Starting A Prawn Fishing Pond Biz In Thailand ?

[Holysteel]

I am deciding to do a prawn fishing biz here in Thailand catering to the expat, tourist & local Thai crowd.

Need afew comments & insights before i go all out in this venture..

Whats are the odds that this will be profitable??

I had talked to many Thais, their feedback was no good. And that many countless prawn fishing pond has gone busted

[jamescollister]

Don't follow, what's a prawn fishing business, are you talking prawn farming or some sort of come and catch your own prawns, like a fishing park. Jim

[BrianCR]

Not easy any more to get a licence for a prawn farm also it's a prohibited business if your considering a work permit

[thaipod]

That was already done to death years ago most of them went belly up

[Barabbas]

OP, you may consider that this year prawn farmers are suffering huge losses due to EMS (early mortality syndrome) in prawns. Ok, you go buy frys and then they are dead even before your first customer gets to do any fishing. Bad timing, mesays. Besides all other multiple bumps.

[Holysteel]

Don't follow, what's a prawn fishing business, are you talking prawn farming or some sort of come and catch your own prawns, like a fishing park. Jim

Its like some sort of prawn fishing park. Fishing for giant freshwater prawns. There will also be a beer garden, and pretty hostess serving beer. And a football TV projector.

[Thereisnoif]

Don't follow, what's a prawn fishing business, are you talking prawn farming or some sort of come and catch your own prawns, like a fishing park. Jim

Its like some sort of prawn fishing park. Fishing for giant freshwater prawns. There will also be a beer garden, and pretty hostess serving beer. And a football TV projector.

I hope you did not put all your savings into this venture.

[WhizBang]

They still do this? I thought these died out years ago?

[jamescollister]

Don't follow, what's a prawn fishing business, are you talking prawn farming or some sort of come and catch your own prawns, like a fishing park. Jim

Its like some sort of prawn fishing park. Fishing for giant freshwater prawns. There will also be a beer garden, and pretty hostess serving beer. And a football TV projector.

Been here over 10 years, maybe in the out-lands of Issan, but never heard of a prawn park for fishing.

How do you fish for Prawns, drop a wire basket with some food in it, wait awhile till the prawns go in and pull it up. Not really fishing from my point of view. Jim

[Holysteel]

Don't follow, what's a prawn fishing business, are you talking prawn farming or some sort of come and catch your own prawns, like a fishing park. Jim

Its like some sort of prawn fishing park. Fishing for giant freshwater prawns. There will also be a beer garden, and pretty hostess serving beer. And a football TV projector.

Been here over 10 years, maybe in the out-lands of Issan, but never heard of a prawn park for fishing.

How do you fish for Prawns, drop a wire basket with some food in it, wait awhile till the prawns go in and pull it up. Not really fishing from my point of view. Jim

This is prawn fishing =

But that is pulled from the singapore pond. Cant find any videos on thai pond

[Barabbas]

Been here over 10 years, maybe in the out-lands of Issan, but never heard of a prawn park for fishing. How do you fish for Prawns, drop a wire basket with some food in it, wait awhile till the prawns go in and pull it up. Not really fishing from my point of view. Jim

Well, one quick place here: https://foursquare.com/v/%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%87-%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%B2-%E0%B8%8B%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2-8/4b485a2ff964a520094c26e3 by no means outlands of Issan.

Try googling for บ่อตกกุ้ง , there's a surprise waiting there for You.

[jamescollister]

Don't follow, what's a prawn fishing business, are you talking prawn farming or some sort of come and catch your own prawns, like a fishing park. Jim

Its like some sort of prawn fishing park. Fishing for giant freshwater prawns. There will also be a beer garden, and pretty hostess serving beer. And a football TV projector.

Been here over 10 years, maybe in the out-lands of Issan, but never heard of a prawn park for fishing.

How do you fish for Prawns, drop a wire basket with some food in it, wait awhile till the prawns go in and pull it up. Not really fishing from my point of view. Jim

This is prawn fishing =

But that is pulled from the singapore pond. Cant find any videos on thai pond

Chances of me down loading a You Tube vid are zero, have a dongle on a wire, we are in KB country, no megabits.

Have to say am interested in growing big shrimps, the big ones come from the Mekong and sell at about 500 Baht a kilo local price. Jim

[Barabbas]

They don't cost that much for nothing, sorry to say. Macrobrachius Rosenbergii is the specie, and those buggers are an investment on their own right. The feed costs have been growing continuously for the past 5-6 years, thanks to general price increase trend for feed RM all over the globe. And now the epizooty %( Mind you, since they are "river prawns", it implies, that they have to be grown in river, pond wouldn't be a very healthy environment.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Barabbas

[Holysteel]

So whats the verdict?

Is this business doable or no ?

Whats the percentage of succeeding.

[jamescollister]

So whats the verdict?

Is this business doable or no ?

Whats the percentage of succeeding.

Live here and make my living here, took a long time to set up. No money from the west. It's not easy and it's not your turf.

I have land, and can get more if you have a plan, but not heard of people farming Mekong type large shrimps in dams. If you know how, please PM me. Jim

[55Jay]

JMO, you don't seem to be tuned in to the technical knowledge part, perhaps focused on the beer garden, football and pretty hostesses part - the latter may even require management on par with the prawns.

Why not just a regular fishing park with the bells and whistles you mentioned? A few models around you could have a look at first.

[asiamint]

Whats are the odds that this will be profitable??

A little more information would of been better. For example are you leasing the land or buying the land?

Im sure you aware that will make a big dfiirence to the answear of when you would be profitable.

Also a little idea of where the business would be located.

It's a little like me saying im opening a shop selling burgers and asking will i be profitable, how can you even guess unless you know where my shop selling burgers will be located.

With very limited information i would say the idea is a pile of crap, maybe fishing, but just prawns is a very bad idea.

Wages are not that cheap these days and all your costs of keeping the pond well stocked will just add up to a waste of your time and very few people will be regular. Maybe as a tourist attraction near a very busy tourist town you might have half a chance selling half day trips through tour companies, but your margins will be low because you have to cut so many more people into the pie. Competition for tours is rampant.

My advice is to keep looking, right now thailand is growing and there are some very hot sectors to move into, but prawn fishing is not one of them.

[Holysteel]

Good one asiamint.

Very good advise & analysis.

Care to share some of the hot sectors you are referring to ?

[Barabbas]

Holysteel, you think a piece of a sweet pie comes for free? That's what business consulting is all aboot. Anyways, prawns is not too bad an idea per se, but one's got to make a proper diligence on the subject. And Asiamint's post shows major keypoints.

[asiamint]

No worries

Hair replacement therapy, Thai men are following their
western counterparts and becoming vain, although some would say they are
already. Growing sector and plenty of room for growth with the right set up.

Health supplements, Vitamins, etc will see large growth here. Health supplement industry

will triple in size within 5 years. In Thailand there are still many gaps/opportunities

Cosmetic surgery, just take a look at South Korea and Japan
for percentage rate of women that have had cosmetic surgery and you will see
Thailand has a long way to go to catch up.

Distribution rights for quality products from OZ to Canada.
Find the right quality product and the Thai rich will buy it. You would be
taking advantage of Baht strength.

Thai Tourism will be huge in the future; more and more Thai’s
will be taken their first holidays abroad. Again Baht power will be the driver
over the long term

Always better to be sailing with the wind and being on the lookout for changes in direction

[chainarong]

Guess the guys have give you the message no no no, good advise there for this one holysteel.

[heatherm]

I've been to the one close to Saphan Taksin. It is really fun and the food was great. They had football on a big screen and lots of beer. You pay hourly and pay to cook the shrimp you catch. It wasn't cheap, but I think they make more of their money on beer sales. It was always crowded. I don't think they farm the shrimp, there's two guys that dump a couple baskets full onto the pond every hour.

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[55Jay]

I'm a fisherman and have used the PTP parks in Thailand, but I wouldn't see myself paying to go prawn fishing.

It might be a novelty for Thais at first, and maybe the kids would enjoy it for a while, unless you are targeting the tourists, and those prices may scare off your native crowd.

Thais, females in particular, might decide it's easier to buy already unmoving prawns by the bag at the market/air conditioned supermarket rather than turn their skin brown and sweat to get prawns one by one. Sounds like too much work before they can eat?

Have you considered any religious issues? Don't apply to all of course, but my wife loves prawns but would never catch a live one, kill it, then cook it/eat it, or cook it while it's still twitching. Nope. If she was desperate and hungry, she might, then again, if she was in that state, she likely wouldn't have the time or disposable income to pay the fee(s).

Agree with asiamint's points, and don't mean to be a killjoy, but the concept lacks detail and doesn't excite my interest. Good luck though if you do it.

[jamescollister]

Sorry, may be thick, but how do you go prawn fishing. Jim

[55Jay]

Sorry, may be thick, but how do you go prawn fishing. Jim

If you can, open the youtube link just above from OP.

[yoshiwara]

No worries

Health supplements, Vitamins, etc will see large growth here. Health supplement industry

will triple in size within 5 years. In Thailand there are still many gaps/opportunities

That would be the multi-level marketing scam.

[JDGRUEN]

OP - if you are talking about fresh water pond shrimp farming... I know of several in the Sam Roi Yot (Yod) area south of Hua Hin quite a ways. Only last year I saw extensive video of my friend's family farm where they were harvesting shrimp with nets. They were assisted by neighbors who are in the same business. They trade their labor from neighbor to neighbor to get the 'catch' in and to market.

[David006]

saw this on BBC world last month.....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20181132

[heatherm]

Sorry, may be thick, but how do you go prawn fishing. Jim

You show up and order a beer and a pole. You pick a spot around a big, square, cement pond that is under a huge roof. The beer arrives first. Next a guy brings you a fishing pole with a tiny hook and a bobber/float, a plate of chopped up bait, a basket thing to keep your catch, and a rag. If you are a farang lady, he also baits your hook and casts for you. You spend the next few hours drinking, eating snacks, and watching football. Once in a while you catch a shrimp. When you've had enough, they come and take your basket of live shrimp and cook them for you. You don't kill them. We always go at night so it isn't hot and also they have plenty of fans. It seems to get busy later and is pretty crowded. There are a few Thai ladies there, but if yours is prissy she might not like it. There are plenty of "regulars" that arrive with their own pole. I'm not saying the OP should open one, but the place I go looks like it is doing well. It's clean and well kept. The toilets are even nice (by Thai standards). The prawns aren't how the place makes all of it's money. The food is good and most people drink while they fish. I think it's more fun than a bar.

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[ozzydom]

So whats the verdict?

Is this business doable or no ?

Whats the percentage of succeeding.

Live here and make my living here, took a long time to set up. No money from the west. It's not easy and it's not your turf.

I have land, and can get more if you have a plan, but not heard of people farming Mekong type large shrimps in dams. If you know how, please PM me. Jim

Hi Jim, We farm them mixed with our Fish farming up here North of you ,will PM you this evening.