Phitsanulok woman turns cockroaches into fishing bait business

In Phitsanulok province, a Thai woman named Nattaliya Amahasimae (29 years old) has transformed cockroach farming into a thriving business, supplying live insects as fishing bait to river anglers and earning over 100,000 baht per month. Nattaliya's family resides near the Yom River, where many anglers catch cockroaches for use as fishing bait.

Inspired by the anglers' preference for cockroaches as bait over other insects and shrimp, Nattaliya embarked on a journey to learn about cockroach breeding and farm management. She discovered that raising cockroaches was not a complex process and decided to establish her own farm. Nattaliya maintains the insects in clean conditions, similar to other farmed animals, feeding them with high-quality chicken feed and providing fresh water weekly.

The farm-raised cockroaches are harvested during their moulting cycle, typically selected shortly after they turn from white to light brown, before being placed in bottles for sale.

Each bottle of farm-raised cockroaches is sold for 130 baht, containing approximately 50 insects. The farm sells more than 30 bottles daily, but the high demand has led to stock shortages, requiring customers to place orders in advance. To address the increasing demand, Nattaliya now purchases additional stock from other suppliers for resale. She strictly accepts live, farm-raised cockroaches and refuses household cockroaches and dead insects.

One customer, a 21-year-old fisherman named Jakkrin Janchuen from Sukhothai province, has known about Nattaliya's farm for about a year. Jakkrin mentioned that river anglers prefer cockroaches as bait over other insects because fish exhibit a stronger interest in the bait. Nattaliya has been running her business for approximately one year and aims to expand its operations further.