Bet Thok (Thai Jigging Hook for Snakehead) — a Large Hook Forged From Wire, a Buffalo-Horn Weed Guard, a 5-Metre Bamboo Rod and a Forked Thigh Rest

"Stainless steel wire or a small stiff steel rod is heated in the fire and bent into a curve in the middle of the hook, the end rolled into an eye; the point is hammered flat, split to form a barb, and filed sharp." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0)

Heat stainless steel wire or a small stiff steel rod and bend a curve in the middle of the hook; roll one end into an eye; hammer the other end flat, split it to form a barb and file it sharp. The hook measures about 5 cm from the bend to the end of the eye. Take care with the fire and the hook point.

Tie the eye with monofilament line size 50-60. Whittle buffalo horn into a small flat strip called a toi, bore a small hole at its tip to fit over the hook point, and fix the toi's base to the line with a small piece of lead sheet. In some places a piece of electrical cable insulation with the copper pulled out is used instead of the toi.

Use a straight ruak bamboo, dried thoroughly, about 5 metres long as the rod, and tie the line to its tip. At the butt fit a forked rest of hardwood, its two prongs spread to fit the thigh, to take the weight onto the thigh.

Photos of a real bet thok from the Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0).

Use it from the first rains, when water floods into ditches, small canals and low ground, until the rice is green in October. Use a small frog or a young frog as bait, fit the toi over the hook point, and jerk the bait up and down on the water's surface. When a fish takes the bait, the toi comes off the hook point.

The word thok means to jerk up quickly. Bet thok hooks are sold in ordinary markets, but some fishers make their own. With the new water, snakehead leave their old waters to breed and lay eggs. Take care with the fire when heating the wire, and with the hook point in use. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "เบ็ดถก", author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum, Buriram (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source does not give the wire size or the size of the forked rest.