King’s ‘Pla Nil’ project celebrates 50th anniversary

The royally donated fish were grown from the 50-tilapia batch that His Majesty received from Japan’s then-crown prince and now Emperor Akihito in 1965, according to the department’s website. The fish that grows to 178.8 grams body weight in just six months was known in Thai as Pla Nil, as the King named it after the Nile River where the fish originated.
To mark this occasion, Pla Nil were also served at lunchtime for Cabinet members who had their weekly meeting at the premises yesterday. PM’s Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul, who presided over the project’s exhibition opening at Government House yesterday, said that Fisheries Department had proceeded with the project and distributed about 200,000 tonnes of Pla Nil to people for food and farming annually.