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The
purpose of this page is to represent the extremely old Thai tradition of
rearing and keeping Betta splendens, better known as Siamese
fighting-fish.
I will
use many different styles of writing to present the picture. Sometimes I
will use an editorial method to present the story. I will also hyperlink to
clarify some details, this can be pictures, comment,
explanation, or sometimes it’s me just joking around. Many of the materials
on this page I have taken from library archives. In this case, I will cite
the author’s name and any information issued about those documents. I have
also translated articles from the Thai language to the English language.
Some of the articles may even come from my discussions with hardcore
breeders that I know.
When I
first started this project, I planned to write everything by myself from
what I have practiced, read from old documents, and from summarized
discussions with other experienced breeders. While collecting all the
material for this article, I discovered that there are many Betta
fanatics on the Internet. I also discovered that some of these people do
not approve of fish fighting and see it as being animal cruelty. When I
discovered this, it caused me to be sick for several weeks. In fact I
almost gave up on this project all together, and nearly deleted it entirely
from my homepage. However this is a subject that keeps crawling through my
head like many worms. I was thinking about the lost stories of the Siamese
cat, and the Thai hunting dog. They are both part of the great Thai
intellectual heritage, they are famous in myth, and many people have them,
but know very little about their origin. You may ask yourself, Why should I
care where they came from? I can buy this pet anywhere. If you ask a
similar question to the keeper of the public gardens, “why do you care for
all those plants?” he/she will humbly tell you that, this is my duty and my
pride’s work. I enjoy looking after these plants, but I am even happier to
see the visitors enjoy themselves and appreciate my work. So I decided to
continue my work. The primary reason I am continuing this project is, I
feel it is my responsibility to spread the knowledge I have learned as a
Thai fighting-fish breeder and to tell the true story this fascinating
fish. The second reason is, there are many misconceptions about the Siamese
fighting-fish all over the Internet and in magazines. Especially the
statement that “THEY FIGHT TO THE DEATH”. For me this is such a painful
statement. I can honestly say that the people that make those statements
are telling truths with their imagination. As far as my fighting fish
experiences are concerned:
- I have never
seen a fighting Betta die in the fighting ring. The cause
of death comes after the fight, if the owner neglects his injured
fish.
- Not every
Siamese Fish fight lasts forever, an average fight lasts about 2-3
hours, after which one of the fish will always give up the fight. The
fight is like boxing; one of them must be the winner and one the
loser. Sometimes both fight until they can fight no more, then it is
called a tie, and no one dies. The real fighters are carefully
selected from special fighting stock, they are always the short fin
types (but not every short fin is a good fighter). And no respectable
breeder will allow an unprepared fish to fight. Long fin types are not
fighting fish, as they cannot stand the fight for longer than a half
hour (most western countries named this type of Betta as
fighting fish), they can only damage the fin and tail, some do not
even know how to bite. I have seen the female long fin types bite the
male and make him run away. So fish fighting is similar to human
fights, only the trained fighters participate.
Fighting
fish is the process of selecting the best specimens, only the winners are
chosen to breed, and cross breed with females from another winning batch.
The outcome of the descendant Bettas are
extremely tough fish, able to live in temperatures from 25 Celsius to 38
Celsius.
The
third is, to destroy the misconception that every Betta is the best
fighting creature. This point is so important that it sums up all my
intentions of writing this page.
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Flashing
fins, gorgeous gills and thorny tails stirring up a tempest in a bottle of
water. They belong to two of the toughest, littlest species of fish in the
world. Siamese fighting fish.
The
scene is at one of the few remaining spots where fish-fighting takes place
regularly, in the outskirts of Bangkok. No fish-fighting is permitted
within the city limits.
The
arena is a shed with open sides inside the compound of the proprietor who
is giving a license to operate it. There is also a fighting–cock pit in the
same compound.
The
owner lives in the wooden house in front of the fighting-fish arena and the
pit. He also sells rice and other cooked food and refreshments to the
enthusiasts of both sports.
Every
Sunday, from 7 a.m. till 6 p.m., a large orderly crowd gathers in the
compound, paying a gate admission of two baht each. The owner gets ten
percent of stakes.
Fighting-fish
breeders bring their champions and favorites in little bottles of water,
each in one bottle. Before a contest, bottles of fish are placed alongside one
another so that two possible adversaries may watch one another. Their
reactions will be noted with particular interest by their owners and by the
enthusiasts who will base their bets on impressions at these encounters
with the glass of two bottles coming between the potential opponents.
When a
fight is agreed upon between the owners, each of the adversaries is spooned out of its
bottle in a receptacle and carefully put into a large tall bottle.
When it is in a bottle by itself a fighting fish is not extraordinary -
looking and appears to be like any other small fish. However, when it faces
an opponent, it transforms into a wonderfully beautiful creature.
It
irradiates with exotic colors. Its gills become extended. Its fins flare
up. Its tail spreads out. Every part is radiant and vibrant.
The
adversaries lose no time in getting at one another. They bite-and sometimes
their mouths are locked for minutes, even hours, while they move up and
down the water in the bottle, struggling.
They are
vicious with one another and relentless in their assaults. They chew off
pieces of each other, gills, fins, tails, scale.
The little bits of fish bitten off sink through the water.
No
quarter is given in the battle in the battle between these courageous
creatures. They fight to the death. Sometimes they fight the whole day
without a decisive decision. A drawn fight (which is a fight that carries
on until closing time without either being killed) is rare.
Enthusiasts
watch a fish fight with discernment. They know the vital parts of a fish
which, when attacked, may cost its life, and their bets are placed
according to their estimates of the fighters in the progress of the battle
(bets are also made in the course of a fight).
Even
persons who have watched fish fights for years can still watch them with
fascination and absorbing interest.
The
fighting fish that goes to the professional battles is a thoroughbred. It
has been carefully bred and crossbred.
There
are various varieties of fighting fish, and each has dominant color-purple,
green, red.
The
natural habitats of the Siamese fighting fish are the ponds and marshes of
Thailand. There are two chief kinds of Siamese fighting fish- Plakad lukmoh and Plakat pah (Plakad is the Thai name
of fighting fish). The former kind can hardly be fond
in the natural habitats today but it is bred by enthusiasts and is sold
sometimes for two
to three baht. The Plakad lukmoh
is a tough guy which does not know the meaning of defeat.
Plakad pah abounds
everywhere, even in the canals in Bangkok’s twin city of Thonburi. This species has a longer body but it has no
stamina for prolonged battles.
Plakad lukmoh and Plakad pah have been cross-bred.
A
Siamese fighting fish is no more than five centimeters in length and no
more than one centimeter in width. It may be caught in the ponds and
marshes with the use of nets or sieves with tiny holes. When caught, the
fish should be put into bottles of water. Pond water is better than water
from the pipes at home.
Only the
males are fighters. They may be distinguished from the females by their
more brilliant colors, longer tails and bigger fins.
For
breeding purposes, a female with eggs is placed in a bottle of water with
the selected male so that they may get acquainted for one or two months.
When the
female shows signs of bearing her eggs, a basin of water should be
prepared. The basin should have a diameter of one meter. Some marsh
vegetable and water plants should be placed in the basin. The basin should
be kept away from a place where rainwater may fall into it.
Both the
male and the female should then be placed in the basin. The male will chase
the female until the female gets tired. It will then encircle the female
with its tail around the abdomen. The eggs will drop out of the female. The
male will then spit out sperm to fertilize the eggs which will be protected
in bubbles.
It is
strange but the female will try to eat up the eggs. The male will prevent
the female from doing so. The female should be taken out of the basin and
the male should be left to take care of the eggs until the little fish are
hatched.
When the
fish is hatched it is fed with tiny red plankton. When it grows bigger it
is fed larvae of mosquitoes. When it is six to seven months old it is ready
to fight.
The
fighting fish has to undergo training. It is pitched
against other fish in its own “camp”. Its owner churns the water in its
bottle so that in swimming against the currents it strengthens itself for
battle.
Then it
is taken to the arena.
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The purpose
of this article is to raise a challenge, and question the origin of Betta
splendens. I will try and set up the various possible hypotheses so
that it opens a path for others to do research and discover on their own.
What makes Betta splendens’ development distinct from the
development of other fish?
First,
the Betta splendens development was the outcome of the first Thais’
aquarium fish. It’s the natives’ intellect; no modern genetic technology is
relevant. Second, Betta splendens developed from a human social
interaction process; it is the success of exchanging knowledge between the
Thai peasant classes, the traditional knowledge exchange. One can claim
that fish fighting was recognized over 600 years ago in the Sukothai
Empire, the first capital of Thailand. The ancient breeders, or rather the
farmers, learned by means of observation; they then tested their
hypothesis, and then finalized the hypothesis by fighting their fish with a
challenger. They formed a group known as a breeding and fish-fighting club.
They were transmitting their Betta knowledge by means of close
verbal communication. By telling his techniques to his most trusted friend,
it ensures that he has someone to carry on his Betta keeping and
rearing techniques. In order to keep his techniques sacred, he must be very
disciplined “do not tell these secrets to anyone, these are the best
secrets to make your fish superior to any challenger” (this tradition still
goes on today). By using this technique of passing knowledge, it made the
Thais’ Betta development very unique. At the same time it also
becomes a repetitive breeding practice, or in other words, there is no
progress in breeding. You can see this becomes obvious when you look at the
advanced development of the long fin Betta in America versus the
development of the long fin in Thailand.
Today
the most serious fighting fish breeders are still in the peasant class of
Thai society. My duty is to make their voice echo and exhibit their wealth
of information, so that their intellectual treasures and knowledge are
streamlined into Thai history and now the NET.
In
Thailand when speaking about the Plakat, there are two distinguishing types
of Plakat Thai. One is the short fin and the other the long fin. Both types
were developed from the wild caught Betta. They are captive Betta
splendens Wild caught Betta that 40 years ago were available in
almost all areas of flooded land
and the ditches
in the rice fields.
How did
the long fin Betta come to be? There is no question about the short
fin types. If you observe the wild Bettas’ colors and patterns, the difference
is only in their size. No doubt the Thai breeders only made them bigger and
most important, more aggressive. However, the proverb “you can’t always get
what you want” always holds true and is applicable here. Where did we lose
the way between the development of the long fin and the short fin fighters?
The wild Betta has a very good balance of shape and form, from the
mouth to the end of the fins, the neon bright scales and fins, and the most
impressive style of flaring and dancing; no other captive splendens match
its form and function. OK lets
make it short, the difference between the wild Betta and captive
short fin Betta splendens is only in their size. But what about the
long fin Betta splendens? It is like another Betta species
altogether. Although scientists have declared that it is the same species
as the short fin Betta. I have never seen a long fin Betta
that came from a batch of short fins. I always question the breeders I
knew, about the origin of the long fin Betta as much as possible.
Nobody knows no matter how many breeders I question. I always get the same
answer “I have seen these two types of Betta as long as I can
remember.” The western aquarium texts cannot answer these questions.
“Where the long fins come from I have no idea.” (Christopher W. Coates.
Tropical fishes for a Private Aquarium. 1950: p.137). The oldest
breeder I have been able to interview is 80 years old, and his answer is
the same. It is now Betta mythology, and I am interested in tracking
down the answer.
There
are five stories to tell about the development of the long fin Betta:
ONE : Pseudo-Breeding Story :
This
technique believes that the female Betta will absorb the color and
shape of her environment and then pass those traits on to her babies. Using
the pseudo-breeding technique, let’s suppose that you want long fin yellow Bettas in your breeding stock. This technique
suggests we should paint a long fin yellow male on a piece of paper and
attach it to the female’s bottle, no real male Betta is necessary.
About 1-2 months later, we take this female and breed her with any color of
male Betta. The outcome of the breeding is that some Bettas color and shape will be similar to the
painted Betta, some will be similar to the mother, and others will
be similar to the father etc. After being successful in getting the
first slightly long fin yellow stock. The breeder will select a yellow long
fin male to inbreed with another long fin yellow female from the same
batch. By repeatedly continuing this process the long fin Betta of
desired color will gradually be developed.
TWO : Intensive Breeding Story :
The pseudo-breeding
story uses an environmental explanation to the approach. The
intensive-breeding story utilizes a sociological explanation to the
approach.
There
are many scripts written in the Thai language that say the first stocks of
long fin Betta splendens existed over one hundred years ago. In
western texts the first appearance of the long fin was in San Francisco and
supports the above assumption.
"In
Siam the fighting fish is bred just as are fighting cocks, and in the
hundreds of years that the sport has been carried on, special breeds have
been developed. None of these "domesticated" fighters reached us
until 1928, when two shipments arrived in San Francisco from Bangkok. These
fishes, with their tremendous veil-like fins, caused a furor in the aquarium
world. One type was dark, with red fins. These "veil tails," bred
together and interbred with the wild type and with other long-tailed stock
received later from Siam via Germany..." [Lucile Quarry Mann, Tropical
fish, New York. 1954]
If we
hold the Thai source, and the above reference as being true, this would
mean that the Americas in general knew the long fin Betta at least
30 years after the fish had been successfully bred. I strongly believe that
the long fin Betta was developed from the short fin Betta,
which in turn was developed from the wild caught Betta.
Coming
back to my original argument, if the long fin Betta was the product
of human intervention or human breeding. Then the sociological explanation
must be taken into consideration, more or less. Why? Because one hundred
years ago we did not breed fish for commercial purposes. We bred them for
fun, whether it was for gambling or just as a pet. (It really is different
than today’s motive for breeding; commercialism and profit now motivate most
breeders). Now, to come to my point, there is no doubt that the Thai boy
would keep the short fin fighter, just as his father and his uncles did.
But what about the girl? What type of fish can she have? The short
fin fighter was too cruel for her to keep. (Do not forget that in those days only men kept the short fin fighter, usually for
fighting purposes only.) She just wanted a pet that can live with her in
the hut, just like her brother’s fish. This is how the long fin Betta
splendens came to be. The girl’s father or uncle, who also happened to
be a breeder, intentionally bred the long fin Betta to make his girl
happy. The first long fin specimen was selected because it had
distinguishing characteristics from the rest of the short fin batch. I
believe that the long fin we see today was gradually developed from one
family to another and one breeder to the next. I think the development of
the long fin came about when the proud girl took her new long fin fish to
show off to her friends. Her friends then asked their fathers and uncles,
who were also fish breeders to breed the long fin types. Now I think the
reader can imagine what is going on.
The
habit of breeding special fish for their children is still practiced even
today. In every breeding area, most of the breeders will make a special
batch for their children. Some will breed for special colors and others
will breed the hybrids (captive short fins crossbred with the wild types)
for their children to take and fight with their friends’ fish. The purpose of
breeding the hybrids is to fight them with the wild caught Betta.
Wild caught Bettas do not have the stamina
for prolonged fights, whereas the hybrid types more than certainly do.
I think
that in the very beginning, they only had the long fin types in local
shows, may be somewhere around or outside Bangkok province. The formation
of aquarium clubs created the commercial need for the long fin type. The
price in those days varied, and I quote: “Two or three years ago, really
good specimens of aquarium raised Betta splendens were quite
expensive, as much as thirty dollars being paid for one pair.” [Christopher
W. Coates. Tropical Fishes for a Private Aquarium. 1950: p.138]
Today,
the Thai girls still favor the long fin type for show, while her brothers
still like to have the short fin for fighting.
THREE : Originated from China :
The
third story uses a linguistic approach to explaining where the long fin
came from. This theory implies that the “NAME” dictates the origin of the
fish. This story is based solely on the NAME. In Thailand we call long fin Betta
splendens “Plakat Cheen.” Plakat Cheen can be translated to “Chinese fighting-fish”
(Plakat = “Fighting Fish” Cheen = “China, or
Chinese”). The name implies that the long fin Betta splendens comes
from China, or at the very least it has some implication relevant to China
or Chinese breeders. I once heard someone explain that a Chinese monk, who
was also a breeder, introduced the long fin Betta to the aquarists’
world.
There
are three implications for the term Plakat Cheen.
First, is the word “Cheen”, which can mean
country or China. This would mean that the long
fin Betta splendens originated in China and was brought to Thailand
by traveling merchants or sailors. Thailand and China have had a long
history of merchandise trade for hundreds of years. However, all Thai
sources (both verbal and written) deny this possibility, and state that it
is simply a borrowed term. The second implication is “Cheen”
mean Chinese person and social status (The
term “cheen” also wildly used in the various
social context such as ขูนจีน ) This could be a Chinese monk, a
Chinese layman, or possibly a Chinese breeder. I was watching television a
few months ago and to my surprise, the program said that the first person
to introduce the long fin was a Chinese monk about 100 years ago. Another
Thai source said that a Chinese breeder was the first to successfully breed
the long fin Betta. Personally, I favor this explanation. It seems
consistent with my thoughts in the past. The long fin Betta was
never for fighting, only for show, with a hidden commercial motivation
behind its development. Chinese breeders were very famous for discovering
and developing new fish strains. The Chinese piloted the aquarium fish
trade. For example: Koi, Gold Fish, guppies…etc. The fact remains that the
Thai breeder did not sell his short fin fighters to strangers or for shows.
He was afraid people would spoil his blood lines, either through improper
keeping, rearing, or simply selling the fish to an opponent or spy (don’t
forget that the quality of the fish was associated with the breeder’s name,
and the amount of money made). The Chinese breeders could see the value in
this flaring fish and even predict that if they could develop brighter
colors and longer fins the fish could then be a mass marketed product. When
I was young I can remember seeing long fin Bettas
being sold everywhere in the pet shops. The seller was a Chinese family and
they never talked about the fishs’ fighting
qualities. The development of the long fin Betta is a myth because
in Chinese tradition they never tell the secrets of their family profession
to outsiders. Third, the implication of “Cheen”
is a comparative concept about China or Chinese, a metaphor of sorts,
anything concerning China or Chinese is called Cheen.
For example: speaking loud like the Chinese, her eyes are like a Chinese
ladies eyes, or like a Chinese decorative design ... etc.
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