Fisherman Latin from Thailand

Fishing is a fun and interesting leisure activity all over the world. In the Netherlands alone, there are more than one and a half million people who regularly throw out a fishing rod in a nearby canal or lake or even go out to sea to catch some beautiful fish. It is a sport in which the fish caught are usually released.

I am not one of those one and a half million anglers. I can't muster the patience to sometimes stare at a float for hours and besides, with my two left hands I'm not suited to ants with floats, sims, weights, bait and whatever else comes into play. I did try, I once fished with friends as a little boy, but I soon saw it, really, it wasn't for me.

Fisherman Latin in Thailand

What I do like about fishing is the beautiful stories about the adventures that fishermen experience and how big and heavy their caught fish was, with which people take a picture to post on Facebook.

Foreigners, including the Dutch and Belgians, also fish a lot in Thailand. This is possible almost anywhere, often in a river or creek near where you are staying or otherwise in special fish ponds. An (organized) fishing trip at sea is certainly one of the many fishing possibilities in this country.

I think it would be fun to read blog readers' stories with possibly accompanying photos. If there is enough response, we will make a nice series of it. So send your story with photo via the contact form to the editors and we will make it into a beautiful story.

First story

I myself will start with a story about a fishing adventure from many years ago, which went like this:

We had just moved into our own house in Pattaya and we had a visit from the village in Isaan from my wife's brother, who had brought along two friends for the occasion. They regularly fished in creeks and rivers near them, but had never fished at sea. So a fishing trip was organized from Pattaya beach. A fast boat was rented with a skipper and a helper and the company of about eight people (including myself) went out to sea. Provisions and – of course – plenty of booze made the trip to the fishing grounds pleasant. The skipper knew the places where there were a lot of fish, so we expected a good catch. We sailed around the north at Koh Larn and not much later our boat anchored. Well, the boat had no anchor, so the skipper turned off the engine and while floating on a calm sea the fishing rods went out. It was the second time I've held a fishing rod in my life.

The catch was indeed good, two buckets full of fish, which we would bring home. An evening with the BBQ was our prospect. The catch was in, the booze and provisions were almost gone and we decided to turn back. Return? Yes, but how? It was already a little later in the afternoon and the sea vapors reduced visibility. The skipper did not have a compass, let alone GPS, and he relied on his gut feeling to follow the correct course to Pattaya beach.

However, he got lost, we kept sailing and sailing, but there was no land in sight. That only happened after an hour or two of wandering and I already saw myself arriving in Bangkok or perhaps Koh Samui. We didn't stray that far, as it turned out, we were heading for the harbor of Naklua. We now had the option of heading south to Pattaya Beach, but we had run out of fuel. We were just able to moor at a jetty in Naklua, where the helper was sent out to get the jerry cans filled. When that was arranged after about an hour, we could end the adventurous trip.

Enough material to tell the evening at the BBQ to those present who had not been there, whereby of course the “drama” was presented in an exaggerated way.

Finally   

I'm sure there are plenty of stories to tell about fishing adventures in Thailand and I hope that Visserslatijn in Thailand will be a nice series.