Trang city — population 60,000 — is a modest provincial capital where apart from several annual food festivals and the odd funeral there is little excitement.
But early last month, large colourful banners hung around the city and from pickup trucks piqued the interest of locals. Next to drawings of cute rats were the words: "Catch me, 10 baht for each rat."
Trang, located 40km from the coast, was in the throes of a wet-season rat infestation, and the local municipality had decided to enlist the help of residents to stem the rodent tide. Officials estimated there were 43,000 rats residing in the city.
"When I saw the campaign I got all excited, but not because of the money," said retiree Sawang Jinphong, a civic-minded rat-catcher armed with his own cage.
"I am retired from work and I have so much free time to kill. I got all excited because I wanted something to do."
Dead or alive: A poster promotes the campaign to buy rats from locals for 10 baht each.
SUCH A PEST
Sommai Yodphet, the director of public health and environment division from Trang Municipality, rejects suggestions the rat situation in Trang is worse than other cities in Thailand. "Where there's leftover food, there's rats, and we have a lot of leftover food," he said.
Rats usually only live for a year, but can reproduce at three to four months, in large litters of eight to 10. "That is why it is difficult to permanently get rid of the problem," Mr Sommai said.
It's not the first time the municipality has conducted large pest control operations — usually at markets, temples and schools — but it is the first time they have involved the community with financial inducements.
"We want people to be aware that the rat is the perfect carrier for all kind of diseases, especially deadly leptospirosis," Mr Sommai said, referring to a bacterial infection spread mostly by rodents.
According to research conducted by the Ministry of Public Health from Jan 1, 2012 to Aug 4, 2013, there were 1,779 confirmed cases of leptospirosis across the country with 27 deaths. No cases were recorded in Trang province.
spring me out of this joint: A rat is snared in one of the traps that was set in the city's main fresh market, which was overrun with vermin until the municipality launched its bounty campaign.
FUNKY TOWN
But publicity about the rat bounty had an adverse affect on Trang's image, with many wondering whether it was the most unhygienic town in the South.
This is despite the province's beaches being promoted as a honeymoon destination, with a mass underwater wedding ceremony staged every year. Trang municipality is also known as the City of Mermaids, based on old stories of fishermen mistaking dugongs for the mythical creatures.
"We are not the dirtiest town in Thailand," Apichit Vinotai, mayor of Trang municipality told Spectrum. "The dirtiest town is actually Songkhla. We are just bold enough to admit that we have a problem that needs to be taken care of."
Mr Apichit believes Trang should be better known as a food-lover's paradise with a wide variety of cuisine available 24 hours a day. However, a large city wet market covering three rai of land selling vegetables, fresh meat and seafood is a happy hunting ground for hungry rats.
"The rats that live in the market area rely on food that is sold in the market," he said. "They have become a familiar sight so no one is bothered by them any more, which is wrong."
If market produce has been nibbled at by rats, it needs to be cleaned before cooking, which is part of the public health awareness campaign, the mayor said. "We are trying to change the way people think of the sanitary standards and public health," he said.
TO CATCH A RAT
At the same time the bounty was offered in early November, the city's public health and environment division set up rat traps in the market. Their target was to reduce the city's rat population to 4,300, about a 10th of the estimated total.
Siwaporn Soontreewong, the sanitation unit officer who heads the rat-hunting operation, says catching a rat is not easy as some are smarter than others and learn how to avoid traps.
"We have to change technique all the time as the rats are very smart," she told Spectrum. "Sometimes we use a rat cage with food inside and sometimes we use a sticky pad. We have even developed our own traps made from PVC piping."
The municipality distributed free rat poison, but supplies soon ran out because of strong demand. There were also concerns about environmental damage due to overuse.
Ms Siwaporn's rat-hunting team preferred the cage method for the market. In the afternoon they prepared bait — such as grilled fish — before setting out for their prey at night.
Preparation of the cage is crucial. "We have to submerge the cage in boiling water to clean it," Ms Siwaporn said. "If we don't, the rat will notice the smell of other rats that were in the cage and won't come in to eat the bait, no matter how delicious it smells."
The hunt starts at 7pm, when the team of rat catchers is dispatched from a truck to different corners of the market. In their hands are clean cages, each with a piece of succulent grilled fish inside.
The cages are never placed at the same location to prevent the rats from remembering the old traps. The team then leaves the market and returns several hours later to check the traps.
The trapped rats are taken back to the municipal offices and drowned before their bodies are buried at a garbage dump outside the city.
"On the first night of the campaign, we arrived back at the market around 10pm," Ms Siwaporn said. "We went around and collected the cages. We were surprised to see at least five to eight fully grown rats in the same cage."
In the first week of the operation, they were catching 80-100 rats per night. This reduced to 50-60 per night, with 10 rats caught on Nov 28. "I am not sure whether we really caught most of the rats, or the rats communicated with each other to not to fall for the trap," Ms Siwaporn said, laughing.
Build a better mousetrap: Trang residents armed with traps prepare for their nightly mission to reduce the town's rodent population. Officials initially handed out free poison, but supplies soon ran short.
THE PRICE ISN'T RIGHT
Retiree Mr Sawang was one of the few residents who bothered to collect the rat bounty.
He managed to catch 18 rats, with the municipality paying him 180 baht. He doesn't want the campaign to end. "It's fun and I get to earn a little money from it," he said.
While the bounty earned headlines — some unwelcome — it didn't cost the municipality much. Only 19 rat catchers, with a combined total of 76 rodents, collected the reward. Final damage: 760 baht.
The city seems a long way short of its aim of reducing the population by 90%. The hunt had been due to end on Nov 28, but by then only 1,500 rats had been caught across the municipality.
The campaign has now been extended to the end of the year.
Several villagers told Spectrum the bounty was too low. "If the reward had been doubled then I think many more people would have become rat catchers," said one woman.
Mr Sommai is under no illusions that the bounty offer wasn't popular, but adds people may not have bothered to collect the reward.
"People here are too proud," he said.
"I heard from my team that the locals caught rats and killed them but didn't want money. They said they just wanted to help."
Mr Apichit still deems the campaign a success, despite the underwhelming public participation. He argues that local officials have gotten across the idea of a "green city" to residents.
"With all of this, we are aiming to be the greenest and most environmentally friendly town in Thailand," said Mr Apichit, adding that he was confident the new hygiene levels would be maintained. n
No escape: A catcher, wearing gloves to avoid disease, removes a rat from one of his traps.