This is by no means a comprehensive list of links and I’ll be updating it regularly whenever I come across something new.
-Thai Birdwatching Sites, Clubs and Information
Nick Upton’s Thailand Birdwatching Site: The most helpful and in-depth guide to birding in the Kingdom. Nick Upton went to great lengths to document and describes in detail a number of quality birding sites, complete with maps, travel details, recent sighting reports and more; this site is an invaluable source of up-to-date information for birders visiting the kingdom.
Bird Conservation Society of Thailand: BCST is home of the Thailand Birding Club, which provides bird reports, news and information as well as organizes birding tours throughout the country. A recent and updated list of the birds of Thailand can be downloaded at their site.
BCST also runs a birding forum in Thai (and sometiems in English) which offers free advice to birders about where to find rare birds or special migrants which may be in the local area. Since the site is mostly in Thai, most foreign birders may have a hard time finding anything useful due to the language barrier, thus my appologies.
National Parks of Thailand: This is the Ministry’s Official Site which offers information on the various protected parks throughout the country and is the place to contact if you wish to arrange lodging or obtain permits to visit specialized locations. -Also a good place to send your comments and insight regarding the parks you may have visited on your trip.
- Local Blogs
Peter Ericsson’s Thai Birder Blog is a small representation of the sheer volume of time Peter spends birding and photographing birds in the kingdom. -Well worth the time and includes plently of great photography.
Dave Gandy’s Electric Birding covers his birding adventures in the greater Bangkok area (and other sites as well) and contains plenty of lovely photos.
Dave Willams of Paddle Asia offers interesting tidbits of whats happening on the birding front in Phuket and Phang Nga on his Thailandbirding website.
-Local Conservation Projects
Yonok Wetlands Project: A unique area of wetland bordering Nong Bong Kai Wildlife Sanctuary which was found to be home to River Tern and Grass Owl, two species found nowhere else in Thailand. Thanks to Mick and Dowroong, the local comminuty has stepped up to combat the threat of hunting and are working to preserve this hallowed site.
-Thai Bird Photos
Peter Ericsson’s Photo Gallery contains photos of birds from his trips throughout Thailand as well as birds from other countries around the world. Any person who has spent time photographing wildlife knows how hard it is to get a good shot, so take that into consideration when you are browsing through the photos.
Ian Dugdale has assembled an impressive display of photos of not only birds but also mammals, insects, reptiles and other creatures which can be seen in Phuket and the surrounding areas. His painstaking work has taken him to numerous sites throughout the country in search of many elusive species. The website is the perfect place for those attempting to identify an animal or bird they may have seen in the course of their stay in Thailand.
The Oriental Bird Club Image Database has photographs of over 1890 species and is a good place to start if you have a hard time identifying a particular specimen that you couldn’t make out in the feild guide.
-International Birding Sites and Forums
Surfbirds: A wealth of information, photos, checklists, calls and more, all geared towards the birding community. For those who are interested in a bit of competition, you can post your lifers lists up and see how you compare to others in the local birding community! To go directly to the Thai lists, click here.
Oriental Bird Club: The best site for all those brainy birders who love to read up about orintology and other bird-related scientific stuff, all in relation to the continent of Asia.
