Paifon Fishing Park

We actually arrived at Paifon Fishing Park expecting to catch lots of small fish such as Tilapia, which would have been an ideal introduction to fishing for the kids. The illusion of catching a shed load of Tilapia evaporated soon after being handed the standard heavy duty rods rigged with feeders, and 3 buckets of bread, the standard setup and method for catching catfish at Pattaya’s fishing parks.

Despite not being the ideal introduction to angling for kids, Paifon Fishing Park certainly did not disappoint. If you like to catch lots of catfish in the 6 – 10 kilogram category, Paifon Fishing Park would rank as 1 of the best fishing parks in Pattaya, and a perfect introduction to angling for catfish. The only lull in the action occurred when we took shelter from a heavy downpour, either side of the downpour it was almost non stop action. Bites came quickly and positively, the hungry cats would often pick up the bait seconds after the bread loaded feeder hit the bottom.

Paifon Fishing Park (see photo above) is around 100 meters long and 30 plus meters wide, judging by the time the loaded feeder takes to hit the bottom I would guess it’s no more that 10 feet deep.

As with most fishing parks in Pattaya, the fishing pegs are concentrated on 1 bank of the fishing park.

The main bank at Paifon Fishing Park is lined with trees which do offer some shelter from the sun. There are wooden benches positioned conveniently close to the water, along with the assorted home made rod rests and holders they make quite a comfortable fishing platform.

The fishing is not technically demanding, there does not appear to be any snags, and on the main bank there is no raised platform and stilts for the fish to swim under and foul on. Paifon does get understandably busy on the weekends, so be prepared to occasionally pass your rod under or over your neighbors as 1 or both of you are playing a fish.

Other fish species in Paifon Fishing Park include rohu, pacu and tilapia, to catch anything other than catfish I suggest using shrimps, worms or shop bought pellets as bait. A lighter rod and line with a float, fishing at various depths could also work well.

Paifon Fishing Park permits the use of your own rod, but rods are available for hire at around 100 baht, bait is available by the bucket, costing around 50 baht. I’m not sure if food and drink is allowed to be taken in, but food and drink is available at reasonable prices and the service is very efficient.

A cheap days fishing in Pattaya: 6 of us spent 5 hours fishing at Paifon, we took 2 rods of our own, hired 3 rods from the park, bought 3 buckets of bread bait, had 4 Thai meals, 2 bottles of beer, 6 bottles of water, 4 bottles of coke and assorted crisps and ice creams. The total bill was 1,700 baht, and considering the quality of the fishing I would say that’s pretty good value.

Location of Paifon Fishing Park: situated on Soi 24 off Soi Nernplubwan, East Pattaya. Use the Paifon Fishing Park map for easy navigation.