Photograph of Gurney's Pitta

The superb Gurney's and Banded Pittas by Roger Wyatt.

Photograph of Banded Pitta

SOUTHERN THAILAND

Best Wildlife in Southern Thailand

Mammals
White-handed Gibbon, Dusky Langur, Long-tailed (Crab-eating) and Pig-tailed Macaques, Sunda Flying Lemur (Colugo), Indian Giant Flying Squirrel, Black Giant Squirrel, (Common) Southern and Northern Tree Shrews, Sambar, Island (Large) Flying Fox and Wrinkle-lipped Bat. Also a chance of Asian Elephant, Gaur, Pileated Gibbon, Banded Langur, Sunda Slow Loris, Malayan Porcupine, Leopard Cat, Yellow-throated Marten and Smooth-coated Otter.

Birds
The birds listed are usually present during the northern winter. Banded (irena), Blue, Gurney’s and Mangrove Pittas, Banded, Black-and-red, Black-and-yellow, Dusky, Green, Long-tailed and Silver-breasted Broadbills, Great, Oriental Pied and Wreathed Hornbills, barbets including Red-throated, Orange-breasted, Red-headed and Scarlet-rumped Trogons, leafbirds, Asian Fairy Bluebird, sunbirds, Banded, Black-capped, Brown-winged, Collared, Ruddy, Rufous-collared and White-throated (Smyrna) Kingfishers, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Nordmann's Greenshank, Asian Dowitcher, White-faced Plover, Silver Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, White-crested Laughingthrush, Sultan Tit, Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo, Rail Babbler, Nicobar Pigeon, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Christmas Island and Lesser Frigatebirds, Common Green Magpie, Whiskered Treeswift and Forest Wagtail, as well as Red Junglefowl, Chinese Egret, Chinese and Javan Pond Herons, Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns, Asian Openbill, Brahminy Kite, Black and Rufous-bellied Eagles, Black-thighed Falconet, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Grey-headed and Red-wattled Lapwings, Malaysian Plover, Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers, (Pied) Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Great Knot, Broad-billed, Marsh and Terek Sandpipers, Long-toed and Red-necked Stints, Black-naped, Bridled, Caspian, Great Crested and Whiskered Terns, green pigeons, Green Imperial and Pied Imperial Pigeons, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Violet Cuckoo, malkohas, Greater and Lesser Coucals, Asian Barred Owlet, Brown Hawk Owl, Great Eared Nightjar, Germain’s Swiftlet, Brown-backed and Silver-rumped Needletails, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Blue-bearded, Red-bearded, Blue-tailed and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Indian Roller, Dollarbird, (Eurasian) Hoopoe, piculets, Greater and Lesser Yellownapes, Common and Greater Flamebacks, Crimson-winged Woodpecker, Maroon-breasted and Rufous-winged Philentomas, Ashy Woodswallow, Rosy and Swinhoe’s Minivets, Golden-bellied Gerygone (Flyeater), Mangrove Whistler, White-browed Shrike Babbler, orioles, Greater Racket-tailed and Lesser Racket-tailed Drongos, Pied Fantail, Black-naped Monarch, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Crested Jay, Racket-tailed and Ratchet-tailed Magpies, bulbuls, tailorbirds, leaf warblers, Siberian Blue Robin, Hainan Blue, Mugimaki, Tickell’s Blue, Ultramarine and Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, White-rumped Shama, babblers including Scaly-breasted, Spot-necked and White-chested, Limestone Wren Babbler, Asian Glossy Starling, Hill Myna, flowerpeckers, and Little, Grey-breasted and Thick-billed Spiderhunters. Also a chance of Grey Peacock Pheasant, Blue-winged, Eared and Hooded Pittas, Painted Stork, Blyth’s and Wallace’s Hawk Eagles, Barred Eagle Owl, Brown Wood and Spotted Wood Owls, Gould’s and Javan Frogmouths, Diard’s Trogon, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Heart-spotted and Great Slaty Woodpeckers, Oriental Hobby, Pale-capped Pigeon, Oriental Pratincole, Far Eastern Curlew, Red-necked Phalarope, Greater Painted Snipe, Pallas’s (Great Black-headed) Gull and Orange-headed Thrush, and an outside chance of Black-faced Spoonbill, Masked Finfoot, and Brown (Tickell’s), Plain-pouched and White-crowned Hornbills.

Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish
Flying lizards, Tockay Gecko, a chance of Reticulated Python, and, offshore, numerous coral reef fish and a chance of flying fish, Whale Shark, Manta Ray, Blacktip Reef and Leopard Sharks, Sailfish, Black Marlin, and Green and Hawksbill Turtles.

Invertebrates
A rich diversity of butterflies including Common and Golden Birdwings, swordtails and Paris Peacock.

Best Sites for Wildlife in Southern Thailand

Best Times for Wildlife in Southern Thailand

December to February is usually the driest and coolest time of the year and the best time for birds which are winter visitors from northern Asia. During March to May some of these visitors are still present and some resident bird species begin to call and sing at the start of their breeding seasons. The majority of the resident bird species, including many of the hardest to see, are at their most active during their breeding seasons which usually fall between June and August which is, unfortunately, during the rainy season.

Recommended Books etc. for Southern Thailand

Traveller's Wildlife Guide: Thailand by D Pearson and L Beletsky. Arris Books, 2008.

A Field Guide to the Mammals of South-East Asia by C M Francis. New Holland Publishers, 2008.

A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand by C Robson. New Holland Publishers, 2005 (Second Edition).

A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia by C Robson. New Holland Publishers, 2011 (Second Edition flexi-cover).

Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula by D R Wells. Helm, 2007 (Two volumes).

A Field Guide to the Reptiles of South-East Asia by I Das. New Holland Publishers, 2010.

Dive Guide: Thailand by P Lees. New Holland Publishers, 2009 (Fifth Edition).

Trip Reports for Southern Thailand

Many trip reports, some for Southern Thailand, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to Southern Thailand. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to Southern Thailand' below.

Local Guides and Tours in Southern Thailand

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.


Accommodation in Southern Thailand

Some Organized Tours to Southern Thailand

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

Tour companies who are running organized tours to Southern Thailand in the next couple of years include the following. Many of these also offer custom tours.