Photo Essay: The Birds' Nests Collectors of Thailand

Koh Lao Liang: a bird-nest collector shows off his knots.

Climbers who wish to climb off the beaten track are advised to learn a little about the birds’ nest collectors who control large numbers of perfect climbing islands in Phang Nga Bay and off the southwestern Thai coastline. People who climb such crags without permission will find themselves in very, very deep trouble, as rifles and exploding booby traps are used to guard these crags.

In Thailand, birds’ nest collecting is a highly lucrative business and is tightly controlled. The collectors, who have an exclusive government concession to collect nests in the Marine Park, pay about GBP 3,000,000 per year for the privilege – a vast sum by Thai standards.

The nests are so precious that they are guarded against robbers during the collection season. Two seasons ago some guards were bribed and some nests were stolen. The miscreants, for whom the consequences of discovery were adverse, to say the least, were detected by their sudden show of wealth, which they spent on gold necklaces and pick-up trucks.

Western rock-climbers including Trevor Massiah, Steve Findley, Mike Weitzman and Dan Donovan have secured anchors inside some of the caves, so allowing collectors to shimmy up the ropes in total safety. The Koh Lao Liang collectors told this editor that the most useful rope put up for their benefit in 2006 was the cord Steve and Dan established on Koh Lao Liang South. The rope put up by Trevor and Mike was in an impressively implausible place, but not a terribly useful one, as there were no birds nests in that particular cave.

Mike described the process of putting up the anchor:

“At one point I saw Trev facing a 20 metre pendulum swing if he fell. What’s more, the only thing that would then prevent him from then plummeting 30 metres into the sea was a tiny nut jammed into a dirty crack. I was more fearful for the life of my leader than I had ever been before, or have been since. I was possibly about to become an involuntary landing pad for 80kg of hard-as-limestone Antiguan/Bristolian meat and gristle. Trev was attempting to throw a sling around a thin spike of rock out of his sight, whilst barely clinging on to rock that was greasy with dirty bat guano. I also was inadequately secured, by a metal hook poorly placed in a shallow pocket of rock. I knew this hook would pop out of the pocket if I fell. Trev, in his usual understated British manner said, “I might be in for a bit of a swing here.” I thought, “If Trev comes off, we’re in for a mid-air cuddle and then a swim – and I don’t at all fancy attempting to swim all tangled up in rope and gear.”

Luckily the blind placement held, so Mike avoided his swim – and his cuddle.

The west side of Lao Liang.

Steve Findley on stunning orange rock. Is that really limestone?!

Findley on fixed ropes, rigging for collectors.

Starting up the rope. Collectors climb ropes, which run up through anchors and back down them, and are tied to their bare torsos.

Mid climb. Though collectors get a two-one advantage from this system, the climb is far from easy, and they're up there a good long time.

A room with a view.

With permission, Lao Liang isn't just for nest collectors.

The Prize. All that fuss over this.

Unsurprisingly, Thai nest harvesters like the safety that Western climbers and their technology have brought to their jobs. In the past between two and five people died collecting nests in the Marine Park every five years; most years one of the 60 collectors died. The usual cause was that the bamboo broke or came out of the hole into which it had been jammed.

Prior to collecting, birds’ nest climbers pray and brush their hair. They are forbidden to eat island animals, such as snake, iguana and birds, because these animals belong to the island. In addition they are supposed to remain celibate (that’s the collectors, not the animals).

Simon Ramsden is a Thailand-based climber who runs Andaman Sky Co., Ltd, specializing in Thailand climbing trips to the new destinations Koh Yao Noi and Koh Lao Liang, and to the established destinations Railay/Tonsai and Koh Phi Phi.