Thai wives and their western husbands took part in a bizarre village festival - rummaging through a muddy swimming pool to catch fish.

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.

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.

District council boss Prapas Srichanwiang rang the starting bell, then all the competitors jumped in the mud pond to pounce the fish.

He said all the attendees gave their best efforts to be the winner who could catch the most fish with their bare hands.

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.''

It took fifteen minutes for the competitors to catch all the fish.

The winner was British husband Richard Par, 75, and his wife, who were also last year's winners, managing to catch 22 fish.

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.

Thai wives and their western husbands took part in a bizarre village festival - rummaging through a muddy swimming pool to catch fish.

The wacky competition was held at the Thai Red Cross festival in the remote province of Surin, north eastern Thailand on Monday (9/12) morning.

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.

District council boss Prapas Srichanwiang rang the starting bell, then all the competitors jumped in the mud pond to pounce the fish.

He said all the attendees gave their best efforts to be the winner who could catch the most fish with their bare hands.

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.''

After fifteen minutes, all the fish that were caught by the competitions.

The winner was British husband Richard Par, 75, and his wife, who were also the champions last year champion, managing to catch 22 fish.

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.