Doubling as Birdhouses Boosts Thai Real Estate

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2003

In Thailand, owners are transforming entire buildings into elaborate, cave-like birdhouses to attract swiftlets, swallow-like birds that build valuable nests. Why are they valuable? From Doubling as Birdhouses Boosts Thai Real Estate:

Ethnic Chinese around the world have a seemingly insatiable appetite for the delicate nests, which are used in bird’s nest soup and tonic and are believed to improve digestion, cure dysentery and rejuvenate the elderly. The annual export trade is estimated at $500 million. A pound of the nests can fetch about $1,000 in this part of Thailand. In the U.S., they go for about $250 an ounce wholesale.

Spun from the glutinous saliva of birds that feed on flies, mosquitoes and other insects, the nests are often served in restaurants with chicken broth or ginseng.

Ewwww…

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Doubling as Birdhouses Boosts Thai Real Estate

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