Thai wives and their western husbands took part in a bizarre village festival - rummaging through a muddy swimming pool to catch fish. <br /><br />The wacky competition was held at the Thai Red Cross festival in the remote province of Surin, north eastern Thailand on Monday (December 9) morning. <br /><br />Dozens of snake-head fish, known locally as Pla Chon, were emptied into the pool before locals, and the western husbands of Thai women, jumped in to catch them.<br /><br />District council boss Prapas Srichanwiang rang the starting bell, then all the competitors jumped in the mud pond to pounce the fish. <br /><br />He said all the attendees gave their best efforts to be the winner who could catch the most fish with their bare hands.<br /><br />Prapas said: ''This was a special event for Thai women and their foreign husbands. It has an amusing and unique style, which brings a lot of joy.''<br /><br />It took fifteen minutes for the competitors to catch all the fish.<br /><br />The winner was British husband Richard Par, 75, and his wife, who were also last year's winners, managing to catch 22 fish.<br /><br />Middle Eastern resident Gika, 27, and his wife Kannika Samniangdi came second with 21 fish in their sack. Third place was Norwegian Peter Hussen, 58, and his wife Phoncharaphon.
