In the past few years, I have often heard about the fighting fish in the north east area of Thailand we call “Isan.”  My plans to visit Isan country were canceled many times because of my busy business life.  A tragedy occurred when my time was freed up in the last quarter of the year, but unfortunately the fish fighting games were already over for the year.  The fish fighting games begin every year in March and end in September, the rainy season or rice growing period.  After a few discussions with a friend I came into contact with through ICQ, I immediately set up plans to visit Isan country and experience Betta smaragdina fighting during the month of August 2000.  The following is a refined story of the exciting experiences I had while observing Plakat Thai in Isan country, the land of our richest ancient cultural heritage.

The terms “Plakat Thai” and “Siamese fighting-fish” both have the same meaning. The only difference is that “Plakat Thai” is the Thai word for the Betta and “Siamese fighting -fish” is the English word for the Thai Betta (Plakat = biting/fighting fish, and Thai = Siamese). Plakat Thai can be classified into three Betta species: Betta splendens, Betta smaragdina, and Betta imbellis. Betta splendens are the most famous and also the most in demand among the three species.  Amazingly, in the past all three species were developed by Thai farmers to be fighting fish.  No one can tell which species came first. I believe that all three species were developed along with each other locally.  These three species were interbred in a pyramid pattern with the Betta splendens at the top of the pyramid. This was done through fish fighting activity, which plays a very significant role in the interbreeding choices of these three species we call Plakat Thai.

Geographical Breeding Places of Plakat Thai

There are very few breeders in the uppermost northern part of Thailand.  Geographically the north is comprised mostly of complex mountain ranges and highland plateaus.  The weather there is slightly cold throughout the entire year, and as we know cold weather is no good for breeding Bettas.  There is a short sunny period from March to May.  Wild Betta splendens and Betta smaragdina can be found in the rice fields and the surrounding areas.  However, there are many more breeding areas in the lower parts of the north, geographic basins and river junctions from the north provide stable temperatures and fertile soil suitable for cultivating live food for the Plakat Thai.  These are the most essential factors of successful breeding and maintaining good stock.

The northeast part of Thailand favors Betta smaragdina, especially the provinces that are connected to the river Khong, at the Thai/Lao border.  These breeders preserve the tradition of fish fighting as a joyous after- work activity.  There is no reason to breed for commercial purposes, or if any very few do.  The fish are caught in the wild and exchanged among close friends. The fish are freed back to the rice fields after the games are over.

Every province in the Central and Eastern parts of Thailand mainly stress development of long and short fin Betta splendens. Bangkok (officially “Krung Thep”), the capital of Thailand, is the center of all kinds of ornamental fish trades.  However Betta splendens is a major part of Bangkok’s aquarium fish industry.

The southern part of Thailand has two species, Betta splendens and Betta imbellis.  With the rainy climate in the south, it is suitable for breeding Bettas in all aspects.  Like the breeders in the northeast, the southern breeders, breed Betta imbellis for seasonal enjoyment and don’t care much about quantity.  I will discuss breeding Betta imbellis in a separate home page section.

In order to win the domestic fish fighting game, some breeders crossbreed the domestic species with cultivated Betta splendens.  For example, the breeders of the northeast cross wild caught Betta smaragdina with cultivated Betta splendens, and likewise, the southern breeders crossbred wild Betta imbellis with cultivated Betta splendens.

In this section I will focus only on the Betta smaragdina, the first aquarium pet of the Isan people.  Keeping, rearing, and fighting of the Betta smaragdina has a long history in Isan culture, and it involves a basic social dynamic that has been a part of Isan society for a very long time.  The traffic throughout different Thai cultures eventually led to the interchanging of Betta bloodlines for breeding.

What is Betta Smaragdina?

Betta smaragdina is the native fighting fish of the Isan people. The Isan area of Thailand covers over one third of the entire country, and consists mainly of highland plateaus.  This geographical characteristic is very isolating and helps to preserve Betta smaragdina, as well as keeping the species from mixing with other bloodlines.  The Betta smaragdina, like the Betta splendens, can be found widely, living in the shallow rice paddies, ditches, and the lowland spaces beside the rice fields.  This buffer area is a free space that the farmer uses for releasing the fish and also for irrigation to and from his rice field.  Naturally this area is flooded throughout most of the year, except maybe in the dry season when it may remain only wet mud.

Catching the Fighter with a Tender Scoop of the Hands

To catch other wild fish, some may use a massive net that is thrown into the water and slowly pulled back ashore.  The unlucky fish will get stuck in the net and the fisherman will free him from the tangled mess and then put him in a bamboo cage.  This fish is his food.

Catching Betta smaragdina is entirely different.  This method is very smooth with no noise or violence at all.  To get this fish from the wild there are no special tools required, only two hands are needed.  It seems that the green fighter is just sitting there waiting for someone to take him or her out of the wild and into his new home.

 If a boy wants to get a green fighter he will walk along the pathways between the rice fields and the flooded land.  With experienced eyes he slowly scans the locations where he might find the green fighter.

Without any hurry, he will slowly step into the 10-inch-deep water and direct his attention to the target.  Being very careful, he slowly opens the wild grass, his eyes scanning intensively for the bubble nest.  A high percentage of the time he will find the small bubble nest of the green fighter.

The boy slowly opens the grass all around the Betta’s bubble nest.  Without any hurry he tenderly scoops the fish up into the palms of his hands and raises the fighter into his new home.

One of the green fighting fish breeders I met in SakonNakorn province told me that fish fighting in Isan country may go back over 200 years.  He was 53 years old. He said that his father had told him his grandfather was a big player in the fighting fish game.  From his personal opinion, fish fighting may have come along at the same time as cock fighting or possibly even before that. In order to validate his opinion he said that Thais today and in the past have always had a close relationship with the water.  We are a riverside society. Over 80% of Thai people were farmers, so naturally their lives are very close to nature.  They grew rice and caught fish for food; children ran around playing and also caught the small fish in the rice fields.  So it is possible that we knew the fighting fish before the fighting cock.  This answer is very similar to the 45 years old theory, which comes from the owners of a local aquarium shop in U Bon Rat Cha Tha Ni, 119 Kilometers from SakonNakorn.  I am inclined to believe their explanation.  However, at this time I am taking a temporary break from researching the origin of the fighting fish of the Northeast of Thailand.  I hope that by doing deeper research in the literary reviews I can go into more detailed explanations with some objective primary sources to support it.

The fish fighting takes place regularly at any one member’s house.  Normally the matches are held on Saturdays and Sundays.  The starting time is usually about 10 a.m. with a few latecomers joining the event a little bit later in the day.  The game is started later in the morning so that people can finish their daily work and enjoy the playful game.  People start to gather themselves around the fish fighting bottles.  A tall square glass is held at the center of the group of people. This manner of grouping is a symbol that represents the community and shows unity between the Isan people.  The fish fighting plays a very significant role in the social interaction amongst people on the weekend.  No one cares about the week’s workload or stress; in the group everyone is laughing and talking loud with a happy face.

When fighting Betta smaragdina the owner uses a small net to shift the fighter to the fighting bottle, unlike fighting Betta splendens, for which we use the small scoop to transfer the fish.  The Isan do this to be fair in the match, some people will put chemical solutions in their water and transfer this into the fighting bottle with the scoop.  Once the second fighter has been lowered into the fighting bottle, the waiting challenger will rush the opponent, spreading open its splendid green gill covers.  Then both will flare their fins in an attempt to intimidate and trick their opponent into believing they are bigger, more aggressive, and more powerful.  With a very dignified look they will slowly rotate around each other.  Their eyes fixed firm to each other, they both will flare their fins to scare their opponent, but neither of them will back down. Suddenly one of them will attack like a flash and immediately go back to flaring his fins to show his strength, when this happens the other fish must pay him back at once.

Betta smaragdina does less “swinging” in its body to push away its opponent (in Thai we call this “tec” or kicking) compared to Betta splendens, which try to push the opponent in order to make them lose control. The Betta smaragdina fight is more artistic and has more style-almost like traditional wrestling, a playing game not aimed at killing or injury. After the game neither fish is injured very much. They will return to their normal condition after the fight without any assistance from medicines.

The fight ends in about a half-hour. If the fight lasts a full hour and no one runs away, then the judge will tell the owners to take his fish from the fighting bottle and the fight is declared a draw. On average the fights last only 15 minutes. Some matches only take 5-10 minutes and one of the fish will run away with very little damage. The loser is freed back into the rice field, and the winner can fight again after recovering about a week. Very interestingly, the winner can develop his fighting skills and do better in his next fight. The fish fighting games take place from March to September during the rice growing period when the fields are full of water. Whether the fish is a winner or a loser, all fish are released back to their natural habitat after the fish-fighting season is over.

Breeding Techniques of the Betta Smaragdina

From the above breeding framework, one can see that the breeders have tried to shape the fighting strain to be similar to its original form.  For game winning purposes, the breeders introduced Betta splendens fighting bloodlines into the Betta smaragdina lines.  The outcome of the crossbreeding is the stock of Betta smaragdina fighting strain.  One can hardly point out the difference between the Betta smaragdina fighting strain and the wild caught Betta smaragdina. However, a breeder told me three main differences that one may figure out:

• The skull of the select green fighter is thicker and firmer, whereas the wild caught is small and looks balanced with its own slim shaped body.
• The lips of the human bred fighter are thicker and sharper in form, whereas the wild caught has thinner lips.
• The color of the human bred green fighter is a more deep dark color, and the color of the fins are not as clear cut, whereas the color of the wild caught is faded but the scales are more crystal like and shiny. The most genius breeders can breed fighters with structure, form, and colors very close to that of the wild caught Betta smaragdina.

The paradigm of Breeding Betta smaragdina to the Development of Betta splendens

December 15th, 2001)

I went to Isan country again from the 28th –30th of September 2001. The purpose of this trip was to fill in some gaps that I had missed on my last trip. What I wanted to see was how the breeders reproduce the selective Betta smaragdina fighting bloodlines. If this point was made clear, then understanding the development process of the short fin Betta splendens or Plakat Thai should also present itself in the light. I will try to formulate the three key variables involved in new breeding and actually playing the fighting fish games: controlling wins, commercial, and social prestige. These three variables are all correlated with each other; each variable plays a role as a spoke in a wheel cart, slowly moving forward upon the Plakat Thai caravan. They not only play significant roles in the modern practice of breeding fighting fish of the Isan people, but in fact they are the mainstream core of the whole development process of Plakat Thais in general. I wrote this article based on the assumption that one similar historical event in the same historical atmosphere and environment may represent or be mapped to another historical event in question. I am trying to convince and show the reader that the development of Isan fighting fish breeding practices will throw light on the development process of Betta splendens.

These three variable relations may be grouped together as a prototype model to present the whole picture of Plakat Thai history, restructuring the story that has been dismissed.

Controlling Wins

Five years ago, the Isan breeders would free the winning fish to specific paddy fields and free the losers to the public flood lands. In the next season the breeder would go back to the special location and catch the spawn of the winners from last year. Hopefully, they will be as good, or even better than the winners from the last year.

Like all games, the absolute aim of the player is to be the winner of every match. But to be the winner all the time is like challenging fate. The player will never know the result until the game is at an end. In the game the players try to reach a desirable end, but the path to reaching the end is always variable and hard to predict the outcome.  In other words, the players cannot control or program the resulting outcome. One can only prepare him very well and time alone will tell the result. This is the charm of the game that makes it fair for both players; they both wait on the fate and outcome of the game.

There are two terms that should be considered here: certainty and control. These two terms are always connected and imply something about the other. If more certain results are needed, then more control functions should be set up. We can use another term to represent this relationship, “seriousness.” The more the breeder is serious about the fighting results, the more breeding control he does. The more the fighting result is affected by the player the more the breeder tries to accomplish the same result. This implies that in the past, the breeder was not as serious about the fighting results when obtaining good fighters from their natural habitat. So there was not as much breeding control when producing fighters. No doubt, no matter how many champions the breeder released to the paddy, there are already native Betta smaragdina already available there. The reader can imagine the result of uncontrolled mating and the outcome of the offspring. The fish fighting was for fun and prestige amongst a close group of friends.

Apart from luck, the breeder looks at the quality of his selected fighters in the following attributes: Fighting Style, Sharp Teeth, Stamina, and perfect structure or form. These attributes are all contributing factors for a fighter to win the game. The first two attributes are offensive whereas the rest are defensive attributes.

• Fighting Style: A fighter is able to deceive and trick the opponent, also he must be able to inflict more damage than he receives.
• Sharp Teeth: So that a fighter can penetrate the opponent’s scales and cause the other fish pain.
• Stamina: So that a fighter is willing to fight for a longer period of time even though he may be sustaining more damage than his opponent.
• Perfect Structure or Form: So that a fighter can gain a natural advantage in all aspects of matching, giving him a better chance of winning.

The following are points the breeder has to achieve in his breeding tasks.

• How to preserve and reproduce captive bred fighters that have the same structure and form as their wild counterparts.
• How to reproduce the captive bred fish to have the same wild energy as the natural strains. Captive-bred fish are often fat, lazy, and slow.
• If the breeder is able to fulfill the above two tasks, then the next task is to develop the captive bred fish’s fighting style and the will to fight for long periods of time while at the same time having the ability to self adapt to new environments. Most of the wild caught Bettas are shy corner living creatures. Some breeders will even introduce Betta splendens fighting strains to his own fighting stock.

Doing your best to select the best parent stock, the breeder accomplishes the three above tasks by simulating the wild environment in his controllable breeding tank. The following are breeding processes for selective fighting fish strains.  

To increase the percentage of winning reliability, the breeder selects the best pair from winners of the fighting ring, pairs them accordingly and furnishes a breeding tank with a habitat as close to the fighter’s natural habitat as possible.  

The human made dig pool is exactly the same as the Betta smaragdina’s natural habitat. The breeder just leaves the fighters to struggle for survival on their own. There is no food supplied by the breeder. Only the strongest of the fighters are preserved and continue to flourish.  

Now the problem is; how does the breeder distinguish the best fighters amongst the thousands available in the pond? How does he catch the best fighters from such a big pond without disturbing the other living creatures in the pond? The method to catch the best fighters is very simple yet at the same time extremely intelligent.

The breeder places a bamboo tube at the side of the pond. Early in the morning he just lifts the tube out of the water and checks to see if there is a fighter inside the bamboo or not. Of course, almost 100% of the time he will get a fighter in the tube he placed out yesterday.

The intelligence behind this method needs to be explained further. Only the strongest fighters will be able to claim the tube for occupation, as it is the best location for building a bubble nest and waiting for his new lover. The bamboo tube is considered to be the best and strongest shelter to hide in because it protects the delicate bubble nest from winds and unstable water surface. In short, only the strongest fish can claim the best location to breed. And the breeder gets that one to fight in the ring. 

From the above selective breeding processes, the reader may notice that the selective pair were obtained from previous winners of the ring, so we may assume they have already been acquainted with human contact. The fry will also become accustomed to human activity within the first two months of their life. When the breeder takes them from the wild, they will surely adapt more easily to their new man made environment.