Inland fishery activities provide one of the most important occupations for many people in Ban Lueam District. The area around Ban Lueam is lowland and there is a big reservoir, Laharn Look Nok. Many families live near the reservoir. They have their own boats which are used for fishing by the head of the family or a son.
The fishermen use different local traps to catch the fish. The local traps for catching fish are Mong, Elong, Sai and Chamuak. They are handmade traps. Each day, after finishing their main work, the fishermen take their traps to the reservoir. They sail their boats to find appropriate places to leave the traps. Each fisherman takes many different kinds of trap for catching fish each time. Mong is a net. Elong and Sai are made from bamboo. All are placed under the water so that fish might swim inside and become trapped. Chamuak is designed for shooting fish during the night while they are sleeping. In the morning, before the sun rises, the fishermen return to the reservoir to check their traps. They check their traps only in the early morning and at the end of the day. So they have time to undertake other jobs during the day. The fishermen leave the traps and take any fish that are caught to the fish shops in the village. The number of fish caught depends on the weather each day. If it is windy, not many fish will be caught. The main kinds of fish that are caught are Nile Tilapia (Pla Nil), the striped snake-head fish (Pla Chon), the sand goby (Pla Boo), the common silver barb (Pla Tapean), the catfish (Pla Dook), and the eel (Pla Lai). The price that the fishermen receive for their catch varies, depending upon the types of fish caught and the size of the fish that are caught. While usually the fishermen receive 50 - 70 Bt a kilo. Prices are not consistent as they depend on the size of the fish.
People don’t earn a lot of money through this kind of occupation. It is a part of job that can be done from growing rice. Also, this job may allow people to continue to live with their families rather than leave the family to find work in Bangkok or in other provinces.