Saltwater Fishing Thailand

The fishing in Thailand can be challenging for sure but the rewards are some hard fighting, beautiful and delicious fare. There are plenty of locations where you can take out a kayak and catch fish or squid on the reef with some gear bought at the local tackle shop. There is also a plethora of private owned charters available all along the coastline and on the islands however it can be hard to navigate finding the right trip for you if you are a serious fisherman. Using google translate to find Thai language Facebook fishing groups in the city or island you will visit may be the best way to hook up with a captain for a local charter. There are advertised fishing tours for tourists but I have not had much personal success using these companies, they end up being more party boats or hybrid fishing/snorkeling trips in my experience. The prices for the proper deep sea charters can run upwards of 1,000USD if running out to the deep drop-offs or chasing billfish. I personally fish mostly with Thai long tail boat captains going only a few miles out usually although I have done an overnight trip to the gulf of Thailand gas rigs which was a wild experience with tons of big fish.

If you prefer to fish from shore or from a kayak(much better), think about islands like Koh Chang, Koh Mak and Koh Kood in Trat province in the gulf of Thailand. Koh Phangan has some nice reefs around the island where you can still catch some fish from a kayak or with a long tail captain. Koh Samui will be a challenge to get to the fish but there are a select few big game boats that do trips from Samui if you can find them. Koh Tao you can go out and do some good fishing with a longtail captain however you cannot fish from shore or kayak/boat within 1km of the island to preserve the ecosystem. In Phuket there are still some places on the west and south parts of the island where you can reach by kayak and get on some fish as well as the bridges and piers at the north of the island and into the mangroves, a longtail from rawai can get you to some great spots for fishing and squid as well. A longtail trip will run anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 depending on location and half or full day and if gear is provided or not.

If you want to go out on a proper fishing trip for big game, expect to target king mackerel, wahoo, mahi mahi, snapper, barracuda, grouper, billfish, trevalle, cobia and more depending on the season and if you are in the gulf of Thailand or the andaman sea. Finding a charter can be a challenge at this level from my experience but I know in phuket it is possible for sure.