FRIGHTENING CARNIVOROUS FISH FOUND IN PATTAYA TEMPLES POND
A strange fish, with sharp teeth and a long snake-like body has been caught in the pond of the Goddess Court Chinese Temple, Pattaya. The fish was discovered after concerned staff had been finding numerous dead fish daily, with evidence of an attack on the bodies.
Pattaya, the 21st of December 2009 [PDN]: After finding dead fish appearing everyday staff of the Goddess Court Lim-Kor-Niew, Soi Nern Plubwan, Pattaya and various residents of the area decided to investigate the situation to determine what the cause of the deaths might be. After watching the pond they discovered several 1 meter long snake-like fish swimming in the water attacking the other fish.
Several residents tried to catch the fish, although ultimately they were scared away as the fish was seen to have numerous sharp teeth and would try and attack if an attempt was made to catch them by hand or with a net. A resourceful resident then tried and succeeded in catching the strange specimen using a fishing rod and pork for bait. The fish turned out to be around 1 meter in length with 2 fins on its body and 2 on its tail, it had numerous sharp teeth in a long hard snout and weighed approximately 3 kilograms.
Mr. Raweesak Lekjarern [47], a temple guard explained that the perimeter of the pond was approximately 100 x 100 meters and that it was around 30 meters deep; it is used in temple ceremonies and for locals to place fish for good luck. Mr. Lekjarern stated that over the course of the last week he had been finding about 5-6 kilograms of dead fish per day, with all of them suffering from deep lacerations to their bodies. He said that it was after this that the locals began to observe the pond in an attempt to discover what it was that was causing these deaths. Upon discovering and catching the fish no one in the area knew what the fish was but they were all rather frightened of its appearance and ability to eat meat.
After consulting with a local aquarium it was discovered that the fish was in fact an Alligator Fish, found in the state of Florida, America. It is a fierce carnivorous fish that can grow up to 4 meters in length. It is now assumed that someone disposed of the fish in the temple pond as they were no longer able to care for the aggressive species themselves.
Pattaya Daily News
They sell them in pet shops in Pattaya, God knows how they got an import license for them, here's one from a pet shop in Jomtien, big beasty thing.