Malaysian cockfighter sneaks across border and gets shot in southern Thailand

A Malaysian man who illegally crossed over the border into Thailand for a cockfighting match got shot in Sungai Golok, Narathiwat province, last Saturday night. His chicken won the fight, but his luck soon changed when a group of Thai nationals shot him in the hand on his way home. Scared of getting into trouble with the authorities, the injured man swam back to Malaysia to seek medical treatment.

The 36 year old cockfighting enthusiast illegally snuck across the Thai border on Saturday to attend a cockfighting match at Sungai Golok ‘cockpit’ in Narathiwat province. He hadn’t attended a cockfighting match in over two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and was so eager for his roosters to compete that he crossed into Thailand via an illegal jetty in Rentau Panjang. His friends took the legal route and arrived at the game later, but the man didn’t want to miss the opening ceremony, so he crossed over illegally to save time.

On his way home, he was shot at by a group of Thai nationals. The group of Thai men fired three shots at him in total, one of them striking his left hand. Too scared to seek medical help in Thailand, the injured man swam back to Malaysia before seeking treatment for his wounded hand.

Cockfighting is a popular bloodsport among both Thais and Malaysians, and considered by some to be the national sport of Thailand. The game is more than 3,000 years old, but fights to the death are now illegal in Thailand thanks to a law passed in 2014. The game itself is not illegal, but the betting that has become inseparable from the game is against the law. But, of course, it persists with little enforcement.

SOURCE: NST