CAMBODIA: AS BIRD FLU DECIMATES ASIAN POULTRY INDUSTRY RAT MEAT DEALERS HAVE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD
Record ID:
860863
CAMBODIA: AS BIRD FLU DECIMATES ASIAN POULTRY INDUSTRY RAT MEAT DEALERS HAVE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD
- Title: CAMBODIA: AS BIRD FLU DECIMATES ASIAN POULTRY INDUSTRY RAT MEAT DEALERS HAVE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD
- Date: 1st March 2004
- Summary: (L!2) BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) WIDE OF BUSY STREET IN BATTAMBANG TOWN VARIOUS OF BOEUNG CHHUK MARKET IN BATTAMBANG VARIOUS OF RAT MEAT VENDORS SHOWING OFF WARES CLOSE ON PILE OF SKINNED RATS FOR SALE CUSTOMERS PICKING OUT RAT MEAT RESTAURANT OWNER CHAI SAREN CHOOSING RAT MEAT (SOUNDBITE) (KHMER) RESTAURANT OWNER CHAI SAREN, 48, SAYING: "People now eat rat meat in my restaurant instead of the chicken, because chickens have bird flu." MORE OF PEOPLE BUYING RAT MEAT AND PILES OF MEAT FOR SALE (SOUNDBITE) (KHMER) RAT MEAT VENDOR SEK SAM OEUN, 32, SAYING: "I sell about 100kgs per day now." (Question) "How much is that worth?" SEK SAM OEUN SAYING: "It's worth about 1400 baht (140,000 riels)" MORE OF PEOPLE BUYING RAT MEAT VARIOUS OF BIRD AND CHICKEN MEAT FOR SALE FROGS FOR SALE WOMAN BUYING BAG OF RAT MEAT WIDE OF MARKET RESTAURANT SERVING RAT WOMAN SERVING SOUP/PLATE OF FRIED RATS CUSTOMER EATING FRIED RATS WITH RICE PLATE OF FRIED RATS CUSTOMERS EATING RAT AT RESTAURANT
- Embargoed: 16th March 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA
- City:
- Country: Cambodia
- Topics: Business,Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA5H4TYPHMM2RBR0A8RZDMFTBJK
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: As bird flu decimates Asia's poultry industry, rat meat dealers in Cambodia have never had it so good.
Bird flu may have decimated poultry businesses across Asia, but in Cambodia at least rat dealers have never had it so good.
In the western provincial town of Battambang, a constant stream of customers crowd around rat meat vendors who say they have doubled their sales since the bird flu outbreak hit Cambodia.
With customers shy away from chicken for fear of catching the deadly flu virus which has killed millions of birds and at least 22 people in Asia, restaurants are offering rat meat dishes instead.
Restaurant-owner Chai Sarwen says customers are no longer eating poultry as they are scared of catching the virulent disease.
"People now eat rat meat in my restaurant instead of the chicken, because chickens have bird flu," Sarwen said after stocking up with bags of rat meat in the morning.
In far-flung corners of the jungle-clad and impoverished southeast Asian nation, rat, fried, grilled or roasted with garlic and vegetables, is a highly prized delicacy, fetching around 40 cents a kilogram.
Now prices are soaring as bird flu pushes usually popular chicken off the menu, and vendors can't believe their luck.
"I sell about 100kgs per day now. It's worth about 1400 baht ($35.93)," she said.
Spiders, water beetles, crickets, snakes, frogs and ants are all choice treats in rural Cambodia, with local tradition saying they were first eaten by starving peasants during the Khmer Rouge genocide in the 1970s. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None