Fish Fighting

Fish fighting is another unusual spectator sport native to Thailand, and despite the fact that it has been banned in Bangkok; it is still available in some of the surrounding areas. Thai fighting fish are generally one of two types, "lukmoh", a thoroughbred species, or "lukpah", a species found in the wild, and are very tough, yet very beautiful fish.

In a fish fight the two contestants are brought in separate glass jars and placed close to one another so that they may measure each other up. This typically works each of the fish into a fury, which is unleashed when they are put together in a larger, glass, fighting jar. Once they have been put into the fighting jar, the physical characteristics of the fish change markedly.

The fish enlarge, fan out their fins and tails, and seem to take on a faint glow; and in a matter of seconds they are engaged in mortal combat. These battles are extremely violent, as both fish desperately struggle to defeat the opposition. Fins, scales, and eventually body parts are literally torn from the fish, as they grapple for positioning. Fights can last from a few minutes to over an hour, and are typically over when one fish is dead. However, in the rare event of simultaneous death, the fight can be declared a draw.

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