The 'pig bathing' profession on National Highway 1A

(Baonghean.vn) - Located alongside National Highway 1A, the "pig bathing" profession in Dien Chau district (Nghe An) has become a livelihood for many households..

The billboards that read "Pig Bathing" line both sides of National Highway 1A in Dien Hong commune, Dien Chau district.

Along National Highway 1A, in the section passing through Dien Hong and Dien Yen communes (Dien Chau district), there are nearly a dozen advertising signs reading "Pig Bathing" densely packed on both sides of the road.

Mr. Mai Van Cat, the owner of a pig bathing facility, said he has been doing this job for 17 years. Seeing that bathing pigs is simple and provides a better income than other jobs, he continues to bathe pigs for long-distance trucks transporting pigs on the North-South route.

“The pig bathing job is most profitable during hot weather, because the pigs are transported from the South to the North over a long distance, so they are thirsty and tired. Every day, my family bathes the pigs 7-8 times, each time earning 50,000 VND, totaling 300,000-400,000 VND per day,” Mr. Cat shared.

The job of bathing pigs provides an income of 200,000-400,000 VND per day.

Ms. NT Anh from Dien Hong commune has been doing this job for 6 years now. Previously, she mainly washed passenger cars, but after noticing many trucks carrying pigs stopping by, she took up this job as well. Bathing pigs is not strenuous, it's simple, and it provides an income, so her family invested nearly 10 million VND to buy a high-capacity water pump and hoses to switch to the pig bathing business.

She said that during hot weather, there are 5-7 trucks carrying pigs coming in for bathing each day. Washing a passenger car takes about 2 hours, but bathing the pigs only takes about 30 minutes. Her family earns about 200,000 VND per day from this.

Bathing a pig is simpler than washing a car.

Mr. Dinh Khai Nhat, a pig transport driver from Thanh Hoa province, said: His truck carries nearly 100 pigs from Dong Nai to provinces in the North with border crossings adjacent to China for sale. From the South to the North, he has to stop at 20 different facilities to bathe the pigs; the hotter the weather, the more often he has to bathe them. The cost of bathing the pigs amounts to 800,000 to 1,000,000 VND per trip.

It is known that, on average, about 30-40 trucks carrying pigs on the North-South route pass through Dien Chau district each day. Therefore, each facility receives and washes pigs from approximately 5-10 trucks per day.

Dien Chau District has the highest concentration of pig bathing service establishments in Nghe An province, with dozens of facilities. In addition, along Highway 1A, several other localities in the province also engage in pig bathing, such as Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai Town.

Currently, localities with pig bathing businesses are controlling environmental pollution from pig bathing facilities along National Highway 1A.

Viet Hung