January 10-31, 2026 with Jay VanderGaast & Uthai Treesucon
In my view, there's no better way to kick off a new year than with a winter getaway to one of my favorite places--Thailand! I love reading about how much snow is getting dumped in my driveway back home rather than experiencing it firsthand, and sunny, balmy Thailand is a great place to read about it! I love the smiling, friendly people, and the gentle Buddhist way of life. I love the array of amazing, mouth-watering dishes we were presented with daily, even in the field. Especially in the field! And most of all, I just love the birding here! There are so many exciting species, such a rich diversity, that even on this, my 8th run of this tour, I still picked up several lifers! Add in the possibilities of running into various primates, several ungulates, elephants, sun bears, and even leopards (one day!) not to mention countless butterflies, dragonflies, and other cool critters, and a birding trip to Thailand is even more exciting! That I got to share this great experience with such a fun, compatible group of fellow birders was the delectable frosting on an already scrumptious cake!
As usual we eased into the birding with an afternoon around Bangkok, getting acquainted with some of the regular species we'd be becoming familiar with in the coming weeks, while also picking up our only Alexandrine Parakeets as well as other less common species like Spotted Owlet and Yellow Bittern. We hit the ground running the next day, straight down to the coast where we searched for one of the rarest birds in the world, the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. And happily we found it pretty quickly and had some amazing views as it fed in a nearby salt pan. (Even more happily, Mark and Tori were able to catch up with the Spoonie after the tour!) With that high-level target quickly in hand, we could relax a bit and just enjoy the remaining time on the coast sorting through throngs of waders to find Nordmann's Greenshanks, Malaysian and White-faced plovers, Asian Dowitchers, and Long-toed Stints. Non-wader highlights along the coast included a lone Pink-backed Pelican, a couple of scarce Chinese Egrets, several Slender-billed Gulls, and an incredibly cooperative Mangrove Whistler in a patch of tall mangroves that is sadly scheduled to be leveled for a development project of some sort.
Turning inland, we got our first taste of southeast Asian forest birding at the incredible Kaeng Krachan National Park, and it quickly showed why it's one of my favorite birding venues in the country. In the first couple of hours of late afternoon birding here, we tallied two species I'd long-wanted to see, but had up to that point never encountered: the colourful Crimson-winged Woodpecker and the very unique Crested Jayshrike! That was one heck of a good start! The next couple of days here turned up so many great birds: the always impressive Great Hornbill, as well as the much smaller and scarcer Rusty-cheeked Hornbill, the uncommon Little Cuckoo-Dove, a cryptic Gray Nightjar (well-spotted, Linda!), Red-bearded Bee-eater, Banded Kingfisher, Long-tailed, Banded, and Black-&-yellow broadbills, a handsome male Silver Oriole, now a scarce wintering bird in Thailand, skulking Spot-necked and Collared babblers, Black-thighed Falconet, White-browed Piculet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, and numerous bulbuls, barbets, babblers, warblers, and more! It was a veritable buffet of beautiful birds! A visit to this amazing park also offers some great opportunities for mammal watching, and our numerous great bird sightings were punctuated by the wonderful wails of Lar Gibbons echoing across the forested slopes, while we also enjoyed looks at the gibbons, as well as both Dusky and Robinson's Banded langurs, Stump-tailed Macaques, Fea's Muntjac, and even a Sun Bear!
Also in the Kaeng Krachan area, we spent part of one afternoon in a large, well-maintained hide just outside of the park. Hides like this offer the unique opportunity to observe and photograph some incredibly shy and difficult-to-see birds of the forest interior, and in our 3 hour visit, we enjoyed amazing looks at a number of species that would otherwise would likely have been on our lists as heard-only species, if at all. Arguably the highlight of this visit was the game birds, the chickens, and during our time here we had long, satisfying looks at a quartet of species. A group of Kalij Pheasants, the males and females both stunning in their own way, foraged boldly in the open on the grains provided for them by our host, while two species of shy partridge, Scaly-breasted and the beautifully-marked Bar-backed, made shorter, and more furtive forays out to feed. Most exciting, though, were a couple of striking Gray Peacock-Pheasants that took long drinks at the water feature and scratched around for some feed before sauntering off into the underbrush. What a treat to get such fantastic looks at these gorgeous birds. In between visits from the chickens there were plenty of other birds to hold our attention, and get our cameras clicking. A beautiful female Greater Flameback probed the crevices of a dead trunk with its powerful bill, numerous Asian Emerald Doves scratched around in the leaf litter, a trio of laughingthrushes--White-crested, and both Greater and Lesser Necklaced--bounced across the ground and scrambled about in the low arching branches, and numerous smaller birds--Abbot's and Puff-throated babblers, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, both Chinese and Indochinese Blue Flycatchers, and a stonking male Siberian Blue Robin, among others-- splashed in the pool and flitted about above the clearing. And all the while a bevy of small mammals--Northern Treeshrew, Himalayan Striped and Gray-bellied squirrels, and Indochinese Ground-Squirrel--scurried about, occasionally joined by a couple of diminutive Lesser Mouse Deer. I'm sure many GB of storage space were used up in our time here!
Reluctantly leaving Kaeng Krachan, we skirted around Bangkok as we tracked back northward to another marvellous national park-Khao Yai, making a few stops along the way for things like Indian Thick-Knee, White-browed Crake, and the endemic Rufous Limestone-Babbler. The next couple of days had us exploring the park for a bunch of great local specialties. The brilliant Silver Pheasant is always a high-priority target here, and, after a couple of strikes, we ultimately connected with a trio of these sharp-looking birds. Other nice finds in the park included an adult and an immature Buffy Fish-Owl on a well-hidden day roost, several raptors including Jerdon's Baza, Rufous-bellied Eagle, and Gray-faced Buzzard, speedy Brown-backed Needletails, great looks at the usually elusive Common Green-Magpie, Blue-bearded Bee-eaters, a trio of chunky Dusky Broadbills, decent looks (for some) at a sneaky Eared Pitta, several flowerpeckers, including the well-marked Yellow-vented and the local Cambodian, and the stunning Van Hasselt's Sunbird. And one evening just outside the park, we had a wonderful show from several lanky Great Eared-Nightjars gliding over, followed by superb looks at a huge Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl! Khao Yai, like Kaeng Krachan, is also a great park for mammals, and again accompanied by the singing gibbons(2 species here) we watched a massive Asian Elephant foraging just inside the forest, where it was surprisingly hard to see at times, we had a laugh at the antics of the wily Pig-tailed Macaques, one of which managed to raid our supply of bananas from the back of our van, and had a surprise visit from a Malayan Porcupine that wandered through our picnic lunch spot.
While still in the Khao Yai region, we made a couple of excursions to areas outside of the park. The first was to the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, famous, among birders, for being an excellent place to see Thailand's National Bird, the impressive Siamese Fireback. It was a bit of a long drive, but getting point-blank views of these gorgeous pheasants made the drive worth it. On the way back from Sakaerat, we had just enough daylight left to spot some wild Gaur grazing on a grassy hillside, then saw some even closer ones right on the road as we returned to the highway in the dark. The other site we visited north of the park is part of a research facility for animal nutrition. The grasslands here are excellent for an assortment of open-country species, and in our short visit here we added a bunch of species, including several we saw nowhere else. Among these were a Chinese Francolin singing from the exposed limb of a large dead tree (my first time ever actually seeing one), Plaintive Cuckoo, Freckle-breasted Woodpecker, a trio of striking Black Bazas, Chestnut-capped and Yellow-eyed babblers, both normally quite elusive and tough to see, and Red Avadavat, including a handful of colorful males. From here though, our time in the south was at an end, and we returned to Bangkok to catch a flight up to Chiang Mai.
After an overnight in Chiang Mai, we headed out the following morning on our way south of the city, aiming for the lovely dry dipterocarp forests of Mae Ping NP. Our drive was broken up with several stops in some productive rice paddies, most notably at Ban Thi, which had become quite renowned for hosting a number of scarce wintering raptors. This year we connected with several of these birds, including a couple of Booted Eagles, a Short-toed Snake-Eagle, and an Imperial Eagle, while dipping on a couple of others that were known to be around (White-eyed Buzzard, where were you?!). After an interesting lunch, complete with several exotic dishes--bamboo worms, ant egg omelets, and frogs (good on you those who tried all of these!)-- we continued on and finished our day at Mae Ping. It was a bit of a quiet afternoon, but there was still enough to hold our attention: a pair of Greater Yellownapes, several Gray-headed Parakeets, Black-headed Oriole, Rufescent Prinia. But things got even more interesting after dark. While enjoying a picnic dinner in the park, we were interrupted by calling Brown Boobook and Oriental Scops-Owl, both of which we tracked down for some great looks. Then capping off our evening, we found a fantastic Blyth's Frogmouth, getting super scope views of this weird bird! A nearby Brown Wood-Owl wasn't quite as cooperative, unfortunately.
Returning to the park the next morning, we continued working on finding some of the specialties of the area, eventually connecting with a number of them. This region is especially good for woodpeckers, and they were significantly more active than the previous afternoon, and the 6 species seen included 5 new ones for the trip--Common Flameback, Lesser Yellownape, and White-bellied, Black-headed, and Gray-capped Pygmy woodpeckers. We also picked up both Oriental Cuckooshrike and the very local Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Burmese and Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, Small Minivet, Eurasian Jay, and the beautiful Red-billed Blue Magpie. And capping off our visit, on our way out of the park, we spotted a perched Changeable Hawk-Eagle, a species we don't see often on the tour! From here we headed back to the north, stopping in at a non-hunting reserve to see the spectacular Green Peafowl, which the reserve was set up to protect. We then continued on to our lodging at the base Doi Inthanon, finishing the afternoon with a short stroll from our lodge, and picking up a few new species--Rufous-winged Buzzard, Wire-tailed Swallow, Golden-headed Cisticola. Then at dusk, we drove a short distance to a productive area for nightjars, where we successfully found all three of the target species--Large-tailed, Indian, and Savanna.
The next day was spent exploring the slopes of Doi Inthanon, sampling several different elevations and habitats, each with a different set of species. As always, we began at the top, picking up Speckled Wood-Pigeons at their morning roost spot before continuing up to the wonderful boardwalk at the summit bog. Our time at the top of Thailand's highest mountain was fantastic, with birds like Rufous-throated Partridge, Yellow-browed Tit, the mouse-like Pygmy Cupwing, Ashy-throated, Buff-barred, and Blyth's Leaf warblers, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Mountain Tailorbird, Chestnut Thrush (an irruptive winter visitor not present most years), and flashy Green-tailed and Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds making it hard for us to tear ourselves away from this fantastic area. Before descending, we of course had to make the now traditional visit to the men's rooms for the always tricky task of finding Ashy Wood-Pigeons, but that turned out to be a success too this year. As we moved down in elevation, the mix of birds changed up, and new, exciting species turned up at each locale. Gorgeous Golden Babblers and charming Spectacled Barwings at one site, Hume's Treecreeper and Yellow-bellied Warbler at the next, Rosy Minivet and Streaked Spiderhunter still further down, then Slaty-backed Forktail and Plumbeous and White-capped redstarts, and finally, Black-backed Forktail at the lowest site we visited before calling it a day.
Our second day on the mountain found us concentrating more on the rich middle elevations, where plenty more new species awaited us. The morning was full of highlights: a shimmering Asian Emerald Cuckoo singing from a bare branch overhead, Maroon Orioles chortling in the canopy, gorgeous Yellow-cheeked Tits foraging along the edge of a clearing, Rufous-backed Sibias clambering around like colorful nuthatches, and at last, after many close brushes, a White-bellied Erpornis that finally cooperated for all to see! My personal highlight though, was finally catching up with a trio of super Red-billed Scimitar-Babblers, a species that had eluded me on all my previous tours! Another highlight for the day was the visit to a spot that photographers had been baiting birds, and our visit to the site gave us views of a handful of often tough-to-see understory species, including Pygmy Cupwing, Slaty-bellied Tesia, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, and both Lesser and Himalayan shortwings. The afternoon proved a bit quieter, though we still managed to track down a few new species including Stripe-breasted Woodpecker and Chestnut-vented Nuthatch.
The next day was a travel day, though before getting underway, we made a quick visit to the viewing tower at Inthanon Nest. Our main goal here was getting looks at the scarce and declining Blossom-headed Parakeet, which did eventually show, though our views were pretty brief before it took off again. But the eye level looks at colorful Purple Sunbirds and Golden-fronted Leafbirds in the flowering Bombax trees were also a big hit up here. And then it was time to move on, with a couple of hours driving to get past Chiang Mai before making our next stop at the Mae Taeng Irrigation Project to search for some rare Long-billed Plovers that were overwintering. Several Crested Treeswifts, our only ones of the tour, were a nice bonus in addition to the plovers. After a delicious lunch of duck and noodles, we carried on, stopping in at some rice paddies for Gray-headed Lapwing and snipe, both Common and Pin-tailed, followed by a short cultural visit to the exquisite Wat Ban Den. And finally, on to Wat Tham Pha Phlong, where the Pin-tailed Green-Pigeons that are always here weren't, but our walk up the long staircase to the temple at the top was still scenic and enjoyable, and a large flock of Striated Yuhinas helped make up for the pigeons' absence.
The next 3 days were devoted to exploring different sections of Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park, Thailand's northernmost national park. Doi San Ju was up first, and our day along this quiet, paved road was absolutely fantastic. One of the key species up here for birders and photographers alike is the stunning Mrs Hume's Pheasant, which has been a bit less reliable over the past couple of years. We happened to spot a male from the van as we were driving up, and eventually managed to relocate it on the slope below, giving reasonable views as it slunk through the tall grass. For the rest of the day, we worked our way right on up to the Myanmar border and back down again, a couple of times, tallying so many great species. The morning featured birds like Long-tailed and Gray-chinned minivets, White-browed Shrike-Babbler, Gray Treepie, Pallas's and Chinese leaf warblers, the returning White-spectacled Warbler, now in its 4th winter here, a bold Spot-breasted Parrotbill, White-browed and Red-eyed scimitar-babblers, incredible looks at a usually skulky Gray-throated Babbler, the gorgeous Scarlet-faced Liochichla, White-browed Laughingthrush, Black-breasted Thrush, Large, Rufous-bellied, and Chinese Vivid (for some) niltavas, Siberian Rubythroat, Slaty-blue and Pale Blue flycatchers, and Daurian Redstart! After a mouth-watering picnic lunch (another one!), we carried on birding, adding a few more new species through the afternoon--Oriental Turtle-Dove, Cook's Swift, Striated Bulbul, the scarce Scarlet Finch, and one of the other big prizes up here, Giant Nuthatch!
We followed up that with a day on Doi Ang Khang, where things got rolling with good looks at Silver-eared Laughingthrush, Rufous-fronted babbler (seen at last!) and Spot-winged Grosbeak, plus a quick look at our only Common Rosefinches for the tour. We then moved up to the local temple, where the monks throw food out for the birds (LOTS of food!) daily, giving us the chance for some close up looks at gorgeous Silver-eared Mesias, Blue-winged Minlas, and a decent selection of thrushes, including the uncommon Gray-sided Thrush and a rare Gray-winged Blackbird. Then on to the agricultural station for a lovely male hill Blue Flycatcher, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, and a pair of secretive Streaked Wren-Babblers. We ended our visit here tracking down the local Brown-breasted Bulbul before going back down to check some rice paddies near Fang, adding Greater Painted-Snipe, Richard's Pipit, and Chestnut-eared Bunting to our lists. Our final day here saw us hitting the eastern slope of Doi Lang, where despite the dwindling number of possibe new species, we picked up some great birds like the delightful Yellow-bellied Fairy-Fantail, Chestnut-headed Tesia, charming Black-throated Tits, Whiskered Yuhina, Brown-crowned Scimitar-Babbler, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, Himalayan Bluetail, and White-tailed Robin.
Finally, we drove east to the Maekong River, where we could look in to Laos but couldn't spot any birds there! On the way up, we made a few stops, adding Bronze-winged Jacana, an unusually easy Slaty-breasted Rail, and Eurasian Wryneck at Nong Luang, the sometimes difficult (not this year!) Annam Limestone Babbler at Pha Chang Park, and Gray-throated Martin along the Kok River. The day ended with the spectacular show of hundreds of harriers, both Pied and Eastern Marsh, coming into a night roost at Wiang Nong Lom. And on our final morning, we managed to pick up a handful of quaility birds with a Critically Endangered Baer's Pochard drake among a group of Ferruginous Ducks at Nong Bong Khai, and finally, a Blue-naped Pitta, and for some a tiny Asian Stubtail, at a local horse farm. What a great ending to a fantastic trip across Thailand!
I've got to give a big shout out to our awesome local team-- guide Uthai, drivers Jiang and Lif, and our field crew of Wat, Kaew, and Sunisa (Goong)-- who took such good care of us and added so much to this tour. I owe them all so much for their parts in making this tour such an enjoyable experience for all of us. And thanks too, to all of you for choosing Field Guides. I couldn't have asked for a better group of folks to share this experience with, and I would love to get the chance to travel with all of you again!
Mammals recorded on the tour:
Northern Treeshrew (Tupaia belangeri): easy to see at Rot Fai Park and Mr. Bird's hide.
Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis): the cheeky monkeys at Wat Phra Puttabat Noi.
Southern Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina): the even cheekier monkeys at Khao Yai.
Stump-tailed Macaque (Macaca arctoides): a couple along the roadside at Kaeng Krachan.
Dusky Langur (Trachypithecus obscurus): Common at Kaeng Krachan, including the lower areas.
Robinson's Banded Langur (Presbytis robinsoni): Only higher up at Kaeng Krachan, where we saw some at the upper camp.
Pileated Gibbon (Hylobates pileatus): Heard only at Khao Yai.
Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar): Heard often and seen a few times at Kaeng Krachan and Khao Yai.
Black Giant Squirrel (Ratufa bicolor): A couple of these monster squirrels were seen at Khao Yai.
Finlayson's Squirrel (Callosciurus finlaysonii): Widespread, and extremely variable, from blond to blackish.
Gray-bellied Squirrel (Callosciurus caniceps): fairly common, and easily told by the black tail tip.
Himalayan Striped Squirrel (Tamiops mcclellandii): the tiny, chipmunk-like squirrel. Lots at Mr.Bird's hide and Inthanon Nest.
Indochinese Ground Squirrel (Menetes berdmorei): the larger striped squirrel at Mr. Bird's hide.
Malayan Porcupine (Hystrix brachyura): one sauntered by our picnic spot at Khao Yai during lunch.
Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus): folks in the 2nd truck saw one next to the road while driving down from KKNP's upper camp after dark.
Javan Mongoose (Urva javanica): One came out onto the road in front of the 2nd van at the animal nutrition facility.
Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus): A large bull feeding beside the road at Khao Yai.
Lesser Indo-Malayan Chevrotain (Tragulus kanchil): A couple of these tiny deer were feeding at Mr. Bird's hide.
Southern Red Muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak): Surprisingly only one of these small reddish deer at Khao Yai.
Fea's Muntjac (Muntiacus feae): one of these dark muntjacs crossed the road ahead of the 2nd truck at dusk at KKNP.
Sambar (Rusa unicolor): A few of these large deer in open areas at Khao Yai.
Brow-antlered Deer (Rucervus eldii): A couple in the campground at Mae Ping NP. Also called Eld's Deer.
Gaur (Bos gaurus): A few at dusk on the return from Sakaearat, including a couple crossing the road right in front of the vans!
Top 3 Birds:
1: Spoon-billed Sandpiper
2: Blyth's Frogmouth
3: Blue-naped Pitta
Runners up: Gray Peacock-Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, & Buffy Fish-Owl tied for 4th
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/464133
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/tha26TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Jay