Thailand Fishing Charters

[proline]

G'Day Raiders,

I will be off to Thailand for my honeymoon end of January. Never been before and was wondering if anyone had been on any decent charters? The wife to be has kindly given me the green card for one, possibly two, day long charters.

I am there for a while, and will be staying in Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and Koh Samui.

I would love to do some gamefishing as I haven't done it before. Ideally like to go for sailfish, marlin, dog toothed tuna, wahoo etc.

Not fussed about a western styled boat, I just want to catch some decent fish. My main objective is to get a knowledgeable, reputable, local guide who can get me on to some good fish with reasonable gear, without charging like a wounded bull.

Anyone been before or got any good recommendations/stories?

Cheers,

Tommo

[nsaykali]

pm sent

[Dangas]

Hi Proline

i also went to Thailand for my honeymoon and went on a couple fishing charters in both koh samui and phuket. The charters i went on were reputable and well known in the area. However my experience there was dissapointing to say the least. There was one charter i went on, where the guide took us to a reef and i remember how the guide got so excited when we started catching small baby spangled emperors no bigger than my palm. Clearly undersize. He kept them all and fed it to us for lunch.

On another trip i chartered an entire boat with crew on what looked like the most professional gamefishing charter business in thailand. We trolled for about 6hrs without a touch, and eventually landed a small striped tuna. Couldve been bad luck or just went in the wrong season. I went in February last year, so it might not be the best time to go.

It just seems like the local waters around thailand are barren and overfished commercially, not as plentiful with fish as other countries like fiji, vanuatu etc... If you really want to give it a try, make sure you haggle on the price. On one of the charters, i spoke with other customers asking them how much they had paid and i got about 6 different prices, so be sure to negotiate with the operators and book directly, and not through the hotel or other agencies.

Dangas

[GCC]

Could there be any freshwater option in Thailand?

I have no idea, but have heard of some interesting freshwater fishing in other countries nearby (aside from Australia).

[proline]

Thanks very much for the advice everyone.

Dangas: That's exactly what I've heard from a few mates that have been. Very few fish, and up to US$500 for a charter and not a touch.

nsaykali: Thanks very much for the links, good stuff. I think you're right, Phuket looks the way to go...

I'll post a report when I get back, but from what I keep hearing it probably won't be anything special!

Tommo

[mrsswordfisherman]

Thanks very much for the advice everyone.

Dangas: That's exactly what I've heard from a few mates that have been. Very few fish, and up to US$500 for a charter and not a touch.

nsaykali: Thanks very much for the links, good stuff. I think you're right, Phuket looks the way to go...

I'll post a report when I get back, but from what I keep hearing it probably won't be anything special!

Tommo

wahoo charters phuket read this post about when we went a few years back

Use the search function as there are several posts about thailand on fr