Are Older Men in Thailand Trading Love for Financial Ruin

[doppa]

ian, those pics of you holding those enormous fish, how many of them can you eat, thais will eat anything, but my sensitive gut doesnt always agree with fish.

[IanForbes]

ian, those pics of you holding those enormous fish, how many of them can you eat, thais will eat anything, but my sensitive gut doesnt always agree with fish.

I release every fish I catch in Thailand because I have no need to keep it unless the person I'm with wants something to take home for supper. Here in Canada I do pretty much the same until I run out of canned and smoked salmon. Then I just take what I need for the season when I have time to prepare it. I can always catch what I need fresh and that serves the purpose on a daily basis. I get fresh crabs, prawns, oysters on a regular basis and salmon or halibut when I go off shore. I can also shoot all the game I need for a whole year. I don't do it as often anymore because I'm single and don't need that much meat.

I fish mostly for sport and that is why I fly fish almost exclusively unless I'm out for meat. I just happen to enjoy the places that fish and wildlife live because most are beautiful. Rivers haunt my soul.

[doppa]

ian, those pics of you holding those enormous fish, how many of them can you eat, thais will eat anything, but my sensitive gut doesnt always agree with fish.

I release every fish I catch in Thailand because I have no need to keep it unless the person I'm with wants something to take home for supper. Here in Canada I do pretty much the same until I run out of canned and smoked salmon. Then I just take what I need for the season when I have time to prepare it. I can always catch what I need fresh and that serves the purpose on a daily basis. I get fresh crabs, prawns, oysters on a regular basis and salmon or halibut when I go off shore. I can also shoot all the game I need for a whole year. I don't do it as often anymore because I'm single and don't need that much meat.

I fish mostly for sport and that is why I fly fish almost exclusively unless I'm out for meat. I just happen to enjoy the places that fish and wildlife live because most are beautiful. Rivers haunt my soul.

so am i right to presume you dont spend all your time in chiangmai.

[IanForbes]

so am i right to presume you dont spend all your time in chiangmai.

Correct. I rent a hotel room within 2 km of down town Chiang Mai from November until the first of April and then return to British Columbia where I "sort of" spend the other 7 months. I say "sort of" because I'm often traveling somewhere in my camper truck on fishing trips. I just stay in touch via my wireless laptop internet connection. It's a pretty nice life style. Even when I'm in Chiang Mai I'm traveling around a lot. I go fishing with my friend Jon and I have a time share in Jomptien. I look after a Thai family in Kanchanaburi and visit them about once or twice a year to see how the children are doing. It keeps me pretty busy and it's scary to see the years slip by.

[endure]

ian, those pics of you holding those enormous fish, how many of them can you eat, thais will eat anything, but my sensitive gut doesnt always agree with fish.

I release every fish I catch in Thailand because I have no need to keep it unless the person I'm with wants something to take home for supper.

I don't mean to be rude but don't you consider it to be cruel to damage fish that you have no intention of eating? I can't see any justification in catching (which presumably involves damaging the fish's mouth with hooks) fish that you intend to release.

Edited June 10, 2009 by endure

[IanForbes]

ian, those pics of you holding those enormous fish, how many of them can you eat, thais will eat anything, but my sensitive gut doesnt always agree with fish.

I release every fish I catch in Thailand because I have no need to keep it unless the person I'm with wants something to take home for supper.

I don't mean to be rude but don't you consider it to be cruel to damage fish that you have no intention of eating? I can't see any justification in catching (which presumably involves damaging the fish's mouth with hooks) fish that you intend to release.

Yours is a classic question by someone who knows very little about fish or wildlife. Fish have little or no concept of pain or the future. Their brain doesn't function that way. I am well within my legal rights to kill what I catch, but choose not to do so. There is very little damage to a fish if they are handled properly. If I were to fish ONLY for food then I would be finished within an hour and it would be pointless to even bother. I can buy fish far cheaper than fishing for them.

As a by product of sport fishing they are the ONLY people who actually do anything to preserve the environment. All others just exploit it for business. It was anglers and hunters who demanded that regulations and restrictions be put in place to protect the various species and the environment they live in. It was something that everyone later benefited from.

There really isn't any point to soccer, baseball, basketball, football, rugby, hockey, boxing or any other sport where someone could get injured, either, but people seem to enjoy it... both as players and spectators.

[endure]

ian, those pics of you holding those enormous fish, how many of them can you eat, thais will eat anything, but my sensitive gut doesnt always agree with fish.

I release every fish I catch in Thailand because I have no need to keep it unless the person I'm with wants something to take home for supper.

I don't mean to be rude but don't you consider it to be cruel to damage fish that you have no intention of eating? I can't see any justification in catching (which presumably involves damaging the fish's mouth with hooks) fish that you intend to release.

Yours is a classic question by someone who knows very little about fish or wildlife. Fish have little or no concept of pain or the future. Their brain doesn't function that way. I am well within my legal rights to kill what I catch, but choose not to do so. There is very little damage to a fish if they are handled properly. If I were to fish ONLY for food then I would be finished within an hour and it would be pointless to even bother. I can buy fish far cheaper than fishing for them.

As a by product of sport fishing they are the ONLY people who actually do anything to preserve the environment. All others just exploit it for business. It was anglers and hunters who demanded that regulations and restrictions be put in place to protect the various species and the environment they live in. It was something that everyone later benefited from.

There really isn't any point to soccer, baseball, basketball, football, rugby, hockey, boxing or any other sport where someone could get injured, either, but people seem to enjoy it... both as players and spectators.

I wasn't asking about the fish's point of view - I just wondered whether you were happy to damage a living animal for a few moments transitory pleasure. As far as the other sports you mention are concerned all those who play are consenting participants. If they were told that part of the game involved being lifted into the air on hooks embedded in their mouths and having their heads ducked under water until they had difficulty breathing (the equivalent of a fish out of water) I suspect they might think twice about taking part.

[IanForbes]

I wasn't asking about the fish's point of view - I just wondered whether you were happy to damage a living animal for a few moments transitory pleasure. As far as the other sports you mention are concerned all those who play are consenting participants. If they were told that part of the game involved being lifted into the air on hooks embedded in their mouths and having their heads ducked under water until they had difficulty breathing (the equivalent of a fish out of water) I suspect they might think twice about taking part.

I'm quite at peace damaging a living animal for a few moments of transitory pleasure. I enjoy sex with women and sometimes they feel bad about it later. Over the past 69 years I've damaged myself many times and have always recovered. Fish recover very well with no permanent damage. In the Yellowstone river it was once estimated that each trout was caught 10 to 15 times a season. I have personaly taken the same steelhead and trout on numerous occasions with no harm done. Owning a pet could also be called damaging a living animal. We don't allow it to be free like other wild animals. Mental damage is far more cruel than physical damage. We do it to humans all the time with no second thought. Bad parenting is a perfect example.

I respect your opinion to differ from mine. My daughter in law is a vegan who doesn't eat meat of any kind and won't wear anything made from animal products. I still love her and she likes me. We just have a different opinion of things. And, opinions are like <deleted>... everyone has one.

[PlaShadow]

I wasn't asking about the fish's point of view - I just wondered whether you were happy to damage a living animal for a few moments transitory pleasure. As far as the other sports you mention are concerned all those who play are consenting participants. If they were told that part of the game involved being lifted into the air on hooks embedded in their mouths and having their heads ducked under water until they had difficulty breathing (the equivalent of a fish out of water) I suspect they might think twice about taking part.

Here we go again, another clean ethics saint.....................

Let me ask you, do you live in a city? Do you use the same roads we use? Do you travel in a car? Now, as deep your writing is above, can you come up with the similar "damage" assessment of the environment and animals from our every day living (unless you live in a hut or bunker in a pristine natural environment, and being a vegan)?

[Ulysses G.]

I wasn't asking about the fish's point of view - I just wondered whether you were happy to damage a living animal for a few moments transitory pleasure. As far as the other sports you mention are concerned all those who play are consenting participants. If they were told that part of the game involved being lifted into the air on hooks embedded in their mouths and having their heads ducked under water until they had difficulty breathing (the equivalent of a fish out of water) I suspect they might think twice about taking part.

I am an animal lover, but I also feel that animals were put here for us to eat and use.

I do not feel that we have evolved to the point that we are going to ignore that evolutionary programming, but we might have evolved to the point as a species where - if we are not hungry - we throw them back, rather than kill them.

One step at a time!

[doppa]

luv that ian, 'i love my daughter, and she likes me', it seems you and i have a similiar traits, with a touch of sarcasm, as we all know it's the cheapest form of humor, but in this economic meltdown, i think we should use more regular.

[mcgriffith]

I will make a confession.

I am a killer. Cold blooded.

I scuba dive for lobster (when in California) in ice cold night waters off Santa Catalina Island, with my dive buddies.

October through March is the season, which is strictly regulated by Fish & Game. Have to have all the current permits and stamps...and if and when they board you at 3 AM lacking same they will cuff you and confiscate your boat.

Try diving to 30 meters, at night, through giant kelp thick as a birch wood forest. Alone, because your dive buddy is on his mission off to the right or left of you 50 meters or so....

You're on a steep sandy slope, with kelp laying down on the bottom. Entanglement is a constant issue, and you are on your own.

Your dive light picks up a little red reflection from a lobster eye...the chase is on! Approach from above; total neutral buoyancy, shine the light to the outer periphery of the lobster's vision. Then the pounce. Gotta grab the upper carapace, otherwise your gloved hand will be torn to shreds by the rose thorn-sized spikes on the bottom of the tail.

Into the mesh game bag, then repeat until you run out of gas, or fill your limit of 7 per day.

Oh, and the best part is when you surface, out of gas, and the boat is about 100+ meters away. So you inflate your BCD, and kick towards the boat, in waters that commonly see great white and mako sharks. Meanwhile all the lobster in your mesh bag clipped to your belt are clicking and squeaking and sending out every dying animal sound....

You look up, see a sky absolutely white with stars. And every time, you wonder....will the big shark hit come now? But it doesn't, this time, and you get back on the boat at 2 AM, freezing cold, and join your mates.

And they are headed, halved, and cooked Puerto Nuevo Mexican style with a nice basting of garlic butter.

Absolutely no guilt here.

[IanForbes]

Great story, McGriffth. Thanks. Having done just enough diving off the BC coast I can somehow relate. Fantastic experience well told.