Salt mine @Nan

The salt ponds in Nan will start from the end of Buddhist Lent to the beginning of Buddhist Lent. Salt production will not be done during the rainy season because it will dilute the natural saltwater. The salt production process is to scoop the saltwater from the pond using a weighted beam to scoop up the saltwater. The saltwater will be boiled in a salt boiling house, which has a double-stove made of clay with a firewood compartment in the middle of the bottom and a compartment for salt boiling pans with two compartments on top. The salt is boiled for about 4 hours until the salt crystallizes. During this time, a wooden paddle must be used to stir and add more saltwater to prevent the salt from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the salt crystallizes, a “pan” will be used to scoop the salt out of the pan and put it in a “sa”, a woven bamboo basket. The sa with salt is then hung over the stove for another 4 hours to allow all the water to evaporate. The dried salt will be stored in a “suan”, which is a large bamboo container used to store salt. Boiling salt in one stove will produce about 15 kilograms of salt.