For residents of a village in in Nakhon Phanom, the dry season is the perfect time to catch and dry tokay geckos for export.

The dried bodies are used in traditional Chinese medicine, making a huge income for the community.

More than 300 households at Ban Tan ieach earn 50,000-100,000 baht a month selling dried tokay, which are exported to China and Taiwan. Tokay are the world's second largest true gecko, and grow up to 30cm long, including the tail.

In the dry season the locals trap the geckos in their houses and in neighbouring villages and fields. They usually use a string and a noose.

Some households sell tokay live to local traders at 40-50 baht each. Others kill and dry them, tying them on long thin sticks for easy handling. The dried geckos fetch 80-100 baht each.

Noppamas Wongsanao, 38, of Ban Tan, said people there have been earning a living from selling dried geckos for more than 20 years.

The Covid-19 pandemic did not affect them. They had work all year round, catching earthworms and leeches in season and also drying them for sale, she said.