Nong Bua Lamphu, A strange career worth trying. Nong Bua Lamphu villagers have formed a group to breed 'elephant scorpions' and sell them to the market. They are in high demand, especially among foreigners in tourist cities who like to use them to make delicious dishes and as an ingredient in medicine.At the Elephant Scorpion Farming Center, Ban Non Pa Wan, Kut Phueng Subdistrict, Suwannakhuha District, Nong Bua Lamphu Province, elephant scorpions have been raised for 5 years. Mr. Piya Promkul, the group president, said that originally the villagers here worked mainly in agriculture. Later, he had the opportunity to receive training for small-scale farmers and saw that raising elephant scorpions was a unique occupation. Therefore, he formed a group with his neighbors and started raising them since 2019. At first, they raised them in small amounts. Now, the center has more than 30 members raising 400 elephant scorpions. They are in high demand in the market. They are used in delicious dishes and are an ingre dient in medicine, which is popular among foreigners, especially the Chinese.Elephant scorpions are easy to raise and grow quickly. The raising method emphasizes imitating nature by raising them in cement ponds or damaged basins or using medium sized plastic boxes with holes for ventilation. However, when the mother scorpion is pregnant, the ponds must be separated into a nursery pond and a fattening pond to make taking care of them easier. The food given is fresh food such as small insects such as crickets, mealworms, frog larvae, termites, which is given in the evening because this is the time the scorpions forage for food, 3 times a week with clean water and the pond must be cleaned regularly.A female elephant scorpion can produce about 30 babies at a time. It takes 1 and a half years to raise them before they can be sold. Medium-sized male and female parents sell for 50 baht a pair, while large-sized ones sell for 80-100 baht a pair. The main markets are in tourist cities such as Pattaya, Bangsaen, an d Phuket. They are mostly processed into fried foods, chili pastes, steamed curry paste, jaew bong, and mixed with herbal medicines.Source: Thai News Agency