BANGKOK, Dec 21 (TNA) — Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach expressed gratitude towards the National Identity Committee for accepting Siamese fighting fish as the national aquatic animal.
He said that Thailand would benefit greatly from the recognition.
Thai people were proud of the indigenous fish called in Thai Pla Gud ปลากัด, growers could expand their business, the country would increase its exports of the Siamese fighting fish, and other countries would be barred from exploiting the Thai fish.
He said the process before the recognition took times because there must be enough information to prove that Pla Gud has long been with Thai society… Besides, scientists had to find evidence to clearly prove that Pla Gud was first discovered in the tributaries of the Chao Phraya river.
The Department of Fisheries would inform members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) of the Siamese fighting fish status to prevent other countries from using the fish to breed new kinds of fish and claim they were their national fish. (TNA)
