Bangkok Wildlife: What You Will Actually See

Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bat Common

Cynopterus sphinx

A small fruit bat that builds itself a shelter by chewing palm and fig leaves into a cosy roosting tent.

Where: Flowering and fruiting trees in Lumphini, Benjakitti and Bang Krachao. Best: Year round, the first hour after dark.

Lyle's Flying Fox Regular Vulnerable

Pteropus lylei

A large fruit bat that gathers in noisy thousands over temple grounds, hanging like dark fruit in the daytime trees.

Where: Temple colonies of the central plain, most famously Wat Pho Bang Khla in Chachoengsao. Best: Year round, best at the dusk flyout. A protected temple colony, roosting in the open in daylight. The evening departure is the thing to stay for.

Long-tailed Macaque Occasional Endangered

Macaca fascicularis

The bold, water-loving monkey of temples and mangroves, and despite its ubiquity now one of the most heavily exploited primates on Earth.

Where: Riverside temple grounds on the city fringe and the wooded edges of Bang Krachao. Best: Year round, day. Never feed them. Bangkok's troops are far bolder than forest animals.

Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin Rare Vulnerable

Sousa chinensis

Born dark grey and turning pink with age, the colour coming from blood vessels under unpigmented skin.

Where: Shallow upper Gulf water off Bang Pu and the Mahachai river mouth. Best: Nov-Apr, calm mornings. Pink adults in muddy brown water. Choose operators that keep their distance and cut the engine.

Fishing Cat Very rare Vulnerable

Prionailurus viverrinus

A wild cat that dives for fish, with partially webbed toes and a genuine love of swimming.

Where: Reedbeds, shrimp ponds and abandoned saltpans around Khok Kham and the Petchaburi coast. Best: Nov-Feb, night. The inner Gulf wetlands are one of its last strongholds. Camera-trap country rather than a sighting you can plan.

Asian Koel Common

Eudynamys scolopaceus

A glossy black cuckoo with blood-red eyes whose rising ko-el call is one of the defining sounds of tropical mornings.

Where: Parks and leafy streets across the city. Best: Mar-Jul, from first light. Famous for the loud rising ko-el call, and far more often heard than seen.

Asian Openbill Common

Anastomus oscitans

A stork with a permanent gap in its bill, a purpose-built tool for prising snails from their shells.

Where: Rice fields and marshes anywhere on the drive out to the coast. Best: Year round, day. Now abundant in the central plains. Huge soaring flocks and noisy colonial nests.

Coppersmith Barbet Common

Psilopogon haemacephalus

A tiny green barbet with a red-and-yellow face whose metronomic tuk tuk tuk call rings like a coppersmith at work.

Where: Bare treetops in Lumphini, Chatuchak and Rot Fai parks. Best: Year round, day. The metronomic tuk call is the background sound of a Bangkok park.

Olive-backed Sunbird Common

Cinnyris jugularis

The cheerful garden sunbird of Thailand, the male flashing an iridescent blue-black throat as he sings from a wire.

Where: Gardens, hotel balconies and every park in the city. Best: Year round, day. The garden sunbird of Thailand, and it will nest on a balcony.

White-breasted Waterhen Common

Amaurornis phoenicurus

A bold, clean-cut marsh bird in slate and white that trots along ditch edges flicking a rusty-bottomed tail.

Where: Ditches and park ponds throughout the city. Best: Year round, day. The bold rail of the city; noisy through the rains.

White-throated Kingfisher Common

Halcyon smyrnensis

A big turquoise-and-chocolate kingfisher that hunts far from water, taking lizards and insects across open country.

Where: Wires, park edges and canal banks across the city. Best: Year round, day. Often far from water. Loud laughing call and white wing flashes.

Blue-tailed Bee-eater Regular

Merops philippinus

A streamlined jewel of green, chestnut and blue that hawks bees and dragonflies in graceful, swooping sallies.

Where: Open ground and canal banks at Bang Krachao and on the coastal drive. Best: Nov-Apr, day.

Brahminy Kite Regular

Haliastur indus

A handsome chestnut-and-white kite of coasts and harbours, forever quartering the shoreline for scraps and stranded fish.

Where: Over the river, the port and the coastal ponds at Bang Pu. Best: Year round, day.

Common Kingfisher Regular

Alcedo atthis

A dazzling blue dart along the stream, small enough to sit in a palm yet impossible to miss when it flies.

Where: Klongs, park lakes and the Bang Krachao channels. Best: Nov-Mar, morning. A flash of electric blue along almost any city waterway in winter.

Great Knot Regular Endangered

Calidris tenuirostris

Flies from Siberia to Australia with a single refuelling stop, and losing that one mudflat has nearly finished the species.

Where: Mudflats at Pak Thale, Laem Phak Bia and Bang Pu. Best: Nov-Mar, falling tide. Scan the flocks carefully. This is where the two rarities hide.

Indian Roller Regular

Coracias benghalensis

A dull-looking perched bird that explodes into brilliant bands of blue when it flies, tumbling through spectacular courtship rolls.

Where: Wires and posts over open ground on the drive to the coast. Best: Nov-Apr, day. Dull brown at rest and electric blue the instant it flies.

Lesser Whistling Duck Regular

Dendrocygna javanica

A warm-brown, long-necked duck that whistles rather than quacks and wheels over the marshes in twittering flocks.

Where: Benjakitti, Bang Krachao ponds and flooded fields on the coastal drive. Best: Year round, dawn and dusk.

Little Tern Regular

Sternula albifrons

Hovers on fast flickering wings like an oversized hummingbird before dropping onto a fish.

Where: Saltpans and river mouths at Khok Kham, Bang Pu and Laem Phak Bia. Best: Year round, breeding Mar-Jun.

Black-capped Kingfisher Occasional

Halcyon pileata

A striking mangrove kingfisher in black, white and deep purple-blue, a winter visitor to Thailand's coasts.

Where: Mangrove edges at Bang Pu and along the inner Gulf. Best: Nov-Mar. A non-breeding visitor, and Bang Pu is the easiest place to find one.

Far Eastern Curlew Occasional Endangered

Numenius madagascariensis

The longest bill of any wader in the world, curved like a sickle and used to reach crabs deep in the mud.

Where: Open mudflats at Pak Thale and Khok Kham. Best: Nov-Mar, falling tide. Check for the very long bill and no white rump.

Lesser Adjutant Occasional Vulnerable

Leptoptilos javanicus

A towering, bare-headed stork that stalks the wetlands with a soldier's stiff gait, part hunter and part undertaker.

Where: Shrimp ponds and mangrove edges along the inner Gulf coast. Best: Nov-Mar.

Oriental Darter Occasional Near Threatened

Anhinga melanogaster

The snakebird, swimming with only its slim neck above water before it spears a fish on a dagger bill.

Where: Benjakitti lake, Bang Krachao ponds and the larger central wetlands. Best: Year round, day. Swims low with only the neck showing, then perches with wings spread to dry.

Purple Heron Occasional

Ardea purpurea

A slender, snake-necked heron in rich chestnut and slate that melts into the reeds it hunts among.

Where: Reedbeds at Bang Pu and the Khok Kham pond margins. Best: Nov-Feb, dawn. Skulks in the reeds rather than standing in the open.

Stork-billed Kingfisher Occasional

Pelargopsis capensis

A hefty waterside kingfisher with a huge blood-red bill and a loud, ringing laugh.

Where: The Chao Phraya, the larger klongs and the Bang Krachao waterways. Best: Year round, morning. The huge red bill is unmistakable.

Chinese Egret Rare Vulnerable

Egretta eulophotes

Hunts by sprinting across the mudflat with wings half open, a running dash that no other egret uses.

Where: Shrimp ponds and tidal flats around Khok Kham and Pak Thale. Best: Nov-Mar. Watch the feeding action. The open-winged run is the giveaway.

Nordmann's Greenshank Rare Endangered

Tringa guttifer

One of the world's rarest waders, a stocky greenshank that winters on Thai mudflats among thousands of commoner shorebirds.

Where: Tidal mudflats at Pak Thale and Laem Phak Bia. Best: Nov-Mar, falling tide. One of the rarest waders in the world, on the same flats as the spoon-billed sandpiper.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper Rare Critically Endangered

Calidris pygmaea

One of the world's rarest and most charismatic shorebirds, tiny and armed with an unmistakable spatula bill.

Where: The saltpans and mudflats at Pak Thale and Laem Phak Bia. Best: Nov-Mar, on a rising tide as the flats shrink. Pak Thale is arguably the best place on earth to see one, and there are only a few hundred left in the world. Scan the small waders methodically; the bill only shows head-on.

Milky Stork Very rare Endangered

Mycteria cinerea

A rare, ghostly white stork of the mangroves, its bare face flushing from yellow to red in the breeding season.

Where: Coastal mangroves and abandoned ponds of the upper Gulf. Best: Nov-Mar. Separate it carefully from painted stork, which is common on the same ground.

Asian Water Monitor Common

Varanus salvator

A dragon sized lizard that swims canals and city parks, second only to the Komodo dragon in length.

Where: Lumphini Park, the Benjakitti wetland and any klong bank in the city. Best: Year round, mid-morning when they haul out to bask. Lumphini is the easiest big-reptile watching on earth: metre-plus monitors on the lawns, ten minutes from a skytrain station.

Common House Gecko Common

Hemidactylus frenatus

Sticks to glass using van der Waals forces across billions of microscopic hairs, not glue and not suction.

Where: Every lit wall in the city. Best: Year round, after dark. The chirping is territorial.

Common Sun Skink Common

Eutropis multifasciata

A glossy bronze skink that basks on logs and forest paths and gives birth to live young.

Where: Leaf litter and sunny path edges at Bang Krachao and Rot Fai park. Best: Year round, day.

Oriental Garden Lizard Common

Calotes versicolor

The everyday garden lizard whose breeding males flush blood red about the head, earning the name bloodsucker.

Where: Park hedges, temple grounds and roadside scrub. Best: Year round, day. Breeding males flush bright red about the head.

Tokay Gecko Common

Gekko gecko

A big, boldly spotted gecko whose loud TOH-kay call echoes through Thai nights and, by legend, brings luck if it calls seven times.

Where: Temple walls, shophouses and older buildings across the city. Best: Year round, after dark. Heard far more than seen. The call is the loudest thing in a Bangkok night.

Oriental Rat Snake Regular

Ptyas mucosa

A long, fast, wide eyed snake that races across open ground and is one of the region's great rodent controllers.

Where: Paddies, park edges and open ground across the city fringe. Best: Year round, day. Fast, harmless and usually seen crossing open ground.

Puff-faced Water Snake Regular

Homalopsis buccata

Harvested from Tonle Sap and Thai wetlands by the million each year, which may make it the most heavily exploited snake on earth.

Where: Klongs, ponds and flooded ground across the central plain. Best: Year round, night. Harmless, and common in any lowland canal after dark.

Asiatic Softshell Turtle Occasional Vulnerable

Amyda cartilaginea

Buries itself in riverbed mud with only a snorkel-like nose showing, and strikes at anything that passes.

Where: The Chao Phraya, the larger klongs and temple ponds. Best: Year round, day. Only the snout shows. Look for a small periscope in still water.

Black Marsh Turtle Occasional Endangered

Siebenrockiella crassicollis

Two pale patches above the eyes give it a permanently startled expression, which is why Thais call it the smiling terrapin.

Where: Muddy ponds and canals at Bang Krachao and the city parks. Best: Year round, day. Also seen at temple ponds, but those are released animals rather than wild ones.

Copperhead Racer Occasional

Coelognathus radiatus

Rears into a vertical S and inflates its neck into a striped shield when cornered, all bluff and no venom.

Where: Farmland and canal banks on the outskirts. Best: Year round, day. All bluff. The vertical S and flared neck are a display, not a threat.

Dog-faced Water Snake Occasional

Cerberus schneiderii

Sidewinds across bare mudflats at low tide, one of very few snakes anywhere that moves that way.

Where: Mudflats and creek edges at Bang Pu and Khok Kham. Best: Year round, night on a falling tide. Watch for the sidewinding gait across open mud.

Eastern Russell's Viper Occasional

Daboia siamensis

Responsible for more serious snakebite in Asia than almost any other species, and it hisses louder than any snake in the region.

Where: Dry farmland and scrub of the central plain. Best: Nov-Apr, dusk. Commonest in the central plain, which is exactly here. Watch your feet on paddy bunds at dusk.

Golden Tree Snake Occasional

Chrysopelea ornata

A fast, elegant climber that can also glide, and one of the most common snakes seen in Thai gardens and temples.

Where: Walls, roofs and garden trees throughout the city. Best: Year round, day. Often the first snake a visitor sees, racing up a wall in full sun.

Indochinese Spitting Cobra Occasional Vulnerable

Naja siamensis

Sprays venom at the eyes from up to three metres, aiming with enough accuracy to hit a moving face.

Where: Farmland and village edges on the outskirts. Best: Year round, dusk. If sprayed, flush the eyes with clean fluid for fifteen minutes and get to hospital.

Large-eyed Pit Viper Occasional

Trimeresurus macrops

Vivid green with enormous copper eyes, and it hunts entirely by heat, so darkness makes no difference to it.

Where: Low vegetation beside water in Lumphini and Bang Krachao. Best: May-Oct, night. Green and easily missed at head height. Bangkok's city parks really do hold pit vipers.

Malayan Box Turtle Occasional Endangered

Cuora amboinensis

A domed marsh turtle that seals itself completely inside a hinged shell like a living box.

Where: Marshes, ponds and flooded ground of the central plain. Best: May-Oct, after rain.

Malayan Snail-eating Turtle Occasional Near Threatened

Malayemys macrocephala

Eats almost nothing but snails, crushing them with broad flat jaw surfaces, and wears white racing stripes on its face.

Where: Paddies, canals and marshes on the outskirts. Best: Year round, day. Wild animals are hard to separate from temple releases. Be careful with claims.

Monocled Cobra Occasional

Naja kaouthia

The classic hooded cobra of the rice fields, marked with a single O shaped eyespot on its spread hood.

Where: Paddies, canal banks and rough ground on the city fringe. Best: Year round, dusk. The cobra most often met near people in the central plain.

Reticulated Python Occasional

Malayopython reticulatus

The longest snake in the world, a jewelled, net patterned constrictor that turns up from rainforest to city canals.

Where: Klongs, drains and park margins across the city. Best: Year round, night. Bangkok holds a genuine urban python population. Most are found by the fire brigade rather than by naturalists.

Beaked Sea Snake Rare

Hydrophis schistosus

Drop for drop, one of the most venomous snakes in the sea, and it is responsible for most sea snake bites in Asia.

Where: Turbid coastal water off Bang Pu and the river mouths. Best: Year round. Almost all bites happen to fishermen sorting nets. Swimmers are not at risk.

Little File Snake Rare

Acrochordus granulatus

Loose baggy skin covered in rasping granular scales, used to grip slippery fish that no smooth snake could hold.

Where: Turbid estuary water at the Mahachai and Bang Pakong river mouths. Best: Year round, night. Harmless, and almost never seen out of water.

Malayan Krait (Blue Krait) Rare

Bungarus candidus

A quiet killer in crisp black and white bands, with venom many times stronger than a cobra's.

Where: Damp lowland ground and farmland edges outside the city. Best: May-Oct, night. Placid, easily overlooked and seriously venomous.

Red-tailed Pipe Snake Rare

Cylindrophis ruffus

When threatened it hides its head and raises its blunt tail instead, flashing bright red underneath as a decoy.

Where: Damp lowland ground and paddy bunds on the city fringe. Best: May-Oct, night. Harmless. If it raises its tail, that is the false head display.

Sunbeam Snake Rare

Xenopeltis unicolor

Looks plain brown until light hits it, when the scales split the light into a full oil-slick rainbow.

Where: Damp soil in gardens, parks and paddies after rain. Best: May-Oct, night. The iridescence needs direct light. Worth a torch beam from the side.

Saltwater Crocodile Ultra rare

Crocodylus porosus

The largest living reptile and the ocean going giant of crocodiles, now virtually gone from Thai waters.

Where: Historically the Chao Phraya delta and the inner Gulf mangroves. Best: Not seeable. Effectively gone from the wild in Thailand. Included as an honest record of what the delta has lost, not as something to look for.

Asian Common Toad Common

Duttaphrynus melanostictus

The ubiquitous warty toad of doorsteps and gardens, hoovering up insects under every night light.

Where: Under every street light and in every park in the city. Best: Year round, night. Abundant wherever there are lights and damp ground.

Banded Bullfrog (Chubby Frog) Common

Kaloula pulchra

A round, rubbery frog that inflates like a balloon when threatened and bellows like a cow after rain.

Where: Gardens, drains and park edges after downpours. Best: May-Oct, night. Emerges in numbers after the first heavy rain. The lowing call fills wet nights.

Common Tree Frog (Four-lined Tree Frog) Common

Polypedates leucomystax

The tan tree frog of porch lights and bathrooms, which whips up foam nests that hang above the water.

Where: Gardens, walls and park vegetation across the city. Best: May-Oct, night. Look for foam nests on leaves above standing water.

East Asian Bullfrog Common

Hoplobatrachus rugulosus

The big ridge backed frog of the rice paddies, whose deep quacking chorus is the sound of a Thai wet season.

Where: Paddies and ponds on the city fringe. Best: May-Oct, night. Its deep quacking chorus is the signature sound of a wet central plain night.

Rice Paddy Frog Common

Fejervarya limnocharis

The single most abundant frog in Thailand, and its numbers are now used as a live monitor for pesticide contamination.

Where: Paddies, ditches and puddles throughout. Best: May-Oct, night.

Dark-sided Chorus Frog Regular

Microhyla heymonsi

A pale hairline stripe runs the full length of its back, and a pair of dark spots on it mimic eyes at the wrong end.

Where: Shallow standing water in paddies and park puddles. Best: May-Oct, night.

Ornate Narrow-mouthed Frog Regular

Microhyla fissipes

Smaller than a thumbnail, and after rain a paddy full of them produces a rasping chorus you can hear a kilometre away.

Where: Ditches, gardens and park lawns after rain. Best: May-Oct, night.

Striped Snakehead Common

Channa striata

The fish that walks: it breathes air, crosses wet ground on its fins, and turns up in puddles miles from any river.

Where: Klongs, paddies and marshes throughout. Best: Year round, dusk. Surface gulps in a still canal at dusk are almost always this fish.

Tinfoil Barb Common

Barbonymus schwanenfeldii

A shoal of these turning together is a sheet of mirror, which is exactly how they got the name.

Where: Temple ponds and the Chao Phraya, especially at riverside wats. Best: Year round, day. Temple fish sanctuaries give the closest and most reliable views in the country.

Walking Catfish Common

Clarias batrachus

On wet nights whole fields of these wriggle overland between pools, snaking along on their pectoral spines.

Where: Canals, drains and flooded ground across the city. Best: May-Oct, wet nights. The overland walk happens after dark following rain.

Giant Mudskipper Regular

Periophthalmodon schlosseri

A fish that spends most of its life out of water, defending a mud territory with a raised sail of a dorsal fin.

Where: Mudflats at Bang Pu and along the Khok Kham shoreline. Best: Year round, low tide. Low tide is essential. The Bang Pu boardwalk puts you within a few metres.

Banded Archerfish Occasional

Toxotes jaculatrix

It shoots insects off overhanging leaves with a jet of water, correcting for refraction as it aims.

Where: Mangrove creeks and estuary channels at Bang Pu and the Mahachai river mouth. Best: Year round, day. Sit quietly by an overhanging branch and wait for the shot.

Barramundi Occasional

Lates calcarifer

Every barramundi starts life as a male and turns female at around four years old.

Where: Estuaries and mangrove creeks of the upper Gulf. Best: Year round. Hunts hardest where current meets structure.

Climbing Perch Occasional

Anabas testudineus

A fish that walks out of the water and hauls itself overland on its gill covers, sometimes for hours.

Where: Paddies, roadside ditches and marshes on the outskirts. Best: May-Oct, after rain.

Clown Featherback Occasional

Chitala ornata

A knife-shaped fish with a row of black eyespots down its flank that swims backwards as easily as forwards.

Where: The Chao Phraya and the larger klongs. Best: Year round, night. Best seen at night with a torch from a bankside or a boat.

Giant Snakehead Occasional

Channa micropeltes

A metre-long ambush predator that guards its young in a red cloud of fry, and will charge anything that comes near them.

Where: Large canals and reservoirs on the city fringe. Best: Year round, morning. Watch for a dense orange cloud of fry at the surface with two adults beneath.

Mangrove Jack Occasional

Lutjanus argentimaculatus

Spends its youth in mangrove roots, then swims offshore to spend adulthood on a reef, a fish with two entirely separate lives.

Where: Mangrove roots and snags in the inner Gulf creeks. Best: Year round. Juveniles in the roots, adults out on the reef. Two different fish to find.

Siamese Fighting Fish Rare Vulnerable

Betta splendens

Thailand's national aquatic animal is a wild rice-paddy fish, and the wild one looks nothing like the trailing-finned pet.

Where: Shallow paddies, ditches and marshes of the central plain around Ayutthaya and the city fringe. Best: May-Oct, day. Wild fish are drab and short-finned, not the pet-shop version. Look in shallow warm water with heavy plant cover.

Giant Freshwater Stingray Very rare Endangered

Urogymnus polylepis

The largest freshwater fish on earth by some measures, a two metre disc carrying a 38 cm barb.

Where: Deep channels of the Maeklong river. Best: Year round. Handled only by research teams. The Maeklong die-off in 2016 was a major setback for the species.

Antlion Common

Myrmeleon sp.

The larva digs a conical pit in dry sand and flicks grains at anything trying to climb out, collapsing the walls under it.

Where: Dry sand under temple eaves and building overhangs. Best: Year round, day. The pits are everywhere once you start looking. Drop a grain of sand into one.

Blue Carpenter Bee Common

Xylocopa caerulea

A big, fuzzy, powder-blue bee that drones loudly between flowers like a flying pom-pom.

Where: Large flowers in parks and gardens. Best: Year round, day. A loud, powder-blue bee at large flowers, and harmless.

Common Mormon Common

Papilio polytes

Females come in three different forms, two of which impersonate butterflies that are poisonous to eat.

Where: Gardens, parks and roadside scrub. Best: Year round, day. Compare the female forms with the rose swallowtails they mimic.

Common Parasol Dragonfly Common

Neurothemis fluctuans

A little red dragonfly with tinted wings, perched like a weather vane on every pond-side twig.

Where: Park ponds, klongs and paddies throughout. Best: Year round, day. Perches openly on twigs by still water; the red male is easy to watch.

Common Rose Swallowtail Common

Pachliopta aristolochiae

A velvety black swallowtail with a crimson body and rose-pink spots, floating slowly to show it is poisonous.

Where: Gardens and park flower beds throughout. Best: Year round, day. Flies slowly and openly, advertising that it is toxic.

Giant Cicada Common

Pomponia imperatoria

A huge cicada whose piercing, ringing call is the loudest sound in the midday forest.

Where: Large park trees at Lumphini, Chatuchak and Bang Krachao. Best: May-Oct, midday. Heard far more than seen, and the loudest voice of a Bangkok afternoon.

Leopard Lacewing Common

Cethosia cyane

A fiery orange butterfly edged in intricate black and white lace, common along sunlit trails.

Where: Scrub and park edges across the city. Best: Year round, day.

Weaver Ant Common

Oecophylla smaragdina

A rust-red ant that sews living leaves into nests using its own larvae as glue guns.

Where: Mango and other garden trees across the city. Best: Year round, day. Look for leaf nests bound with white silk. The larvae are a local delicacy.

Giant Honey Bee Regular

Apis dorsata

A big, fierce wild bee that hangs single-comb nests the size of a door from high branches and cliffs.

Where: Tall trees and tower blocks; combs hang from ledges and branches. Best: Year round, day. Single huge open combs, sometimes on buildings. Keep well clear.

Giant Water Bug Regular

Lethocerus indicus

Big enough to kill a frog or a small snake, and its bite is rated among the most painful an insect can inflict.

Where: Paddies and ponds on the outskirts, and at lights near water. Best: May-Oct, night. Sold live in every market. A painful bite if handled.

Synchronous Firefly Regular

Pteroptyx malaccae

Mangrove trees hung with thousands of fireflies, all flashing in perfect unison like living fairy lights.

Where: Riverside mangroves along the Mae Klong at Amphawa. Best: May-Oct, after dark on a moonless night. Take a quiet boat trip and whole trees pulse in unison. Avoid bright lights and never let a boat touch the trees.

Common Birdwing Occasional

Troides helena

A hand-sized black and gold butterfly that cruises the canopy like a small bird.

Where: Flowering trees in the larger parks and at Bang Krachao. Best: Year round, day.

Giant Asian Mantis Occasional

Hierodula membranacea

A big green ambush hunter that turns its head to watch you, forelegs folded as if in prayer.

Where: Garden shrubs and park vegetation, and at lights. Best: May-Oct, night. Turns its head to watch you, which almost nothing else does.

Mango Longhorn Beetle Occasional

Batocera rufomaculata

Antennae twice the length of its body, and it squeaks audibly when picked up by grinding its thorax.

Where: Garden and orchard trees, and at lights. Best: May-Oct, after dark. Squeaks loudly if picked up.

Oleander Hawkmoth Occasional

Daphnis nerii

Camouflaged like military fatigues and fast enough to cross the Mediterranean, it hovers at flowers like a hummingbird.

Where: Lit walls and night-scented flowers in the suburbs. Best: May-Oct, dusk.

Rhinoceros Beetle Occasional

Xylotrupes gideon

A glossy tank of a beetle, the male armed with a forked horn for wrestling rivals.

Where: Lights and sap runs on the leafy fringe. Best: May-Oct, after dark.

Atlas Moth Rare

Attacus atlas

One of the largest moths on Earth, its wingtips shaped and coloured like a cobra's head.

Where: Lit walls at Bang Krachao and the leafier outskirts. Best: May-Oct, after warm wet nights. Adults live only days and never feed.

Golden Orb-weaver Common

Nephila pilipes

A giant black-and-yellow spider spinning webs of golden silk strong enough to snare small birds.

Where: Path edges at Bang Krachao and Rot Fai park. Best: May-Oct, day. Large females hang in shimmering golden webs. Harmless.

Heavy Jumping Spider Common

Hyllus diardi

Judges distance with a telephoto lens in each main eye, then jumps up to six times its own body length onto prey.

Where: Sunlit leaves and walls in parks and gardens. Best: Year round, day. Diurnal and curious. It will turn and look at your camera.

St Andrew's Cross Spider Common

Argiope versicolor

Weaves a bold white X into the middle of its web, and nobody has settled whether it attracts prey, warns birds or does both.

Where: Park scrub and garden hedges throughout. Best: May-Oct, day. The white silk cross in the web is the giveaway.

Asian Forest Scorpion Occasional

Heterometrus laoticus

A big, glossy black scorpion that glows an eerie blue-green under ultraviolet light.

Where: Under logs and leaf litter at Bang Krachao. Best: May-Oct, night. Glows blue-green under a UV torch. The sting is mild.

Fiddler Crab Common

Austruca annulipes

The male's oversized claw is useless for feeding, so he has to do everything with the small one while waving the big one at females.

Where: Mudflats at Bang Pu, Khok Kham and the Mahachai shoreline. Best: Year round, falling tide. Sit still for five minutes and the whole flat emerges and starts waving.

Giant Mud Crab Occasional

Scylla serrata

The claws can generate enough force to crush a large clam, and will take a finger off without much trouble.

Where: Mangrove creeks and root systems of the inner Gulf. Best: Year round, night. In burrows among the roots. Powerful claws, so no hand-catching.

Indo-Pacific Horseshoe Crab Rare Endangered

Tachypleus gigas

Not a crab at all, closer to a spider, and its blue blood is used worldwide to test every injectable drug for contamination.

Where: Quiet muddy shores of the inner Gulf around Bang Pu and Khok Kham. Best: Year round, high tide at night. Completely harmless. Right an upended animal by the shell, never the tail.