Cockfighting in Thailand
(Muellek Josef / Shutterstock.com0
If you have ever been to or even live in rural Thailand, you have certainly seen the hives under which a rooster resides between or behind the houses. These are fighting cocks or – with a more friendly name – competition cocks.
Roosters have a natural urge not to tolerate intruders on their territory, so if you put two together they will fight each other. In Thailand this is done in a competition form.
History
Cockfighting is a sport that was practiced 3000 years ago all over the world including Thailand and surrounding countries. It is known that King Narasuan already bred roosters for competition in the 16th century. He gave his country independence by winning a cockfight with a Burmese prince. It is a bloody sport, where the roosters originally fought until the death of one. The roosters had spikes on their legs and razors on their wings, and the unlucky loser ended up in the soup pot. The meat of a fighting cock has a high protein content and is very tasty. Like bullfighting, it is a barbaric sport, but changes have been made to the rules over time to make the sport more acceptable.
Training and education
Roosters are selected as chicks to become competition roosters and then receive continuous training to eventually participate in competitions. The training methods will not be the same everywhere, but in Chiang Mai there is a special institute, The Cockfighting Learning and Exhibition Center, which provides information in that area. They are eager to educate visitors about this sport, which is considered a Thai cultural heritage, and of course they are eager to fight the prejudices about cockfighting. See the website: www.cockfightingcentre.com
The match
Although many fights take place "illegally" in the villages of rural Thailand, there are cockfights every weekend in more than 75 official locations. Literally hundreds of thousands of Thais attend those matches not only for the sport, but also – this is Thailand, isn't it? – to bet on the possible winner. Assume that there is a lot of money involved.
At the location, usually circular formation, a ring is placed in the center within which the cockfight takes place. This ring is called the "cockpit". You know that word, of course, but you can always hope that the roosters in the other cockpit don't get into a fight. In today's cockfighting, the spurs are tied off the rooster, no spikes or razors are used, because one rooster is no longer supposed to be killed by the other.
Tourist attraction
The cockfights are recommended as a tourist attraction, but I have my doubts. Maybe you have to see a fight like this once to be able to judge it properly.
I am sending this comment because I strongly disapprove of cockfighting. It is not tourist entertainment it is 100% animal abuse and should therefore be banned.
I have arrived at a cockfight several times by chance and believe me, it is not bloody, the owner pampers his cock with a lot of care, a bath beforehand, drying off, even cuddling. Once in the ring, the roosters dance and spin around each other, jumping or trying to jump above the opponent to knock him to the ground. If this happens, it is game over. If things get really bad and the owner sees that his rooster is suffering too much, he throws in the towel. No, what I saw was not a cruel sport but actually a reason to gamble a little.
To be able to give an opinion I once saw a cockfight and there I really saw blood flowing, a horrible " sport ".
That it might be handled a bit more decently in places, I wouldn't know,
Nico B
This is a very one-sided view of the event. My Thai brother-in-law breeds the roosters for sale. That's why I know better.
Heavyweight boxers can also kill each other, but that is their choice. A rooster cannot choose for himself, just like the bulls in bullfights. If a matador is pierced by a bull's horn or worse, I have no pity for the matador. He chooses to take the risk himself, even though he thinks he can handle the bull. The roosters can't choose either and are at the mercy of the opponent's wrought-up aggression.
If you see many cars standing together in Pattaya East, it is not a family reunion, but in many cases cockfights.
Although gambling is not allowed in Thailand, "packs" of money are passed on privately!
It certainly does not sound like: “Welcome handsome man!”
TIT
I'm not saying I approve of it, nor is it really a tourist attraction, it just happens. And you know, the urge in the rooster is there and you can't stop it, do you have to kill all the roosters? Because in their big wicker basket it is not life either. I don't judge, I feel too small for that.
The roosters are bred for it. If cockfights are not held, they are not bred for it. As an extension of that, they do not have to be killed.
Unfortunately, my rear neighbor also has roosters that, in my opinion, wake me up too early. I also regularly see him washing and drying his cocks with great attention, where son dear can also do one. When I first went to look during a training game, I indeed saw that the spurs had been carefully tied off and that there was even a kind of cap over the beak. It was more like jumping up and hoping that the other one would lose out. It's a kind of natural behavior, only now without injured animals. But as far as I'm concerned, he'll stop and start collecting stamps. Better for my sleep.
It's my father-in-law's hobby. He cares for his gladiators lovingly and enjoys them.
Caesar already said it: Give the people bread and circuses.
I saw such a cockfight on Thai TV last month of December!!!!
Yes, sure and it wasn't exactly bloody and indeed if one rooster can force the other to the ground then that's the winner.
In the Philippines I also regularly saw many tiny houses (only 1 meter high or so) in people's homes at a good distance from each other and I didn't know what to think about that until I realized that these are the shelters for the roosters before the fighting …
That's a bloody affair right there! Very sharp knives are sold especially for this purpose, which are tied to the legs to cause as much damage as possible to the other rooster and that is a barbaric affair there!
In my younger years, I am now 70, that also happened with us, but that was already becoming illegal.
Perhaps also due to the fact that the poor people, just like in Asia, gambled away their last pennies.
We also made special “tracks” with sharp spines to bind to the legs and also to cause as much damage as possible to the other rooster. Folklore was called that…
My parents once made a faraway trip to Asia and in Indonesia, where the fighting still exists, my father, who knew it from his youth, experienced such fighting. By the way, he bought a wooden statue of a man with his rooster in his hand there and had it sent to Belgium. Out of some kind of nostalgia.
My Thai nephew does it too and has already won several awards.
He coddles his roosters, and as far as I can see there is no blood in the fights.
Remember that roosters that keep losing will eventually be sacrificed in the soup pot.
Cannot be compared to bullfights.
These roosters still have some life left. In Western countries, the roosters become like chicks
turned alive. If I may choose, then a rooster in Thailand.
I once asked my ex-girlfriend about it.
If she could tell me more about that.
“Nooo, cannòòòt.
Only one can go.”
Is that right?
I only see men in the picture.