Fishing in Thailand

After being back in Malaysia from the Amazon for less than a week, with my hand still swollen, Dennis and I went to Pamak - Bikuri River in north-west Kanchanaburi Province, a place bordering Thailand and Myanmar for our next assault........

The journey entails a drive up far west of Bangkok city, and a boat ride to 3 Trees Village from the main Khao Laem Dam........

We put up a night on a floating rest house and continued our journey the next day......... This was more of a relaxing trip rather than a full fledge fishing expedition for the both of us..........

Our sumptuous dinner..........
The journey starts here.......

"Hand me all your money! Sir." said Dennis.........Children of the Three Trees Village.........

First, we traveled by a 4 X 4 pick-up track for about an hour to where this road ends............

From here, we continued our journey on foot....... Our porters are Karen and Mon tribe exiles escaping persecution from a brutal Myanmar regime........They are the best trackers, hunters, fishermen, 'McGuyvers' you'll ever come across!!

Tough trek thru the bamboo forest. Luckily we had 10 porters and 2 guides to help THE TWO OF US out!........ He He He

Finally, we are here at the river!..........

Sadly, the dry season was in full swing. Water level was very low, and the fish more nervous than a cat in a dog pound......... There also seemed to be increased gold prospecting activity over the last year and this may have had an adverse affect on the fishing too. A smile with a Pla-kasup..... However, if you immediately catch & release as we did all the while, you will only catch one fish for every pool. Old timers will recognise the fact that our local variety are very good at warning their friends..........It's better to keep it and release it later after you are done with the same pool...........

Trekking along the river....... going up stream for a better fishing pool.......

Small blue mahseer caught on a Gotcha...... Perfect for bouncing thru the riffles and pools according to Dennis............

Plenty of fishes in the pool...., but they are not easy to get......A fungi growing on the rock.........Some of our catches.......

Hey! Dennis, we are drifting backward lah.........

Nightfall approaches, our boys busying themselves "preparing the dishes".........We had wild fowl........and........

frogs from the jungle...........Food preparation.........

Fern shoots ( Paku-Pakis )........from the jungle. Fish BBQ'd over the fire.......Thai rum and BBQ fish is a good match..........When the night comes...............It is time for a drink and reflection of the day's happenning.........

This was the biggest catch of the day - a 2kg+ Pla Buang......

Jungle party during night fall...........
The guy on the right is our bartender Nak Chong (means little Chong)...... The ingredients to the jungle brew : Boiled bamboo water, Lime, Sugar, Salt, and Bacardi....... Tasty!Welcome to Jungle bar!!............

First light at the campsite.....

Morning in this jungle see a drop in temp~15C and damp with heavy fog..... Daytime is a nice 27~28C.....

When not releasing fish, our porters managed to take in 7 fish from a single pool in the morning in just 20 minutes time.......when preparing our meals!.............

This is how our Karen cook prepare the fish.......Covered in course salt and BBQ'd over the campfire.......... Simple & Nice!Wild mountain ginger has a really nice aroma to it~ ginger with hints of green mangoes...... And the Karen tribe sambal is also out of this world........A meal fit for a King!.........They even hunt monkeys for its pooh....... which is believe to be of a special medicinal value...... This is how the porter bring it back to the village...... tie the monkey's long tail to its neck and sling on the shoulder...... Damn Ticks!.... They are everywhere in the forest during this very season.........

Now we know why the guide brought along medicated Dog Shampoo!!....... I can't believe it. We are actually using dog shampoo......... Arghhhhhh!