Due to the coronavirus pandemic, I couldn't see Thailand's betta for a whole year, so I had a blank period.
This was very stressful for me, but it may have been a good opportunity to review Betta with a new mindset.
For this reason, after returning to Thailand in May 2022, when various restrictions were lifted, I energetically walked around looking at Betta fish.
The main one is the Sunday market in Bangkok. This place is better known as Chatuchak by locals and Thai experts.

I've written about it so much in this column that I don't want to, but there is an area here that specializes in pets, and within that area there is a concentration of shops that sell betta fish and ornamental fish.
Has it been over 30 years since I started going to this place? Although they are cleaner than they used to be, most of them are actually quite dirty (rude) compared to Japanese ornamental fish stores, but it gives off a very Thai atmosphere and I like it.

None of the people who come here are concerned about the appearance of the store. Most people are only interested in the quality of the fish sold there.
In areas where there are specialty Betta fish stores, there are many different stores with different product lineups, and if you browse through them, you can see many different types of Betta fish at once. As always, every time I come to Bangkok, I wish there was a place like this in Japan. With plastic cuts and the like, you can remove the partitions from the aquariums lined up in the store and easily see which fish you are interested in, and you can get a general idea of ​​the fish's tendencies just by looking at the whole thing.

However, the shops that mainly sell wild fish don't have any lights on, and the water is brown, making it much more difficult to see the fish. Therefore, it is often faster to ask the store owner than to check with your own eyes, and it is always a good greeting to ask if there are any new fish in the store.
This is my first visit in a while, so I'm sure there will be some new faces. When I asked around, it seemed like there were three types of new faces that could be the subject of a column. Among them, my favorite is Benjaron Yellow, which I will introduce here. Betta Splendens Benjarone isThe 63rd installment of this columnIf you are interested, please take a look.

Perhaps because of its unique and beautiful form, Benjaron is now quite popular as a wild strain, and colors such as Benjaron Red, which has a strong reddish tint, are also popular. This means that a new yellow color has been added. Its body is characterized by its slender body and spade tail, which is typical of Benjaron. Although the color is called yellow, it is not lemon yellow, but rather a mustard color.
I had a general idea about this fish just by looking at its appearance, but I decided to ask again about this fish. This fish was said to have been bred by the owner of this shop, so the story is quick.

This is because in the case of improved varieties created elsewhere, the information changes during transmission, making it often impossible to obtain accurate information.
I heard that it was created by crossing Benjarong with a mustard yellow Plakat individual. This was exactly what he imagined when he first saw it.
Well, it's a simple quiz for solid maniacs.

If left as is, the gene for the bulky body shape of the Plakat would be superior, so it seems that they have spent several generations selecting them to have a body similar to that of the Benjarong. Still, compared to the original Benjarong, it feels a little thicker in terms of body type.
Currently, it seems to be quite stable in terms of traits and can be mass-produced. It sounds easy, but the actual work to get to this point is difficult, and thanks to the efforts of these breeders, we can enjoy new varieties of fish.
As of November 2022, when I am writing this manuscript, a new variety has been created based on Benjaron Yellow. I'll introduce that in the next column.