Phuket cashes in on scads of scad

The vast catch was not, despite rumours emerging on social media, a sign of some upcoming natural disaster, fisherman Ponchai Faingam chuckled.

The scad swim close to shore every November to January to feed on smaller fish, he said, though there are more than usual this year at Nai Han, Kata, Karon and Freedom beaches. 

Residents and tourists happily joined the food chain, flocking to the shore to buy the fresh-from-the-sea fish, each weighing about six grams, which usually sell at markets for Bt70-Bt80 per kilogram.