They were the size of cats. Q.E.D.
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No they weren’t.
What was their weight, and their head-body length, exactly? An anecdotal allegation of size is worthless without some evidence to back it up.
Two feet long, 10 pounds
Fabrication is even less evidence than anecdote.
“Fabrication”…
Is that the ‘PC’ term for “BULLSHIT!”? 
Here’s a well documented case of one.
Just because it scared a cat does not make it bigger than a cat. Sorry, but your father’s anecdote doesn’t cut it as fact here.
I’ve seen cat sized rats along the railroad tracks in Fairfax…eating snacks. 
They aren’t like the little regular ones with the pointy nose.
These had a flatter face, possibly different species altogether.
They were fast, not a slow lumbering possum or something.
Kinda like these…Nutria - Wikipedia
As already mentioned above, that photo is of a African Giant Pouched Rat (Gambian Pouched Rat), and is not a Rattus rat. The photo makes it look larger than it actually is.
Yes, nutria/coypu occur in many states, and are often larger than cats. But they are not Rattus rats, and only distantly related to them.
I have seen them also, at least a couple. But as I said they were excception compared to the other ones( there were plenty of rats).
Of course, I didn’t get them photographed with a cat(Bin Laden style) to provide a cite for a message board I would join years later. (Please remember these cats were normal sized ones, not the pampered fat cats).
All right, if you happen to see one grab your camera.
Grab your shotgun. If it actually is the size of a cat you’ll establish a new rat world record.
Your personal anecdote is no better than your father’s.
In several decades of riding subways, I never saw a rat as large as a cat. I did see some the size of Godzilla, but that’s different.
I have seen some that I believe would qualify, although I didn’t chase them down to measure them. Seen them here in Bangkok of course, but also back in West Texas of all places.
With all due respect, that’s very unlikely. As I said above, it is very difficult to evaluate size accurately in the field, especially lacking a direct comparison. It’s much more likely that your size estimate was off than that you actually observed rats substantially larger than any others ever recorded.
Perhaps in Thailand they have other large rats? I mean, even looking at my pet rat, Ratty, who was grossly obese and still weighed barely over 3#, I can’t imagine a Rattus N. that would weigh more than that. But like you mentioned, there are other rat species.
There are large rats in southeast Asia, like the Mountain Giant Sunda Rat** Sundamys infraluteus,** but they live in mountain forests, not in cities like Bangkok.
So you say I’m lying?
I’m sure **Colibri **is applying strict scientific methodology and simply saying anecdotal evidence can be inaccurate. He seems to be kind of picky about those things. The well known phenomena of repulsive things actually growing in size when observed has never been completely demonstrated under laboratory conditions, so he probably discounts that possibility.