North Thailand Birding

About North Thailand Birding

North Thailand Birding focuses on Birds, Birding and Nature Photography in Thailand. Information covers Birding Sites, Checklists, Trip Reports and Resources, as well as a wealth of background, travel and logistical information for visitors. Photo Galleries showcase the extent and variety of natural wildlife that abounds, as well as providing an identification guide for some well-represented groups.

Geographically, North Thailand Birding covers the northern half of the country in detail - roughly north of Bangkok and the Peninsula. Additionally, areas of the south are included following visits and exploration around the country. All information, especially for localites, is gained from first-hand experience and accurate at the time of publication.

Current Status

Photo Gallery - Birds: 845 images of 388 species.
Photo Gallery - Butterflies: 714 images of 295 species
Photo Gallery - Skippers: 94 images of 45 species.
Photo Gallery - Mammals: 61 images of 23 species.
Localities - 13 sites. Others will be added over time.
Checklist - Birds: Thai checklist plus for those localities completed.
Checklist - Butterfly/skipper Thai checklist.
Trip Reports - All Thailand trip reports since go-live.
Resources - Fieldguides, websites and sounds.
Planning - Completed.
Contact -Form for feedback available.

North Thailand Birding went live in September 2011. This website is an on-going project, initiated back in October 2009 when photographs were first taken and localities first visited. Information, photos, scope and detailed coverage will be updated and expanded over time. For some sections this will be a lengthy processes - especially locality information and maps - as time in the field has priority over sitting at a computer!

Feedback through the Contact form is welcomed, as are any comments on identification of species in photographs.

Planned expansion includes more localities and locality checklists, and Reptile and Amphibian checklists. Additional photo galleries will be added to include Thai natural scenery and habitats, places of interest, dragonflies and damsel flies, insects, reptiles, amphibians and moths.

A Word on Place Names and Transliteration

Due to the size and complexities of the Thai alphabet, the transliteration of Thai place names into the Roman alphabet is not straightforward. Furthermore, signs around the country will vary the spelling for the same names. For example Nakhon is often rendered as Nakorn.

An official transliteration system does exist, but is not always followed. Further confusion arises with several of the Thai characters being substituted with what would appear to be the incorrect equivalent. For example the Thai 'g' sound is usually transliterated as the letter 'k', or the Thai 'w' sound replaced with 'v', even though Thai has no 'v' sound. For example 'Phuket' is written whereas the Thai pronunciation is much closer to Phuget. An 'h' after a consonant is silent - so 'Thai' is pronounced 'tie', not 'thigh", and 'Phuket' is pronounced 'pooget' not 'fooget'.

The Thai tones, so important in the language, are not transliterated, and neither are the long forms of vowels - a long 'a' and a short 'a' in Thai are different vowels, but will both be written 'a'. It is not surprising that visitors can have problems communicating. By preference, place names used on this website are those most likely to be found on road signs or, if not available, the official transliteration.