How to Improve the Swiftlet House Business in Thailand: Guidelines for Legislators and Policymakers

1. The Swiftlet House Industry

Currently, there are approximately 8,700 species of birds in the world, of which 80 belong to the family of fast-flying swallows. Thailand has a total of 12 species of swallow birds. Among the number of tiny swallows, the most valuable bird’s nest is that of the swiftlet, which has been popular due to a general long-held belief that the nest, which is created from the swiftlet’s saliva, acts as an analeptic and treats diseases, especially diseases related to the respiratory system. Swiftlets are birds of the order Apodifomes, of the family Apodidae, of the genus Collocalia, of the species Collocalai fuciphaga (Yutthaphong, 2010). They can be found in Myanmar; Thailand; Malaysia; southern Vietnam; the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indonesia; the Sundas Islands, Indonesia; and Palawan Island, the Philippines. With their sedentary nest-building behaviour, swiftlets often nest on an island and sometimes in buildings. They prefer hot weather and high humidity. Therefore, the ecosystem in southern Thailand, located near the equator, is a favourable geographical feature and climate in which swiftlets are suited to live and lay eggs for propagation. Generally, swiftlets live about six to seven years, and three-year-old swiftlets are believed to lay the best-quality nests (Thai Bird's Nest Farm Promotion and Development Institute, 2019).

The first birdhouse in Thailand was in Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat. The flocks of swiftlets flew in, lived, nested, and lay eggs there. The house owner started to collect and sell their nests, generating a considerable income. People then learned that swiftlets could live and nest in an unnatural habitat if it has a similar environment to their natural habitat, which is warm, dark, humid, and close to their food and water sources.

Figure 1. The first swiftlet house in Thailand was in Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat (Jandam, 2019).

Figure 1. The first swiftlet house in Thailand was in Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat (Jandam, 2019).

There is no fixed design or layout required to make a successful birdhouse. Investors usually imitate the design of successful birdhouses in their area. Therefore, the size and characteristics of swiftlet houses are diverse. The cost of building a birdhouse depends on the size of the house, the price of the land, the design cost, the construction permit fee, the type of materials, the labour costs, the utility costs, the equipment costs, and consulting costs. Even though the birdhouses are diverse in terms of design and price, the basic design is a building, with between one and four floors, with no windows, but with several tiny holes built into the walls for swiftlets to fly in and out. Inside, rows of wooden planks are attached to the ceilings, upon which the birds can nest.

A birdhouse business starts by the construction or modification of a building to transform it into a suitable environment for housing the swiftlets. Certain sounds are made to lure the birds into the house. After the swiftlet chooses its home, it will build its nest on the provided wooden plank and lay eggs, and after they leave the nest, the humans will go in to collect it by using a trowel to pluck the nest out of the wooden plank. The collected nests are raw birds’ nests that are still dirty, contaminated with feathers, dust, and bird waste. Therefore, they must undergo a cleaning process, which starts with brushing away large clumps of dirt from the nest. Then, the bird’s nest is soaked in water to soften and loosen the nest. As a result, dust, feathers, and small grains of dirt float out of the nests, and the rinsing process is repeated until the nests are thoroughly cleaned. When all the dirt is removed, the nests will be put in moulds and blown with warm air until they are dry. Finally, raw bird nests are ready to be packed and sold for further processing.

2. Legislation Related to the Swiftlet House Industry

The Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019)

Wild animals are essential to both humans and the environment in many ways. Therefore, to protect wildlife, there is a treaty known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as CITES, which came into force on 1 July 1975. Its purpose is to conserve nature and natural resources. Thailand signed the CITES convention in 1975 and ratified it on 21 January 1983, making Thailand the 80^th member of 181 states to sign the treaty.

Section 4 of the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B. E. 2562 (2019), Thailand's domestic law that has been ratified under the CITES convention, defines ‘protected wildlife’ as ‘wild animals that are important to the ecosystem, or wildlife species whose population is likely to decline, which may affect the ecosystem’. And under the Ministerial Regulation Designating Certain Wild Animals as Protected Wildlife B. E. 2546 (2003), which listed the swiftlet (Collocalia maximus or Aerodramus maximus) as a protected wildlife type number 872, any acts relating to swiftlets and their nests, such as collection and possession thereof, are governed by this law.

Section 14, paragraph 2 of the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B. E. 2562 (2019) states that ‘no person shall keep, endanger, or have in possession the nest of protected wildlife unless it is a nest of protected wildlife of the kind prescribed by the Minister and such person is a licensee’. Any person who violates this provision is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding 100,000 baht – or both. Therefore, all the operations relating to swiftlet nests in the swiftlet house industry are considered illegal unless a swiftlet business operator has obtained a valid licence for their activities. However, there are no regulations concerning obtaining permits for collecting, harming, and possessing protected wildlife nests. Therefore, keeping, harming, and possessing swiftlet nests – running a swiftlet house business – is still illegal in Thailand.

The Town Planning Act B. E. 2562 (2019)

Town planning is one method of organising land use, ensuring land is orderly, beautiful, hygienic, safe, and environmentally friendly. ‘Land use’ refers to activities humans perform on the land, such as residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, healthcare-related, educational, transport-related, or other public uses. Urban land use differs from rural land use; that is, rural land use is directed toward agricultural production, such as cultivation and animal husbandry, whereas urban land use covers commercial or industrial purposes or land use for public places, such as educational institutions, government offices, and recreational land.

Section 4 of the Town Planning Act B. E. 2562 (2019) considers town planning to include planning, designing, and implementing town planning at various levels as a guiding framework for physical development at the national, regional, provincial, urban, and rural levels. According to this Act, the purposes of town planning are developing cities, rural areas, and other related areas with the goal of improving them in various ways; for example, sanitation, convenience, orderliness, beauty, transportation, public safety, and disaster prevention.

The law colour codes land according to its use; for example, a low-density residential area is yellow; a medium-density residential area is orange; a high-density residential area is red; a rural and agriculture area is green; and so on. The yellow, orange, and red areas are all residential areas. Therefore, any activities or any land use that will take place in these areas must be residential or conducive to residential land use. Any activities or land uses that hinder or obstruct such activities are prohibited. For example, animal husbandry is a source of odours, waste, and infectious diseases, so animal farms cannot be located in all residential areas. They must be located in agricultural areas instead, because it is a land use that hinders the safe living of human beings.

Considering the emergence of the first swiftlet house business in Thailand, the first birdhouse was located in a residential area. Unlike other types of animal husbandry, the first birdhouse was caused by a swiftlet flying into the building of its own accord. Therefore, under the abovementioned Act, government agencies cannot deal with these businesses because the building owners had no intention of breaking the law. Later, after the birdhouse business became popular, new entrepreneurs modified existing buildings, primarily located in residential areas, into birdhouses. The activities in swiftlet houses are similar to those of animal farms, since they are animals’ habitats. In addition, swiftlet houses are a source of waste, bird feathers, and infectious diseases. Therefore, all swiftlet houses located in residential areas violate this Act.

The Building Control Act B. E. 2522 (1979)

The Building Control Act B. E. 2522 (1979) is a law that ensures the safety of buildings. It controls the location, structure, layout, modification, materials, and facilities used in construction to guarantee that a building is solid and safe for the users of the building and the neighbourhood. To construct a building, the landowner must have obtained permission to do so from the local authority. The local authority will ask the petitioner to submit, among other documentation, the construction plan and layout. The plan and design must comply with the minimum requirements of the law relating to the building type. For example, a hotel building plan will have higher minimum requirements than a private house plan. A hotel must have a certain number of fire extinguishers, a certain type of power supply, and wider stairs than a private house.

In terms of how birdhouses are constructed, there are two types of swiftlet houses. The first is the newly made house, and the other is the modified old house. Regardless of the type of birdhouse, the construction and modification of the birdhouse building are governed by building control laws. Considering the characteristics of the Thai birdhouse buildings, most are old buildings that the owners later modified to render them similar to natural swiftlet caves.

Modifying a house to render it a birdhouse is usually done by removing the original window, closing the wall, and drilling many holes into the wall to let the birds fly in and out. Inside the birdhouse, there is often not enough ventilation for human habitation. Narrow and unstable stairs are usually installed. This study’s interviews with entrepreneurs exposed frequent birdhouse accidents caused by the construction of a birdhouse or stairs that are not strong or safe enough. There are no specific laws controlling birdhouse construction.

The Public Health Act B. E. 2535 (1992)

The purpose of the Public Health Act B. E. 2535 (1992) is to protect people in terms of hygiene, sanitation, and the local environment by means of decentralisation to local government organisations. Local government organisations can enact local regulations and apply them within their authority.

Agriculture and animal husbandry have a negative impact on the environment. For example, a swiftlet house is often a source of odours, noise, bird waste, and contagious diseases. In the droppings of swiftlets, there is a very high amount of nitrogen compared to other animal manure. If swiftlet droppings accumulate, nitrogen may be produced in various forms, which affects the building’s waste disposal system. To lure swiftlets into a birdhouse, some entrepreneurs use noise. The volume may be an annoyance to the neighbourhood and may be a cause of conflict between swiftlet house owners and the local community. Therefore, the law should control and manage such matters to prevent agriculture or animal husbandry from affecting the environment and public health.

Section 5 and Section 31 of the Public Health Act B. E. 2535 (1992) provide that the Minister of Public Health, with the support of the Public Health Commission, has the power to publicise (in the Government Gazette) any business that is harmful to public health. A business that is harmful is governed by a specific law depending on the type of the business. The Minister of Public Health publicised the ‘Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Businesses Hazardous to Health B. E. 2558 (2015)’. It determines that any business relating to animal breeding, rearing, and nurturing is a business that is hazardous to public health.

In addition, Section 25 of the Public Health Act B. E. 2535 (1992) determines the features of a ‘nuisance’. The cause of a nuisance under this section may include: dirty places causing a foul smell; areas that are breeding grounds for disease or causing health hazards; animal rearing by means or in unreasonable amounts that are harmful to public health; human or animal habitats without enough ventilation, drainage, sewage disposal, or control of toxic or foul odours; and any acts that cause odours, light, noise, heat, dust, emissions, soot, and ash that cause harm to public health. A swiftlet house business, therefore, is governed by the Public Health Act B. E. 2535 (1992).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research aims to propose legal measures that are suitable for the swiftlet house industry by means of a qualitative research approach using semi-structured interviews as the research tool. The study has been conducted in Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Chanthaburi, where there are many swiftlet houses. The research focused on the problems caused by the existing law, the lack of appropriate laws, and the interests of all stakeholders.

Population and Sample

The study population consists of stakeholders in the swiftlet house industry, including those who possess swiftlet house businesses; those who want to invest in swiftlet house businesses; those who live near swiftlet houses; relevant local and central government officials; and those who are involved in research into the swiftlet house industry. The sample consists of 100 swiftlet house owners and those who want to invest in the industry, 50 government officials from relevant government organisations, and 100 people who live near swiftlet houses.

Research Instruments

In this study, the semi-structured interviews were designed by analysing the problems each stakeholder faces due to the current status of the law and how each stakeholder expects the law to solve their problems. The interviews were structured as follows:

Part 1: General Information of the Respondents – The questionnaire contained a five-item checklist to collect data on each respondent’s age, gender, educational status, employment position, and period of experience or involvement in the swiftlet house industry.

Part 2: The Problems Each Stakeholder Faces due to the Current Status of the Law – This section of the interview covered the relevant laws that relate to the swiftlet house industry.

Part 3: The Stakeholders’ Expectations of the Law – This interview section covered how the stakeholders would want the law to resolve the problems they encounter most appropriately.

Tool Construction

Development of the research instrument began with a study of relevant research and law in relation to the swiftlet house industry and the problems caused by the current status of the law. This was followed by an investigation of swiftlet house business laws in countries that also have strong swiftlet house industries – Malaysia and Indonesia. The tool was created to guide the creation of the semi-structured interviews. Then, the semi-structured interviews and the questionnaires were then prepared in accordance with the conceptual framework. These were later offered to experts to determine their suitability, the accuracy of the language used, and whether there was sufficient coverage for the research.

Data Collection

The data was collected in the form of semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The interviews were conducted with current swiftlet house business owners, potential investors in the industry, relevant government officials, and people who live near swiftlet houses. All interviewees were actively involved in the swiftlet house industry.

Data Analysis

The data (the interviews) was analysed by means of content analysis, focusing on assessing the most appropriate way of improving the laws that allocate relevant interests to all stakeholders.