevor by feeding the rope through a small metal device (braking): if I fell I would use the brakes. Doing so will stop his fall, but on condition that the inappropriate metal nut is not torn. This would probably happen if Trev fell. I was also not sufficiently secure, through a weak metal hook in a shallow pocket of rock. I knew that this hook would come out of the pocket if it fell. Trev, in his usual British way, said, "Maybe I'm here for a bit of a swing here." I thought, "If Trev goes out, we embrace in mid-air and then swim - and I never dream of trying to swim all tangle in the gear cord."

Luckily put the blind, so avoid Mike swimming - and embrace it.

Unsurprisingly, Thai nest blockers such as the safety brought by Western rock climbers and their technology to their jobs. Most of the years one of the 60 collector died. The usual reason is that the bamboo is broken or came out of the hole that has been jammed. Before assembly, the climbers of the birds' nests pray and sing their hair. They are forbidden to eat island animals, such as snake, iguan and bird, because these animals belong to the island. In addition, they are supposed to remain single (this is the collectors, not animals).