Breeders will take reservations for the offspring of high-stakes winners before the chicks have even been born.īird’s farm has about 250,000 followers on LINE and most of the chicks are sold to smaller-scale breeders who are hoping for a genetic pay-off. Once a cockerel has won its highest-grossing match, it is unlikely to fight again so that the breeder can preserve its profitable reputation. Reputation – curated through carefully selecting their fighters’ opponents – and relentless digital marketing are some of the biggest factors determining a farm’s success. ![]() “Even 15 years ago, I was making 3,000 baht a day in sales, but now it’s 300,000… 500,000… or even a million per day,” he says, talking over a buzz of notifications on LINE, an instant communications app, from several smartphones in front of him. Today, he is the proprietor of one of Asia’s most successful gamefowl farms. Like Mod, Bird recalls growing up poor as a child, he would supplement his family’s income by running food to spectators at his local cockfighting ring in Ayutthaya. Selling the offspring of his winners is where the real money is made. Success at high stakes matches like these might seem like the end goal, but for businessmen like Bird, these are largely PR stunts. In January 2022, his champion cockerel Trickster won a match with a prize of 70.2 million Thai baht ($2m). “I make around 15 million baht ($435,000) per month in revenue, and that doesn’t include the prize money from fights,” said the aptly nicknamed ‘Bird’ S Meesuwan, another gamefowl breeder. Reputation is keyĪ fighting bird can sell for between 3,000 Thai baht ($85) and 50,000 Thai baht ($1,450), but with the right publicity, sales can reach even more lucrative heights. Sales can reach 100,000 Thai baht (just over $2,900) a month – much more than the 300 Thai baht ($8.70) a day Mod earned previously as a receptionist at a fitness gym. ![]() “These days, bird breeders can have a car, house, and a bigger income than people with ordinary jobs.” Her farm is home to more than 100 birds. “Bird breeding didn’t use to have status and only recently is it being considered a primary profession,” Mod told Al Jazeera. Mod’s mother was a housekeeper, and the majority of the family’s neighbours are farmers. In a country with one of the widest wealth gaps in the world, gamefowl breeding has become a rare gateway to upward social mobility. She makes money not from the matches themselves but from the offspring of her winning cockerels Mod streams a practice fight live on LINE, an instant communications app, to her followers. Over the last few years, the sport has transformed from a farmer’s side hustle into an entrepreneur’s primary source of income. Mod’s farm, located a few hours from Chiang Mai, is surrounded by rice fields. While rings are ubiquitous across the country, tournaments are mostly in rural provinces where household income is often also lower than in Bangkok. ![]() Unlike some Southeast Asian countries, betting on the outcome of a fight is legal at licensed venues and spurs on the bird’s legs are often wrapped in tape to prevent serious injury. Her bird is in the ring, and if it wins there is serious money to be made – not necessarily from gambling, but rather more from the sales of her champion’s offspring.Ĭockfighting is a longstanding part of Thai culture. Mod watches the fight from the front row, elbows propped on a plastic-coated soft barrier, cracked and flaking from a history of clenched hands. Better known as Mod, the 27-year-old is one of Thailand’s up-and-coming gamefowl breeders, rising to prominence as “ The Angel of Gamefowl” after entering Super100, a TV talent show that allowed her to show off her expertise on birds. ![]() With the ends of her long hair curled with a flat iron and carefully pencilled eyebrows, Phromanas Jumpa looks like an idol or influencer. The men watching the fight jump out of their seats to shout odds, voices swelling like singing cicadas.Īmong the audience at the cockfighting ring in Lampang province in northwestern Thailand, one face stands out. Lampang, Thailand – With each cockerel’s kick, wisps of white down feathers float into the air above the densely packed spectators.
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