Isaan families earn tens of thousands of baht selling dried tokay geckos

Hundreds of households in the Isaan province Nakhon Phanom are making tens of thousands of baht by selling dried tokay geckos, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. It’s dry season in the Northeast region and a good time to catch geckos. While many businesses have been struggling throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the gecko trade seems to be booming.

A reporter from the Bangkok Post spoke with some people in the province’s Ban Tan district. They say more than 300 homes are cashing in on the gecko trade, each earning 50,000 to 100,000 baht by selling live or dried tokay geckos to traders. The geckos are then exported to China and Taiwan.

Some sell live tokay geckos at 40 to 50 baht each while those who kill the geckos and dry the bodies out, stretching the skin on sticks, sell the geckos for 80 to 100 baht each.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post