Bet Pla Lai (Thai Eel Hook) — a 2.5 cm Hook, 5 cm of Twisted Cord, a 1 Metre Line Tied to a Bamboo Tube, Lowered into an Eel's Burrow at the Water's Edge

"If you are impatient and tug against the line, it may break or the hook may come out. So you must let the line out at times — 'give line, let the bait follow the fish'." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0)

Use a medium hook, about 2.5 cm from the bend to the eye. Tie it to the cord, then twist the cord for about 5 cm above it.

Make the cord about 1 metre long and tie its end to a short bamboo tube, a sponge or foam — or leave the cord bare and tie its end to a clump of grass beside the burrow when in use.

Search the water's edge for eel burrows. When you find one, you can push a stick in and look for water on its tip, or you may see water in the hole. To catch eels in the daytime, use the hook to lure them to take the bait.

Photos of a real bet pla lai from the Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum; in the photos the cord is wound for storage on a short stick (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0).

Bait with earthworm, a small fish, chicken gut or pork. Lower it, or push it in with a stick to "feed the bait", into the mouth of the burrow, about one hand-span deep or deeper. Set the float or tie the cord to the grass and leave it. When the eel is hooked it backs deeper into the hole and the line goes taut: pull slowly, give line at times, then draw it up again. When the eel nears the mouth of the burrow, pull it out at once.

Eels burrow at the water's edge and feed at night, so they are usually trapped with lan and i-chu traps left overnight; in the daytime a fork or a hook is used, which pulls them from the burrow faster. Giving line is like a modern reel. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "เบ็ดปลาไหล", author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum, Buriram (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source does not give the cord type or the bamboo tube size, and there is no listing for the hook, so it is named in the text.