Thailand 2024 | Week 2 & 3

It's been a while since I visited Thailand, but being busy with work and my new house have kept me away from editing images and writing blogs for a bit. I finally finished (sort of) most of the editing, and found a bit of free time to type up a small blog. Leaving off after the last blog of the first week, we departed for the Surin islands, for some beautiful snorkling. The trip started of good, with a bunch of dolphins around the boat as we left the mainland that we got to observe for a while before continuing on. Photography was on the backburner for a few days, I still got a few fun images and we even added some good birds to the triplist. The macaques and absolutely bizarre looking colugo's in the campground making for good subjects. Seeing the Colugo gliding around during the lunchtime is unforgettable, as are the amazing reefs and plethora of fish. Our guide on the first day was also a very memorable character, showing off some freediving skills that we couldn't help but marvel at. We lucked out with a turtle, but sadly no sharks, something to come back for one day. We also saw the endemic Surin bent toed gecko, but no great shots as my good diffuser was on the mainland.

After the Surin islands it was back to the mainland and due south. We spent a day in a lovely little resort, visiting Khao Sok national park the next morning. Seriously touristy, but after we got out on the lake the beautiful landscape made up for it. Very little wildlife, but while we were off the boat for a moment, heavy clouds started to roll in. A few moments after we got out on the lake again the heavens opened and we got absolutely soaked to the core. The rain brought out a massive colony of flying foxes though and made for some incredible ambiance. Our boat driver showed us around the colony, which was a super cool move. Potentially my absolutely favorite moment of the trip, soaked to the core by jungle rain, watching these huge bats flying around the small island that the colony was on. Phuket was next up on the list, so after a parking lot pomelo and drying up (a little) we got back into the car. A lot busier than most of what we had seen some far, but some pizza was a nice break from all the rice based meals. Herping was decent, finding a male waglers pit viper and a cinnamon frog, as well as some other cool finds like slow loris and trilobite beetles. No female waglers, so that'll remain on the wishlist for a bit...

None of us really minded getting away from Phuket, so it was on to a more remote resort near Krabi. Turns out, a little too remote for some of us. After struggling up a rocky road (that had apparently been in worse condition the day before) we arrived at a beautiful location. The cabins were rather open though. Two of us got the worse option with some spaces in the floor and after some interaction with a spider and a house centipede, the choice was made to move on. A bit sad as the location and host were absolutely amazing and the site would surely have delivered some cool sightings, but well worth it to keep the other group members happy and comfortable, it's a holiday after all :) We went to a road for Trimeresurus venustus but had no luck. Some calling owls, a slow loris, two different great looking bent toed geckos were all great, but spiritis were starting to be dampened by a lack of snakes. A last pass with the car and some very sharp eyes (mine were slowly closing, so extra kudos there) spotted a vine snake hanging from a tree! A few shots and it moved off, leaving some happy herpers ready to get some rest. The bent toed gecko shots turned out to be some of my favorites from the trip, so quite pleased with that. 

Krabi had more in store for us though. The next morning we hiked up to a viewpoint and got to watch butterflies and raptors soaring around. We spent a fair bit of time atop this tower before heading back down, as our next activity was waiting in the local harbor. After a way down that was more difficult than the way up (as always) we got back to the car and a short drive later onto a boat. A beautiful boattrip into the mangroves followed, seeing some great birds and several of the target: Mangrove pit vipers! We were all happy to get into some good snake action, finding several individuals in a few hours time. 

Alas, we were on a roadtrip, so we also had to say goodbye to Krabi. We moved on towards Krung Ching, for the most remote part of the trip. 2 days of heavy rain, we weren't allowed onto the trail (too wet/dangerous), so no chance of Malayan banded pitta, another thing to come back for. A bit of difficult communication with the rangers as well (which could arguably be blamed on me), but all worked out in the end. Still a few really cool birds, and some photographic potential especially in the morning around the feeders or when the rain let up a little. Not the greatest food and a bad muddy road out, but I really enjoyed this part of the trip (which can't be said for all of us). May be a good spot to come back to outside of monsoon season, although even then it apparently rains a ton.

After Krung Ching we visited Sam Roi Yot and made our way back up to Bangkok over the course of a few days. We hiked up to a popular temple that was slightly disappointing to most of us, but we were rewarded with some macaques on the way back, so that made up for the disappointment. One of our last afternoons was spent on an elephant safari which well and truly made up for missing them in Kaeng Krachan. Incredible views of lots of elephants, getting good views of gaur aswell. We closed off the trip with another attempt for Spoon-billed sandpiper, with success this time. No more snakes or other notable herps, but nice birds and beautiful landscapes made sure we never went to bed truly disappointed.

All in all, a very succesful trip. Many cool sightings of incredible diverse species, kind people, great food, lovely places to stay and a great attitude. We were safe and unbothered for the entire trip. Photographically things were left to be desired, but with so much to see and in this group composition we made choices to see and do more, which I'd do the same again if I had to do it over :). Even more was left to be desiredin the snake department, but we got a couple great sightings and overall we were very lucky with a lot of things. A very fun, beautiful country to travel to, that is absolutely worth returning to some day. I've showcased a few of my favorite images from the trip below, I think there's 3, maybe 4, portfolio shots in there.