captnhoy

"Technically" is a good qualifier.

Technically you are supposed to buy a license for that vhf.
I have not in the 4 years mine's been installed and no one has ever asked to see one. Also you will not find nearly as much use for your vhf here as you do in the western world. They are not the norm on Thai vessels. But you will be able to hail the occasional farang while you are out for a cruise.

There are two larger varieties also  - wahoo and Spanish mackerel. I've noticed locals not distinguishing between king and Spanish though - they think they are the same. They fight well and are tasty. Not hard to find in the Andaman

also from wikipedia -

The wahoo may be distinguished from the related Atlantic king mackerel and from the Indo-Pacific Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel by a fold of skin which covers the mandible when its mouth is closed. In contrast, the mandible of the king mackerel is always visible as is also the case for the smaller Spanish mackerel and Cero mackerel. The teeth of the wahoo are similar to those of king mackerel, but shorter and more closely set together

better late than never . . . .

Howdy - I have my own 15 meter boat that I have lived on for the past 5 years on the Andaman Sea.
I lived in the Phuket area for a year. IMO the catching there is pretty marginal with considerable commercial and sport fishing pressure. I did take a few good fish there but nothing like I now get living in Ranong. Ranong is what? 300 kilometers north of Phuket. I follow the Thai example and fish the moon phases. I've been fishing for 54 years and never believed the importance of this until the last year or so. My catch rates are up dramatically in water that I used to believe was fished out. We catch nice GTs here from 2 to 12 kilos and we've lost monster fish SIX times this season. The bottom is rocky and a big fish can pull your line over the rocks until it is cut off. Barracuda are also common and my biggest is 5 kilos. Bottom fish are not as much fun for me but we do ok on those too. I know 2 Thai brothers who fish saltwater with me and fish fresh water on their own.

BTW - Ranong is the gateway to fishing the famous Burma Banks. It's too expensive to take my own boat there but I went on a good charter trip last April ( the very end of the season) and did quite well on many species including the prized king mackerel. Tuna were abundant too. We were a party of 10, 4 of us farang and we came home with about 250 kilos of fish for our group of 4. It's a 5 day trip @ 24,000 baht. I'm from the US and my buddy is coming over to repeat Burma Banks with me, departing Jan 11. I believe there is room for more. The boat is 70', fiberglass, comfortable with real bunks for sleeping, 4 years old and in good shape. They provide fishing and meals, no gear, no alcohol provided. Contact me if you want to join in. I have no financial interest in this - I just see it as good value as I've fished charter destinations from Alaska, Canada, Mexico and Phuket. This is good catching!

I could post some pics but I haven't sized them down yet.

captnhoy, on 2011-10-20 12:12:56, said:

For those of you wondering where to bank in Thailand I have to tell you it's hard to emphasize the value that Ian and Dave bring to the table as your advocate with Bangkok Bank. In my five years in country I've never seen smooth results like this. I experienced a couple of little hurdles with my new account and Dave had them sorted for me straight away. I could never have gotten this done without his support.

Daveroc, on 2011-10-20 15:21:08, said:

Well it could well have been my misunderstanding of the reason. That was all I could get out of it since i provided my local address to open the account only about 10 days earlier.