First-time birding trip to Northern Thailand - Jan/Feb 2024

[Kitsafari]

Wow a marten!!!!! I would make a trip to that hide just for that. i've never seen one in southeast asia. i'm so jealous. 

btw, great shots of the birds despite the low lighting conditions. 

[Atravelynn]

Some very exciting species came your way!

 

[PeterHG]

5 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

Wow a marten!!!!! I would make a trip to that hide just for that. i've never seen one in southeast asia. i'm so jealous. 

We were absolutely stunned when two of them suddenly appeared. Both by their size and the impact they had on all other creatures.

 

5 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

Some very exciting species came your way!

They did and we loved our time in the hides!

[michael-ibk]

Really enjoying this Peter, those hides really paid off big time! Great photos, we all know how tough rainforests are. Having a good guide is so beneficial in these habitats. Time and time again my illusions of getting by myself and finding tricky species on my own have been shattered. Looking forward to more. 

[PeterHG]

On 3/17/2024 at 4:48 PM, michael-ibk said:

Having a good guide is so beneficial in these habitats. Time and time again my illusions of getting by myself and finding tricky species on my own have been shattered.

Very true, Michael and if even you cannot locate them an old guy like me has no chance...;)

[PeterHG]

Chiang Rai, Chiang Saen

 

After 5 days we reluctantly left the Baan Maka Lodge and drove back to Bangkok, to catch a domestic flight to Chiang Mai. Here we rented another car, again through Sunny Cars and drove to Chiang Rai. We intended to spend a night there and visit some temples. At home we had found a hotel that looked a little over-the-top, but was reasonably priced and got good reviews. And a little over-the-top was just what we wanted for a change.

From the outside the hotel did not look too impressive, but inside everything was done up in red and gold. Okay, a little paint would do no harm in certain places, but as you can see yours truly felt quite at home….;)

 

 

 

 

 

As it turned out ‘over-the-top’ was also the expression that came to mind when visiting the first of the two temples we visited: Wat Rong Khun, or the White Temple. Construction of the temple was only started in the latte half on the twentieth century and much of it was destroyed in an earthquake in 2014. Although completion of the project is not expected before 2070, Most of it has been restored already and it is certainly an impressive temple. As the name indicates it is completely white with countless decorations, often inlaid with pieces of mirrored glass. On a sunny day, like we had, this has a dazzling effect and wearing sunglasses is a must. Even the restrooms were impressive, though not white, but gold. The gold symbolises the human desire for wealth and money, whereas the white colour in the other buildings stand for the merits of the mind as opposed to worldly possessions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although there were quite a few visitors, it was certainly not packed and we could take our time stroll through the grounds and various buildings. At some points, of course, we had to wait until whole families had taken selfies, one after the other, in front of a dragon’s head or a footbridge. But that is part of the deal nowadays. We sat down on a bench in the shade and enjoyed ourselves by watching the antics of some blogger of influencer. She would position her tripod with iPhone at a particularly picturesque spot, press the record video button and the gracefully walk away towards the temple, turned around while tossing her hair and smiling at the camera. Of course by that time the whole selfie family had crossed in front of the phone, so the whole procedure had to be repeated. I must say her patience was admirable and I have no doubt the footage was appreciated by her followers.

 

 

 

 

The Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten ) was slightly more subdued, but almost as impressive. Construction of this temple did not start until 2005 and was completed in 2016.

 

 

 

Apparently there had been a flower festival in Chiang Rai and when we walked round the centre in the afternoon we could still see some of the ornaments and decorations.

 

 

 

Our walk ended near the famous Chiang Rai clocktower. It is said to have a beautiful light and sound performance in the evening but  we were told that, because of repairs, this could not be viewed.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18 by PeterHG

[TonyQ]

@PeterHGa very understated room, you look very much at home

[Soukous]

On 3/17/2024 at 3:48 PM, michael-ibk said:

Time and time again my illusions of getting by myself and finding tricky species on my own have been shattered.

 

ditto

[Soukous]

34 minutes ago, PeterHG said:

Very true, Michael and if even you cannot locate them an old guy like me has no chance...;)

 

and ditto again

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ, @Soukous

10 hours ago, TonyQ said:

a very understated room, you look very much at home

I'm trying, I'm trying...;)

 

[PeterHG]

A short drive from Chiang Rai took us to the town of Chiang Saen in the northernmost tip of Thailand. This is where people go to visit the Golden Triangle, the almost mythical area of opium and poppy fields. All that is in the past but the Golden Triangle viewpoint, overlooking the Mekong river and both Laos and Myanmar still attracts quite a few visitors. When we were there, however, it was very quiet.

 

 

 

We had booked a 4-nights stay at the Viang Yonok hotel, bordering the Chiang Saen lake. After our domestic flight north and the single night stays in Chiang Mai and Ching Rai we wanted to take it easy for a few days. Opposite the hotel a footpath along the lake takes you to the visitor centre, where there is a boardwalk. They charge 200 BHT pp for the entry. Not really worth the price, but you can go after 5 p.m., when the office is closed and take a walk there to enjoy the sunset. The footpath along the lake, which you don’t have to pay for, goes on for quite a distance.

 

 

 

The whole setting of the Viang Yonok hotel is rustic and quiet. Well it usually is, anyway. When we were there a school group had taken up residence in the visitor’s centre for exactly the 4 days we were there. No problem, of course, but the group was woken up each morning with deafening beats produced by large speakers, to do their morning exercises. We had intended to do some early morning birding walks along the lake, but thought better of it. Also whenever one of the teachers gathered the group ( some 20 pupils; to give some instructions, he would also do this by means of a microphone and the aforementioned speakers. In my teaching days (quite a few years ago, now) I have been on school outings numerous times, but I never felt the need for that kind of amplification to make my point….;)

 

 

We visited the nearby Nam Kam nature reserve a few times, but we found the birding there difficult. I had tried to arrange a local guide here, too, but apparently there weren’t any. I did manage to get some good photos of ‘our’ European Kingfisher from one of the hides.

In hindsight 3 nights would have been enough here, but we did enjoy the hotel.

 

[pedro maia]

Some very nice pictures as expected Peter, that mus have been quite a trip, almost one month in Thailand, I´m looking forward for the the rest.

 

You look lke a king, or maybe a druglord from the golden triangle, in that Chiang Rai hotel

[PeterHG]

Thanks, Pedro, I’ll think about which image I would like to live up to

[Atravelynn]

Your room is a spectacle to behold as is the White Temple. That European Kingfisher fits right in.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Atravelynn. We enjoyed both and the kingfisher was a real bonus !

[PeterHG]

From Chiang Saen we drove to Fang, where we hoped to visit the Fang Hot Springs. Not so much for the springs themselves, but mainly for the birding opportunities.

We stayed at Gumbie House, just a few kilometres from the entrance to the hot springs so conveniently located. It is an excellent place to stay with comfortable rooms and a good breakfast, taken on the terrace outside.

 

 

We had two nights here, so one full day. After our mid-afternoon check-in we decided to drive to the Hot Springs for a short reconnaissance. The area was nice and offered some pleasant walks. There were birds alright, but fewer than we had expected. We went back the next morning with the same sort of result.

 

 

 

We then decided to try the road to Doi Lang West. At our evening meal the day before a Thai woman, who was guiding for an American couple, mentioned they had seen a fair number of species there. I asked her to point out the road on Google maps and she vaguely indicated a track, somewhere to the north. Somehow I did not trust the information, so back in our apartment I read through a few trip reports, until I came across what I thought was the correct road, complete with GPS coordinates.

This turned out to be the accurate info and the road took us up the mountain until we saw a few cars parked at the side and some birders scanning the bushes and trees. This big notice board was evidence we had arrived at a birding hotspot.

 

 

The ‘refrain from’ part of the message, was happily ignored and at various places mealworms were put out to attract birds. We were there early in the afternoon, so it was relatively quiet with both birds and birders, but we did come across the American couple and their guide again. Oblivious to the fact that she had sent us to a completely different destinations, she greeted us with a smile and a welcoming “ you found it”… The friendly couple walked with us for a few minutes to show the spot where they had found a Hodgson’s Frogmouth, a species related to nightjars and strangely enough, hummingbirds. Its camouflage is so efficient we would have walked right past it.

 

 

 

 

A little later on we had an interesting talk with a young Dutch couple in their thirties, who had been travelling around the world, with the sole purpose of visiting as many birding locations as possible. What had started out as a six-months’ adventure had extended in a two-years’ road trip through South America and Asia. They were both passionate and experienced birders and happy to share their stories and their knowledge. I looked up their sightings on observation.org, which many Dutch birders use rather than Ebird and I found that they had already seen over 5000 species. That is not a total I will ever come close to..... They told us to continue driving along the road until we came to the Myanmar border. There we should scan a patch of bushes on the left and wait for a while. This would give us a good chance to see the Scarlet-faced Liocichla. I must confess that, in spite of having prepared for the trip, I had never even heard of the bird. But their directions were spot-on and when we arrived at the border post with a dozing guard and a ramshackle gate, we spotted the bird after only a few minutes. It is not often  a birding tip turns out this well….;)

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

Wow, you have tackled the Doi Lang West road! Bravo! I have skipped it, too close to Myanmar for Zvezda's comfort. Maybe next time?! 

[PeterHG]

3 hours ago, xelas said:

Maybe next time?! 

There’s certainly some good birding along the higher parts of the road. 

[PeterHG]

Next on our itinerary was Don Inthanon National Park, with Thailand’s highest peak at 2565 metres  above sea level. We had booked a simple homestay there: the Pea Moo Homestay situated a few kilometres off the main through road, already in the National Park. The dirt road to the hamlet was under repair, which meant that every time we used it, a heavy excavator had to make way for us. They happily obliged, but this involved moving away some big boulders and levelling the surface enough for us to drive through. A bit of a nuisance, but we only used the road twice a day.

The homestay itself was very basic. Nothing wrong with that, but for an older guy like me the beanbags on the terrace are not ideal. Lowering myself into one of them was ok, but getting up was a different matter. The host, a woman in her thirties, was the nicest person you could imagine. The stay included breakfast and when we told her we would be picked up early the next morning by our guide, she immediately assured us this was no problem at all. And there she was, at 6:30, with a delicious take-away Thai breakfast, wrapped in leaves of a banana tree.

 

 

 

 

Finding a guide for Don Inthanon had not been very easy. Most of them start from Chiang Mai and were fully booked or just too expensive. In the end I found a guide through the https://www.gowithjoetravel.com website. He picked us up at 7 am and took us to several birding spots along the road leading up to the top of Don Inthanon. The trip lasted till early afternoon, which was long enough for us. He charged 6000 bht  for the two of us. He was a cheerful guide and good company. He only had a few years of birding experience and was definitely not as knowledgable as our previous guides, but we had a good time with him.

 

 

 

Perhaps the best birding area is the boardwalk right at the top. This leads through dense mossy forest and has some interesting species that seem to be quite at ease with the passing humans, so they are more approachable than elsewhere. Of course photography is not easy under the trees, but you can’t have it all..

When we got there with our guide it was already late in the morning, when the place gets quite crowded with all the tour vans, arriving from Chiang Mai, packed with tourists having booked a day trip. We were approached by a bewildered Frenchman, who asked us if we knew where the viewpoint was. He had just arrived with his family, all armed with walking sticks and ready to hike down the treeless slopes of the mountain, enjoying endless views and perhaps even some snow-covered mountain-tops. When we told them those vistas were not to be had here he left us thoroughly disappointed and muttered something about the Pyrenees.

 

 

 

 

 

We went there again early in the morning, the day after. It was only 7 degrees then, so quite chilly As it turned out, most of the birds thought so, too and it wasn’t until 9 or 9:30 that more of them started to show. Among them some beautiful sunbirds that we did not see anywhere else.

 

 

The Dutch couple we met at Don Lang had told us there was another homestay (Rang Bon Doi: 18.5389, 98.5505) that had some bird hides in the forest, which might be worth checking out. It  As in Baan Maka this turned out to be a good choice and we spent a few pleasant hours in the hide that afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

@PeterHGbeautiful birds from this section 

[michael-ibk]

Agree, some stunning birds - and photos.

[xelas]

Beautiful birds and photos ... but those vans?! They would scare me away. We were lucky and had the place almost completely to ourselves.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ @michael-ibk @xelas!

On 3/30/2024 at 9:04 AM, xelas said:

We were lucky and had the place almost completely to ourselves

We did too, early in the morning, but it really got busy after 11 am 

[PeterHG]

Relaxing on an Island...

 

We both wanted to spend the last three days of our Thailand trip in a quiet and relaxing place and, after considering many options, we had chosen the island of Koh Yao Noi to do this. This involved another domestic flight, so we drove from Don Inthanon to Chiang Mai and caught a plane to the island of Phuket. Being a tourist hotspot, that was definitely not our preferred destination, but we needed to fly there in order to catch a ferry to Koh Yao Noi. We had opted for the speedboat, which took us to the island in just 30 minutes.

 

 

 

We stayed in the Suntisook resort, on the east side of the island and had booked a bungalow with sea view. It was an excellent place with friendly people, a good restaurant and spectacular sunrises. The only minor issue was the road that runs between the resort and the beach, which is usually quiet but can be a little noisy at times with passing cars and scooters.

 

 

 

 

 

We actually rented a scooter ourselves for a day and it  really is the perfect way to discover the island. At only 5 euros for the day it costs next to nothing and allows to to get to most places within a short time.

We did not do any birding there, but the resort was a favourite hang-out spot for Oriental Hornbills, so I couldn’t help but take a few photos.

 

 

 

 

After three relaxing days we flew back to Bangkok and and onwards to Amsterdam the next day. We are looking back on a beautiful trip in a friendly country. Self-drive, like @xelas had predicted, was a breeze, perhaps with the exception of Bangkok. Thank you all for reading through this report and for leaving likes and comments. Much appreciated!

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Thanks for a really enjoyable report Peter! I'm happy you could go and had a good time there.