Lan (Isan Bamboo-Tube Eel Trap) — a 100-120 cm Bamboo Tube with a 5-8 cm Mouth, a Cone Funnel, a Breathing Slot at the Bottom and a 30 cm Pin; Set Overnight for Swamp Eels

"The space inside is not wide enough for an eel big enough to eat to turn round and come back out through the funnel ... it can only lie stretched along the length of the lan." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0)

Cut village bamboo into lengths of about four nodes. Cut behind the first node to open the mouth; go three nodes on and cut behind the third as the bottom. Cut a breathing slot about a hand-span long in the last internode, and knock out the inner nodes with an iron rod, leaving the last one.

Make a cone-shaped funnel and fit it into the mouth with its tips pointing in, its base fitting the mouth snugly.

Drill a hole at the upper edge beside the mouth, on the same side as the breathing slot, through to the underside. Shave a pin about 30 cm long and push it through the hole beside the funnel and out below, to hold the funnel firmly in the mouth and to stake the trap into the ground.

Photos of a real lan from the Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum (the lan in the photos has several round holes near the bottom) (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0).

Set many tubes at once in the evening. Chop bait (crabs, snails, rasbora, gourami or earthworms) and pour it into the mouth; fit the funnel and push in the pin. Set it in shallow water at the edge, with the bottom raised so the bait collects at the mouth and the breathing slot is above the water, the mouth flush with the ground; push the pin firmly into the soil and smear a little mud round the funnel. Leave it overnight.

In Isan a cut length of bamboo is called a bang, so lan are counted in bang. It can be set all year, but is favoured after the harvest, when the eels are fat and taste clean. Take care with the knife and saw when cutting bamboo. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "ลัน", author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum, Buriram (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source gives no funnel size; the lan in the photos has several round holes near the bottom rather than the hand-span slot the text describes.