My first visit to Thailand since I moved to Oman last year. Daily flights from Muscat to either Bangkok or Phuket, taking around 5 hours makes for a relatively smooth ride to my favourite, former abode. The April holidays are not the best time for reptiles and amphibians, so as I have done many times previously, a general wildlife trip to Phetchaburi (Kaeng Krachan) was on the menu. Despite numerous visits to this area, (see here) Kaeng Krachan is not a place that I can live without, and certainly one that I will never get bored of visiting.

Compared to my last visit to this area in April 2022, the weather was not so unbearably hot and there were even a few bits of rain and several cloudy days. Flying into Phuket, I had a few nights either side of my 10 hour drive up to Phetchaburi. I went out with Nat Suriwong for a catchup for two evenings and then did some searches alone at the end of the trip before flying back to Muscat. In Phetchaburi, we once again stayed at Baan Maka Nature Lodge for the duration of the stay, with a single night at the Phanoen Thung camp site inside the national park.

Kat made a video of some of the main highlights from the trip:

Phuket

April was never a great month for looking for reptiles in Phuket, and despite a few rains, the short searches that I did were not overly productive. Before driving to Kaeng Krachan, searches resulted in 3 Phuket pit vipers (Trimeresurus phuketensis), a Red-tailed racer (Gonyosoma oxycephalum), numerous Oriental vine snakes (Ahaetulla prasina), a Blunt-headed slug-eating snake (Aplopeltura boa) and a Triangle keelback (Xenochrophis trianguligerus). These snakes were supplemented with three Thalang bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus thalang), a Sunda slow loris (Nycticebus coucang) and a few Sunda colugos (Galeopterus variegatus). At the end of my trip, just before flying home, a solo effort resulted in a rare Haas’s bronzeback (Dendrelaphis haasi) and a gravid female Wagler’s pit viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri). Overall, it was nice to be back in Phuket, but also sad to see the continued deforestation and severe over-crowding of the island. New rules that will apparently allow building in more elevated areas will spell even further ecological disaster for the island which once would have been a wildlife paradise.

Kaeng Krachan

Driving 10 hours from Phuket I once again arrived in one of my favourite places on earth; Baan Maka Nature Lodge on the edges of Kaeng Krachan National Park. Prior to my arrival Robinsreptiles had contacted me about teaming up for some days in his quest to see his first ever wild King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). It didn’t take long. On the first day in the area, we found a beautiful juvenile King cobra of around 80cm long slowly crossing the road, and then the following day a three metre male. Once Robin had left, I saw another King one afternoon which didn’t stick around for photos. This was the twentieth King cobra that I have seen in this area since 2019.

As for other reptiles, the weather conditions didn’t seem overly favourable. Although it wasn’t boiling hot like it can be in Phetchaburi in April, things were still relatively dry and the first big rains had not arrived. Snakes encountered around Baan Maka and inside the park included a large 3 metre Reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus), a few Many-spotted cat snakes (Boiga multomaculata), a Green cat snake (Boiga cyanea), a large Siamese cat snake (Boiga siamensis), red-necked keelback (Rhabdophis siamensis), several Indochinese rat snakes (Ptyas korros), a few Berdmore’s slug-eating snakes (Pareas berdmorei), several Oriental vine snakes (Ahaetulla prasina), Davison’s bridle snake (Lycodon davisonii), Small-banded kukri snake (Oligodon fasciolatus) and a DOR Mouhot’s kukri snake (Oligodon mouhoti). I had a lifer Chequered keelback (Fowlea piscator) which I allowed to escape without photos, as well as two lifer Barron’s kukri snakes (Oligodon barroni). One snake that I was especially frustrated to find dead on the road was a lifer Siamese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis). Quite oddly, two snakes which I have encountered quite commonly in this area, the White-lipped pit viper (Trimeresurus albolabris) and the Monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia) were nowhere to be seen this time around. One night at the Phanoen Thung camp site at just over 1,000 metres above sea level did allow me to observe three Tenasserim pit vipers (Trimeresurus tenasserimensis).

While at the previously mentioned camp site, where Ian had kindly driven Kat and myself for a camping soirée we encountered an interesting trio of gecko species; Phetchaburi bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus phetchaburiensis), Tree Spirit bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus rukhadeva) and Leopard slender gecko (Hemiphyllodactylus pardalis). Apart from these, there was nothing new for me on the lizard front this trip. Amphibians were even further neglected, although not too many were around at this time of year in any case. Sometimes in April when the first big rains arrive you can be treated to an amphibian spectacle when all of the explosive breeders emerge. That wasn’t the case this time, but was back in April 2021.

Aside from herpetofauna, there were other numerous highlights. Seeing several Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) is always a pleasure, especially as it is far from guaranteed. We learned the pattern of one individual, who would come and bathe at a similar time every couple of days. We were also treated to observing four different Malayan sun bears (Helarctos malayanus). Two of which are relatively used to people and two which we seen out in the forest. One of which we met walking towards us in the dark one evening. Fortunately, it didn’t seem overly concerned by our presence. Robinson’s banded langur (Presbytis robinsoni) was also observed for the first time at a higher altitude location where they typically only occur. On the birding front we finally ticked off the final species of broadbill in Thailand thanks to a fortunate stop high up in the mountains which allowed good views of Long-tailed broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae) as they delivered food to a nest.