Hot spots: Gillhams Fishing Resorts, Krabi
Away with the fishes.
Gillhams is the brainchild of Stuart Gillham and his son Sean. Stuart sold his construction business in Britain a few years ago and, like many of us, wanted to "live the dream", which, in his case, meant creating a world-class fishery that would be his livelihood. He bought land, excavated a lake and built a restaurant and administrative area along with a house for himself and bungalows and a swimming pool for guests.
Gillhams is surrounded by the limestone karst scenery that is common in southern Thailand, and the immaculate grounds are maintained by cheerful and friendly staff.
The bungalows are surprisingly plush - on a par with rooms in a decent hotel. Stuart's daughter, Becky, is chief chef, specialising in European food, while Sean's partner, Noi, is in charge of Thai cuisine. Whether it's pad thai or shepherd's pie, the food is top-class, and while you may order a fish dish, you won't be eating a stingray or an arapaima from the lake outside.
Gillham Snr is a legend in the world of the arapaima. A living fossil, the fish originates from Brazil, Guyana and the Amazon basin and, over the centuries, has become an air-breather, a legacy of living in flood basins that dry up for part of the year. It is one of the oldest - and largest-scaled - freshwater fish in the world. Thailand's climate mirrors that of its place of origin, so it is well suited to the environment. But even though these are colossal fish - they can grow up to 275kg (605 pounds) and are reputed to have reached 450kg in days gone by - they are extremely delicate. If they overstrain their jaw muscles they can drown and if not handled properly their spines can snap. Stuart is one of only a few people to have bred a sustainable stock of these fish. He is currently working on a programme to cross-strain fish from Guyana with his local specimens, the arapaima in Thailand having been bred from an original import, in 1950, from Brazil. The plan is to grow the fish to the gigantic proportions not seen for decades.