Het Tawp: Why Thais Burn Their Forests Down Annually

[connda]

My wife is visibly excited when she returned from the market. She informs me that large groups of people from as far away as Lampang has shown up this morning in our sleepy little village which is bordered on three sides by the Khun Tan National Park. Their reason for coming to our moobaan in the early morning pre-dawn darkness of this grey June day? To gather the mushroom delicacy: Het Tawp.

Earlier this year the forests on those same mountains were ablaze on a daily basis, and those fires and similar fires throughout Northern Thailand contributed to a choking and dangerously unhealthy haze of particulate suspended over this normally beautiful region from mid-February until mid-May of this year. Why the fires? Random lightning strikes perhaps? No, that does not account for the sheer magnitude of the spot fires throughout the region. However, virtually all the villagers in the moobaan understand why the fires happen, and some quietly engage in the deliberate setting of these fires yearly during the dry hot season months. There is a commonly held belief that fire simulates the growth of these mushrooms. The villagers I've spoke with indicate that they find the mushrooms by walking up the mountains and seeking out sections of the forest that have been burnt, and specifically sections of the forest floor that have been scorched and blackened. They then start removing the thin, burnt forest soil layer to expose the highly prized Het Tawp mushroom fruiting body. Just from what I've described, one can imagine the consequential ecological damage: First the damage to the forest canopies is readily apparent more so this year than years past; the damage to the already thin and less-than fertile forest floor which in turn results in erosion and excessive, silty run-off that contributes to the pollution of our village water supplies, not to mention the horrendously bad air quality we experience three months (or more) out of the year. All this so that the Thai locals can collect the Het Tawp.

So why is this mushroom so sought after? The Het Tawp, which I believe to be in the genus Astraeus, possibly Astraeus Odoratus, is a non-cultivatable mushroom with a very short growing period of approximately 2 to 4 weeks out of the year. The mushroom tends to grow according to the proclivities of various micro-climates in the region. For example, the mushrooms appeared on the Doi Khun Tan mountain forests two weeks earlier than the mountain forests above our village. The locals generally know approximately when and where the mushrooms appear based on their seasonal cycles, and will opt-out of their normal work in order to collect these relatively rare and correspondingly expensive mushroom. How expensive? Mushroom are sold by the litre instead of per kilo. A litre of Het Tawp can command a price ranging from 250 to 500 baht per litre depending on their relative abundance or scarcity. This year a litre sells for 300 baht locally. In the markets of larger cities such as Chiang Mai or Lampang the price doubles. This year is turning out to be a bumper year with some local families picking upwards of 6 to 9 litres per day. For most villagers whose primary employment garners them 250 to 500 baht per day, the prospect of earning upwards of 3000 baht in a single day is highly alluring. And that allure is the primary reason that Thais burn up large swaths of their protected national forests and mountain jungles each year. No, it's not random lightening strikes; it is very deliberate, but no one in their right mind ever openly admits to engaging in the practice.

Next year I may attempt to fully document this annual event starting with the dry-season/fire season which culminates in the early rainy-season Het Tawp mushroom harvest. Now, we're already closing in on the tail-end of this season. In it's wake will be a rainy season bringing excessive erosion and silt-clogged aquifers to many villages, not to mention a plethora of chronic health problems arising from the inhalation of the acrid, polluted air; a by-product of numerous forest fires set in Northern Thailand while on the quest for the Het Tawp mushroom.

Edited June 1, 2016 by connda

[masuk]

Quite an interesting mail, thanks.

Do you happen to have a photo of the fungi concerned?

For interested mycologists, this article might be of interest.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/tasmanian-fungi-hunters-citizen-science/7461438

[connda]

Quite an interesting mail, thanks.

Do you happen to have a photo of the fungi concerned?

For interested mycologists, this article might be of interest.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/tasmanian-fungi-hunters-citizen-science/7461438

I have not been in the mountains to collect them myself, so no photos. I showed my wife some pictures of Astraeus but they didn't look like what she is use to picking. I need to see the entire fruiting body and get a spore print to get a positive ID. Thanks for the link.

[JaseTheBass]

My wife was excited too. About an hour after eating that cack she regretted it saying never again. Does it every year...

[Mapguy]

Excellent post, OP!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Quite an interesting mail, thanks.

Do you happen to have a photo of the fungi concerned?

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=เห็ดถอบ&source=lnms&tbm=isch

They're quite nice when fresh. Excellent in various curries, etc.

Edited June 1, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[arunsakda]

Mushrooms have little protein, carbs fiber, other than nutritional value from micronutrients, just cash value. Not much taste either until prepared with oils, butter , salt/spice.

The damage this country suffers each year because of this fungal crap is shocking. .

[WinnieTheKhwai]

^ No, they're great. Especially if you're vegetarian/vegan, Hed Thob mushrooms are brilliant. They're not soft like most mushrooms.

Given all the destruction that meat eaters cause year-round, vegans could be entitled to this little thing.

[Emster23]

Why do Thais burn down their forest? Because they can.... Burn down forests for some shrooms? "Brilliant" not quite the word I would choose

[arunsakda]

Vegans can take supplements. Taste of wild mushrooms, income from picking them, and the ingrained practice of agricultural burning is not worth the damage

and suffering of millions of residents choking for months on smoke unnecessarily.

Thailand should empty the jails of drug offenders replacing with illegal burners and bent public officials.

[ogb]

Very unlikely its vegans doing the annual burning in North Thailand, and more likely it is the same people that have hunted most of the animals from the forests.

[junglechef]

The foragers also pick where the earth is scorched as it is more easily accessible then in the dense forest.

I find the flavor and especially the texture to be unique and enjoyable but once I found out about the way they are harvested I boycotted purchasing them.

[DeaconJohn]

^ No, they're great. Especially if you're vegetarian/vegan, Hed Thob mushrooms are brilliant. They're not soft like most mushrooms.

Given all the destruction that meat eaters cause year-round, vegans could be entitled to this little thing.

Have you examined your manure lately for anything unusual growing on it?

Yes, Het Kee Kwai... stoners​ could be entitled to this little thing.

[junglechef]

This is what they look like.

I saw them for sale today at the market in the parking lot across from in the Royal Project on Suthep Rd.

I'm posting in the hopes that you will recognize them and not mistakenly buy them.

The lady selling them said "alloy" as I walked past.

I agreed and added "mai dee", she laughed like she understood what I meant.