Birding Tour Thailand: Southern Thailand – Jewels of the South

The peninsula of southern Thailand, part of geological Sundaland, is a birders’ and naturalists’ paradise. Bounded by the Gulf of Thailand to the east and the Andaman Sea to the west, this lush tropical region boasts a maritime climate and a unique combination of terrestrial and marine attractions that rank among the best globally. Our extra-small, small-group tour is designed to search for the region’s special birds in some spectacular and unique limestone karst scenery. This tour will depart with a minimum of just four, and a maximum of only six participants.

Malayan Banded Pitta is one of our spectacular targets on this trip.

There are numerous special avian treats in southern Thailand, from several spectacular families, such as pittas, kingfishers, trogons, malkohas, hornbills, barbets, bee-eaters, and broadbills, including such beauties as Malayan Banded Pitta, Mangrove Pitta, (Gurney’s Pitta is now regrettably considered extirpated from Thailand), Great Hornbill, White-crowned Hornbill, Helmeted Hornbill (now considered Critically Endangered by BirdLife International), Bushy-crested Hornbill, Green Broadbill, Banded Broadbill, Black-and-yellow Broadbill, Black-and-red Broadbill, Rail-babbler, Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Orange-breasted Trogon, Red-throated Barbet, Golden-whiskered Barbet, Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Red-billed Malkoha, Banded Kingfisher, Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Brown-winged Kingfisher, Ruddy Kingfisher, Malayan Blue-banded Kingfisher, and Red-bearded Bee-eater.

The sight of a male Green Broadbill will likely leave you speechless, it’s a stunner.

We visit a range of national parks to find the above specials, picking up scores of ornately colored woodpeckers, unique jungle-living babblers and bulbuls, attractive leafbirds, interesting spiderhunters, and other sought-after species along the way. We may encounter intriguing jungle mammals too, including Dusky Langur, Southern Pig-tailed Macaque, the aptly named Black Giant Squirrel, the beautiful Lar (White-handed) Gibbon, and, with some luck, the nocturnal Bengal Slow Loris. We will also visit the stunning reservoir at Khao Sok National Park, surrounded by one of the oldest primary forests in Southeast Asia and some of the most spectacular scenery in all of Thailand. This tropical birding adventure, set amid extraordinary karst limestone landscapes and rich tropical seas, is one not to be missed!

Red-throated Barbet is a target while we are birding in southern Thailand.