Cheap Spear Gun

[smartecosse]

anyone know where to get one of these on Phuket?

I am not after a brand name that's pricey, just something cheap and cheerful

[YaiJung]

There is a shop in Central Mall that sells them. They have knives, BB guns, compasses, etc...inexpensive "guy stuff".

[H2oDunc]

Spear fishing is illegal in Thailand. Stick to looking and if you want to eat fish try the market.

IF YOU CANT DIVE! RIDE!

[LivinLOS]

Spear fishing seems done quite a lot.. Surprised its illegal.. Thais at it every day on a small rocky secret spot I head to.

Secondly I am very pro conservation yet have no problem with hunting when the animal killed is eaten and not done for sport.. Why is this any different from rod fishing which I doubt anyone would complain about ?? Why is going to the market any better than collecting one for my BBQ myself.

Theres a shop just off Chalong circle that sells them heading to the beach.. Fishing gear there etc..

The ones in central seemed a bit toytown to me but they said they could order better ones.

[malee401]

Killing poor defenseless fish with a spear gun is sick and evil!

Go buy some fish at the markets. Where the fish come from a$$hole burmese fishermen who use dynamite.

Hope you enjoy your fish dinner now!

[percy2]

Spear fishing is illegal in Thailand. Stick to looking and if you want to eat fish try the market.

IF YOU CANT DIVE! RIDE!

Can you prove that?

[womble]

Nothing wrong with spear gunning as long as it is done skin diving and without the use of tanks.

And also as long as you only take enough fish for yourself to eat.

I'm against fishing and spear gunning where people take away fish to sell, this is not a sustainable fishing practise, we should only take enough for ourselves to eat.

[LivinLOS]

Killing poor defenseless fish with a spear gun is sick and evil!

Go buy some fish at the markets. Where the fish come from a$$hole burmese fishermen who use dynamite.

Hope you enjoy your fish dinner now!

I really fail to understand the logic here..

Its bad to shot a fish and kill and eat it.. But its k to go to the market where someone else has killed a fish for me to buy it and then eat it ??

Hipocracy no ??

[limbos]

Although spearfishing is done on a egular base in Thailand, as far as I know it's illegal and I know of a restaurant owner on Samui who was arrested for just doing that. He had a bit of trouble but eventually everything was smoothed out.

I agree with Womble though, as long as it's done skin diving and for personal consumption, it's fine by me, leave scuba gear top side whilst spear fishing.

[smartecosse]

thanks for the advice all

i think the fish will be quite safe with me using the spear gun

the other snorkelers better watch out though....................

[Lithobid]

I've been spearfishing for a while in phuket now, and I wouldn't reccomend a cheap gun at all. They can break, and offer serious damages in the water. There's a fishing store on Bangkok rd. just south of Ratsada circle, and they sell Beauchaut spear guns, top quality will last for years and be safe, price ranges from 3000bht to 10000bht depending on what you want in length. Please consider, I've heard to many tails of the cheap one's breaking after a few months, and injuring divers.

[smartecosse]

thanks for the tip

BTW your avatar is very offensive - perhaps you could change it ????

[Lithobid]

thanks for the tip

BTW your avatar is very offensive - perhaps you could change it ????

damed sensitive people. It's a picture of a smoking monkey, if that isin't funny, perhaps you should think otherwise about buying the spear gun, I worry about peoples saftey.

Just a thought

[smartecosse]

why would a monkey that has been trained / forced to smoke be funny?

if you think it is funny then thats pretty sad

[Lithobid]

perhaps I should look for something along the lines of cosmetic animal testing photos instead. Snore........................................................................

[kratindaeng]

Spear fishing hmmm sounds nasty. Ever tried a stun gun under water?

KD

[percy2]

I'm against fishing and spear gunning where people take away fish to sell, this is not a sustainable fishing practise, we should only take enough for ourselves to eat.

Is fishing with a net more sustainable?

Spear fishing offers a means of taking fish without so much collateral damage.

Although spearfishing is done on a egular base in Thailand, as far as I know it's illegal

As far as I know it is not illegal.

By no means proof but the fact that you can buy spear guns in the sports deparment of almost all Central department stores suggests to me its n ot illegal. They don't sell hand guns do they?

Cheers

[percy2]

A quick search of google provides these two quotes.

“You can spear-fish anywhere as long as the area is not a marine life preservation area such as Cape Panwa, or at the two ends of Patong Bay.”

Monday, June 2, 2003 Sinthi Daengsakul, Chief, Phuket Provincial Fishery Office.

“Bringing spear-fishing equipment into the country is not illegal. There shouldn’t be any problem bringing it in through the airport if you have it wrapped properly or in a container.”

Monday, June 2, 2003 Pol Lt Col Chartchai Nicrodhanon, Deputy Superintendent (Suppression), Phuket Town Station.

Wether the source is reputable is another point.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/issuesanswers...ails.asp?id=527

[womble]

I'm against fishing and spear gunning where people take away fish to sell, this is not a sustainable fishing practise, we should only take enough for ourselves to eat.

Is fishing with a net more sustainable?

Spear fishing offers a means of taking fish without so much collateral damage.

Although spearfishing is done on a egular base in Thailand, as far as I know it's illegal

As far as I know it is not illegal.

By no means proof but the fact that you can buy spear guns in the sports deparment of almost all Central department stores suggests to me its n ot illegal. They don't sell hand guns do they?

Cheers

Well yes and no......

Someone who gos out with a cast net, catches a couple of fish and takes them home for him and his family, that is sustainable. A 100ft Trawler that pulls it's huge purse seine net across the reefd picking up everything from turtles and dolphins to the smallest bait fish whilst destroying the coral, that is not sustainable. Similar to dynamite fishing, they will often decimate an area then move onto another.

Spear fishing can actually be very damaging, people often target grouper, coral trout, snapper etc. These are resident on the reefs, and dissappear quickly if people kill to many. As I say it's ok to spear one of two, but spearing many and then selling them at market is not sustainable and a reef only holds so many grouper.

The reefs in Thailand are not in a good way. Fish populations are low, particulary the table species, there are very few large groupers on the reefs, these are the first fish to dissappear. It's similar in the mangrove areas, they have been ruined. They should be full of barramundi, mangrove jack etc, but there are few fish other than those in the fish farms which have been cut into the mangrove, this is extremely damaging. The mangroves are the nurserys of the sea.

One of the main problems is the Thais take fish of any size and will net up huge schools of baitfish, no baitfish = fewer bigger fish. The local fisherman really need to be educated, there are certain methods and rules which if they were imposed and adhered to then the fisherman would all make a lot more money.

I was fishing a few weeks ago in Trang, the boat captain said there used to be loads of blacktip sharks in this bay, he then laughed and said him and a mate netted about 20 of them in one day, now you don't see them so often, he just ate them and gave them to his mates. He was proud of this. Now these fish pick off the weaker fish, they get rid of the bad genes, survival of the fittest etc. Sharks are an important part of the ecosystem. If he fancied eating shark one night and took one, fine, but netting every ###### shark that resident in the vicinity just for the sake of it is downright stupidity, particulary whne he makes his living from fishing. He also wanted to take all undersized groupers we caught. I made it very clear all my fish were going back excepts 2 for my dinner. He was not happy, I tried to explain that if him and his friends always put back the small fish they may actually catch a larger number of bigger fish with a higher market value. He didn't really seem to get it though. From my expericance talking to Thai's who fish it seems they have the attutude that if they don't take everything someone else may get it instead.

Now I see many have started raping the waters in Myanmar Mergui archipelago, they've fished out the'r own waters, now they pay some bribes to go rape someone elses area. The worst thing if most of these guys are sport fisherman, but they take every bloody thing they catch, 50kg+ groupers which taste rubbish anyway. Soon there will be little left. They do it through greed, they sell the all the fish at market. When they get back to ranong. The fishing there will start to go downhill quick. I wish they would learn and respect catch and release so others can enjoy catching them again and also divers can still enjoy them whilst underwater.