Footage shows struggling farmers in rural Thailand foraging for ant eggs - a local delicacy and an alternative source of income after droughts have ravaged their business.<br /><br />Donlaporn Yaiwong has given up on rice farming after several decades due to the lack of rain drying out her land in Phayao, northern Thailand.<br /><br />She now trawls woodland with 30ft long bamboo stem tied with a sack on the end in search of ant nests.<br /><br />Footage from Thursday (February 27) morning shows her using the long stem to pull the nests of ants complete with their eggs from the branches.<br /><br />She pours them on a tray filled with tapioca flour which repels the ants so she can sell the eggs as a food ingredient. Ant eggs are used in northern Thailand in "som tam," a popular type of spicy salad, as well as soups and omelette.<br /><br />Eating ant eggs are a high source of protein and popular in rural third world Asian countries.<br /><br />The stricken farmer said that previously she had only sold ant eggs as an extra source of money but now she has to do it for living.<br /><br />She said: "I would only normally collect ant eggs as side job, but the drought has affected me so badly that now the eggs are my only source of income.<br /><br />"Moreover, the drought also caused the ants to make fewer nests and I have to spend more time than usual to find enough to sell."<br /><br />Thailand has suffered severe droughts over the last few months due to a lack of rain. Many rivers and ponds have dried up.
