Jungle Trekking in Thailand: What You Will Actually Meet on the Trail

Limestone karst rising over rainforest at Khao Sok

Almost every jungle trek sold in Thailand is sold on scenery, waterfalls and a night in a hill village. Those are good things, and none of them is why you would walk into a rainforest at six in the morning. This page is about the animals, which forest holds which, and what the realistic odds are of meeting them on foot.

The honest headline first: walking is a worse way to see large mammals than sitting still or driving slowly, because you make noise and you cover ground the animals have already left. What walking gives you is everything else. Gibbons calling overhead, hornbills crossing a valley, pit vipers coiled at eye height beside the path, and the enormous invertebrate and amphibian life that a vehicle passes at forty kilometres an hour. Set your expectations there and Thai forest is extraordinarily rewarding.

Highlights

White-handed gibbon hanging from a branch by one arm

White-handed (Lar) Gibbon

You hear them before dawn even breaks, the whooping duet of gibbons that is the definitive soundtrack of Asian rainforest. Where: Trail 6 and the forest around Haew Suwat. Best: Year round, 06:00-08:30.

Great Hornbill

Great Hornbill

A three metre wingbeat you hear before you see, the flagship bird of Asian rainforest canopy. Where: Fruiting figs along Trail 6 and over the Haew Suwat valley. Best: Year round, 06:30-09:00.

Malayan pit viper coiled on leaf litter showing its triangular markings

Malayan Pit Viper

A short, bad tempered viper that lies still on the forest floor and bites more people in the region than almost any other snake. Where: Leaf litter on forest floors. Best: May-Oct, night.

Asian Elephant

Asian Elephant

The largest land animal in Asia, and a genuinely wild one is worth seeking out over the camp elephants most tourists meet. Where: Km 30 grasslands, the Nong Pak Chi salt lick and roadside verges at dusk. Best: Nov-Feb, last hour of light, then Mar-Apr at the salt licks.

Atlas Moth

Atlas Moth

One of the largest moths on Earth, its wingtips shaped and coloured like a cobra's head. Where: Lit walls and toilet blocks at park headquarters on Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep. Best: May-Oct, after warm wet nights.

Khao Yai

The best introduction to Thai forest walking and the closest to Bangkok. Marked trails through evergreen forest, salt licks with watchtowers, gibbons that call within earshot of the campsite, and enough infrastructure that you can walk safely without a guide on the shorter routes.

12 of 79 recorded species

Wild Asian elephant bull with tusks walking through open forest

Asian Elephant Regular Endangered

Elephas maximus

The largest land animal in Asia, and a genuinely wild one is worth seeking out over the camp elephants most tourists meet.

Where: Km 30 grasslands, the Nong Pak Chi salt lick and roadside verges at dusk. Best: Nov-Feb, last hour of light, then Mar-Apr at the salt licks. Khao Yai's herds cross the park road at night; drive slowly and never get between animals.

Leopard resting along a tree branch

Leopard (incl. Black Panther) Rare Vulnerable

Panthera pardus

A big cat that is unusually often born jet black, prowling as the fabled black panther.

Where: Forest roads at night and the Khao Khiao road. Best: Nov-Apr, night, best Feb-Apr when the undergrowth is thin. Khao Yai holds one of the last Thai populations; camera-trap country rather than roadside viewing.

Gaur, the world's largest wild cattle, head and horns

Gaur Regular Vulnerable

Bos gaurus

The largest wild cattle on Earth, a muscle bound giant that dwarfs any farm cow.

Where: Nong Pak Chi watchtower and the grassland edges. Best: Nov-Apr, dawn and dusk, best Feb-Apr when the grass is short. The watchtower is the reliable spot; go at first light and wait.

Reticulated python coiled, showing its net pattern

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: Near water and on roads at night. Best: Year round, night.

White-handed gibbon hanging from a branch by one arm

White-handed (Lar) Gibbon Common Endangered

Hylobates lar

You hear them before dawn even breaks, the whooping duet of gibbons that is the definitive soundtrack of Asian rainforest.

Where: Trail 6 and the forest around Haew Suwat. Best: Year round, 06:00-08:30. The dawn chorus carries across the whole valley; Khao Yai is the easiest place in Thailand to hear it.

Red Junglefowl, slim wild chicken, golden hackles, white ear patch, greenish tail (male), photographed in Khao Yai.

Red Junglefowl Common

Gallus gallus

The wild ancestor of every chicken on Earth, a wary, glossy rooster of the forest edge.

Where: Forest edges and campsite margins. Best: Year round, day.

Crimson Sunbird, male with scarlet breast and back, olive belly, long decurved bill.

Crimson Sunbird Regular

Aethopyga siparaja

A living ember of a bird, the male ablaze in scarlet and metallic green as it hovers at forest blossoms.

Where: Flowering shrubs at the visitor centre. Best: Year round, morning.

Female great hornbill perched in a fruiting forest tree

Great Hornbill Regular Vulnerable

Buceros bicornis

A three metre wingbeat you hear before you see, the flagship bird of Asian rainforest canopy.

Where: Fruiting figs along Trail 6 and over the Haew Suwat valley. Best: Year round, 06:30-09:00.

Large-eyed Pit Viper, bright green pit viper with very large eyes, vertical pupils, heat pit, often a pale lateral stripe in males.

Large-eyed Pit Viper Regular

Trimeresurus macrops

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

Where: Low branches beside trails. Best: May-Oct, night.

Long-tailed Broadbill, green broadbill, black cap, blue crown patch, yellow face, long blue tail.

Long-tailed Broadbill Regular

Psarisomus dalhousiae

A cartoonish beauty in parrot green with a black cap, blue crown patch and a long blue tail.

Where: Mid-storey along the main road and Trail 6. Best: Year round, morning.

Common flying dragon clinging to a tree trunk

Common Flying Dragon Occasional

Draco maculatus

A tiny lizard that unfurls bright wings from its ribs and glides between tree trunks like a paper dart.

Where: Trunks in sunlit clearings. Best: Year round, mid-morning.

Giraffe Stag Beetle, glossy black beetle, extremely long curved mandibles with a prominent inner tooth in males.

Giraffe Stag Beetle Occasional

Prosopocoilus giraffa

The longest stag beetle in the world, with jaws nearly as long as the rest of it, used to lever rivals off a tree.

Where: Lights at the campsites and visitor centre. Best: Apr-Aug, night.

See all 79 species recorded at Khao Yai

Khao Sok

The oldest rainforest in the country on limestone karst, wetter and more tropical than anywhere further north. Trails from the park headquarters follow the river into proper closed canopy, and the lake trips reach forest almost nobody walks.

12 of 54 recorded species

Wild Asian elephant bull with tusks walking through open forest

Asian Elephant Rare Endangered

Elephas maximus

The largest land animal in Asia, and a genuinely wild one is worth seeking out over the camp elephants most tourists meet.

Where: The Klong Saeng arm of Cheow Lan Lake and remote valleys. Best: Dry season (Dec-Apr), dawn on the water. Wild herds use the lake shore; the elephants most visitors meet in Khao Sok town are captive.

Long-tailed Macaque, grey-brown, very long tail, backswept crown crest, pale cheek whiskers.

Long-tailed Macaque Regular 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: Lake shores and the boat landings on Cheow Lan. Best: Year round, day. Common around the raft houses, where they are a nuisance rather than a highlight.

Reticulated python coiled, showing its net pattern

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: Near water, on trails and around the raft houses at night. Best: Year round, night. Large individuals swim the lake and are sometimes seen from boats.

White-handed gibbon hanging from a branch by one arm

White-handed (Lar) Gibbon Common Endangered

Hylobates lar

You hear them before dawn even breaks, the whooping duet of gibbons that is the definitive soundtrack of Asian rainforest.

Where: Heard from the raft houses on Cheow Lan Lake and along the Sok River trails at first light. Best: Year round, 05:30-08:00. The dawn duet is close to guaranteed on the lake; seeing one takes patience and a canopy scan.

Dusky Langur, grey monkey, white eye rings and mouth, orange infants.

Dusky Langur (Spectacled Leaf Monkey) Regular Endangered

Trachypithecus obscurus

White spectacles make the adults look permanently startled, and the bright orange babies are pure crowd pleasers.

Where: Limestone edges near headquarters and the trail to Bang Hua Raet. Best: Year round, morning. Look for the white eye rings in mid-canopy; troops are used to walkers here.

Female wreathed hornbill perched on a branch

Wreathed Hornbill Regular Vulnerable

Rhyticeros undulatus

A big forest hornbill that travels in noisy flocks, its throat pouch pleated like folded cloth.

Where: Fruiting trees on the valley sides and over the lake. Best: Year round, morning. Travels in noisy flocks, often crossing the lake in the first hour of light.

Malayan Horned Frog, leaf-like body, pointed horns over eyes and snout, brown leaf-litter colours.

Malayan Horned Frog Occasional

Pelobatrachus nasutus

A frog that looks exactly like a dead leaf, complete with horned eyelids and a pointed snout for a leaf tip.

Where: Leaf litter beside streams. Best: May-Oct, night. Perfectly leaf-shaped; found by call, then by torch.

Kuhl's Flying Gecko, bark-patterned, skin flaps along body and tail, fully webbed feet.

Kuhl's Flying Gecko Rare

Gekko kuhli

A gecko fringed with skin flaps that let it parachute between trees and vanish against bark.

Where: Trunks near headquarters and along the river trail. Best: Year round, night. Flattened against bark and near invisible until it moves.

Green Cat Snake, slender bright green snake, large head, vertical pupils, blue-black tongue.

Green Cat Snake Occasional

Boiga cyanea

Hatches out brick red, turns olive as a juvenile and ends up emerald green, three colours in one lifetime.

Where: Low branches over trails and streams. Best: Year round, night. Slender and mildly venomous; harmless if left alone.

Giant Angle-headed Lizard, large agamid, male bright green-blue with a high crest and black shoulder patch, on trunks over streams.

Giant Angle-headed Lizard Rare

Gonocephalus grandis

Males are electric blue and green with a sail of a crest, and they drop straight into the stream below when disturbed.

Where: Understorey saplings deep along the Ton Kloi trail. Best: Year round, day and night. Sits vertically on a thin stem and relies on stillness.

Copper-cheeked Frog, slim green-brown frog with coppery-bronze cheeks, long legs, bright copper eyeshine, photographed in Khao Sok.

Copper-cheeked Frog Common

Chalcorana eschatia

Its eyes throw back a brilliant copper shine in torchlight, which is usually how you find it before you see the frog.

Where: Rocks and banks along the Sok River. Best: May-Oct, night. Sits on wet rock in the spray zone below waterfalls.

Giant Forest Ant, very large black ant with red-brown legs and a golden-brown abdomen band, on trunks at night.

Giant Forest Ant Common

Camponotus gigas

One of the largest ants on earth, and colonies keep a standing army of soldiers whose only job is to fight border wars with the neighbours.

Where: Trunks and buttresses along all trails. Best: Year round, night. The largest ant you will ever see, and strictly nocturnal.

See all 54 species recorded at Khao Sok

Kaeng Krachan

The biggest park in Thailand and the most serious walking. The track climbs to the Panoen Thung ridge through several forest types, the stream hides produce more in two still hours than a day of covering ground, and this is leopard country.

12 of 81 recorded species

Leopard resting along a tree branch

Leopard (incl. Black Panther) Occasional Vulnerable

Panthera pardus

A big cat that is unusually often born jet black, prowling as the fabled black panther.

Where: The Ban Krang to Panoen Thung road, especially the first and last light hours. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn, best Feb-Apr. Kaeng Krachan is the best place in Thailand to see a leopard, and black individuals are regular here.

Wild Asian elephant bull with tusks walking through open forest

Asian Elephant Regular Endangered

Elephas maximus

The largest land animal in Asia, and a genuinely wild one is worth seeking out over the camp elephants most tourists meet.

Where: The Ban Krang road, stream crossings and mineral seeps. Best: Dec-Apr, dusk and night, best Feb-Apr at the stream crossings. Herds use the road itself. If you meet one in a vehicle, reverse; never drive past.

Indochinese tiger resting against a granite boulder

Indochinese Tiger Very rare Endangered

Panthera tigris

The largest cat in Asia and its top predator, a striped ghost most people only ever know from a paw print.

Where: The deep forest west of Panoen Thung, well beyond visitor access. Best: Nov-Apr, night and first light. Present but effectively unseeable. Camera traps confirm it; visitors do not.

Malayan tapir resting, showing its black and white pattern

Malayan Tapir Rare Endangered

Tapirus indicus

A living oddity, half jet black and half stark white, that looks assembled from spare parts.

Where: Stream beds and mineral seeps near Ban Krang. Best: Dec-Apr, night, best Feb-Apr at the mineral seeps. Kaeng Krachan is the most realistic place in Thailand to see one, which still means a long night.

Female great hornbill perched in a fruiting forest tree

Great Hornbill Regular Vulnerable

Buceros bicornis

A three metre wingbeat you hear before you see, the flagship bird of Asian rainforest canopy.

Where: Fruiting figs along the Ban Krang road and over the valley from Panoen Thung. Best: Year round, 06:30-09:00. The view from Panoen Thung at dawn puts hornbills below eye level, above a sea of mist.

Siamese fireback pheasant on a forest trail

Siamese Fireback Regular

Lophura diardi

Thailand's national bird, a stately grey pheasant with a golden back patch and a bare crimson face.

Where: Roadside and trail edges at first light. Best: Year round, 06:00-08:00.

Golden birdwing butterfly with black and gold wings

Golden Birdwing Regular

Troides aeacus

A huge butterfly with black forewings and blazing golden hindwings, sailing high along the forest edge.

Where: Damp ground and flowering edges along the road. Best: Feb-May, sunny mornings. Males gather at damp patches on the road in numbers.

Banded Krait, triangular in cross section, alternating black and yellow bands, blunt tail.

Banded Krait Occasional

Bungarus fasciatus

Unmistakable in bold black and yellow bands, a powerfully venomous snake that is oddly timid after dark.

Where: The road after rain. Best: May-Oct, night.

Malayan Pit Viper, stout body, pinkish brown with dark bordered triangles, sharply pointed snout.

Malayan Pit Viper Occasional

Calloselasma rhodostoma

A short, bad tempered viper that lies still on the forest floor and bites more people in the region than almost any other snake.

Where: Leaf litter on the lower trails. Best: May-Oct, night.

King cobra raised and alert on the forest floor

King Cobra Rare Vulnerable

Ophiophagus hannah

The world's longest venomous snake, and one of the shyest, so a sighting is a genuine holy grail.

Where: Stream valleys and the road in the warm months. Best: Mar-Jun, day.

Siamese crocodile at the water surface

Siamese Crocodile Very rare Critically Endangered

Crocodylus siamensis

A freshwater crocodile once thought nearly extinct in the wild, now clinging on in a few remote Thai wetlands.

Where: Remote stretches of the Phetchaburi River. Best: Year round, mid-morning while basking. One of the last Thai populations, in water visitors do not reach.

Malayan Giant Toad, very large dark warty toad with a rough spiny back, on wet rock beside fast streams.

Malayan Giant Toad Occasional

Phrynoidis asper

The biggest toad in Southeast Asia, and it sits in the spray zone of waterfalls where nothing can hear it call.

Where: Stream margins near Ban Krang. Best: May-Oct, night.

See all 81 species recorded at Kaeng Krachan

The northern hills and Doi Inthanon

Cooler, drier, and completely different. Hill evergreen forest and a summit cloud forest with tree ferns and moss, walked comfortably in the cool season, with a montane species list that exists nowhere else in Thailand.

11 of 141 recorded species

Aethopyga nipalensis

Green-tailed Sunbird Common

Aethopyga nipalensis

The bird of the summit, a metallic green and scarlet sunbird that feeds at rhododendrons in freezing mist at 2,500 m.

Where: Flowering shrubs along the Ang Ka summit boardwalk on Doi Inthanon. Best: Nov-Feb, first three hours after dawn. The bird of the summit. Habituated enough to feed a few metres away, and worth the cold start.

Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed Bat, small dark bat with wrinkled lips and a free tail, leaves caves in vast evening columns.

Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed Bat Common

Chaerephon plicatus

The bat behind Thailand's great cave exodus, when millions stream out at dusk in a river of wings.

Where: Chiang Dao cave and the limestone caverns beneath the massif. Best: Year round, dusk. The evening exodus from Chiang Dao cave is worth planning an afternoon around.

Phayre's Leaf Monkey, slim grey langur, white eye-rings and lip patches, long tail, dark hands.

Phayre's Leaf Monkey Occasional Endangered

Trachypithecus phayrei

A grey langur with bold white spectacles around its eyes, a leaf specialist of the northern and western forests.

Where: Hill evergreen forest on Doi Chiang Dao and the upper Doi Inthanon slopes. Best: Year round, early morning. The northern langur. Look for the pale rings around the eyes and mouth in the canopy.

Tokay gecko on a tree trunk, blue with orange spots

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, guesthouses and forest edge across the province. Best: Year round, after dark. Heard before seen. The call is unmistakable once you know it.

Asian water monitor raising its head beside water

Asian Water Monitor Regular

Varanus salvator

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

Where: The Ping river, the city moat and the Mae Ngat shoreline. Best: Year round, day.

Indochinese Spitting Cobra, grey to black cobra with pale blotches, hoods up and can spray venom.

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, plantations and village edges throughout the valley. Best: Year round, dusk. If sprayed, flush the eyes with clean fluid for fifteen minutes and get to hospital.

Red Giant Flying Squirrel, very large, deep chestnut-red, gliding membrane, long tail, big eyes.

Red Giant Flying Squirrel Occasional

Petaurista petaurista

A cat-sized, deep-red squirrel that glides between trees on a membrane, sailing over a hundred metres in a single launch.

Where: Tall trees on the Doi Suthep summit road and around Doi Inthanon headquarters. Best: Year round, the first hour after dusk. Wait by a known emergence tree at dusk. The glide is the sight, not the animal.

Green peafowl displaying its train

Green Peafowl Rare Endangered

Pavo muticus

The wild, and far rarer, cousin of the familiar peacock, with metallic green plumage and a towering train.

Where: Dry dipterocarp forest and river flats at Mae Ping National Park. Best: Nov-Apr, dawn, calling from roost trees. Mae Ping holds one of the few remaining wild Thai populations. The dawn call carries for miles.

Golden Tree Snake, yellow-green with black cross-hatched pattern, slim body, large eyes.

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 in the Mae Sa valley and the city fringe. Best: Year round, day. Often the first snake a visitor sees, racing up a wall in full sun.

Common Birdwing, large black butterfly, golden hindwing patches, sailing flight.

Common Birdwing Regular

Troides helena

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

Where: Gardens and forest edge in the Mae Sa valley. Best: May-Oct, midday.

Chinese Goral, small grey-brown goat-antelope, short conical horns, dark back stripe, cliff slopes

Chinese Goral Rare Vulnerable

Naemorhedus griseus

A small, nimble goat-antelope of northern mountain crags, blending grey against the rock it lives on.

Where: The limestone cliffs and ridges of Doi Chiang Dao, scoped from the Den Ya Khat trail. Best: Nov-Feb, first and last light. Doi Chiang Dao is the classic Thai site for this goat-antelope. Scan the crags rather than the forest.

See all 141 species recorded at The northern hills and Doi Inthanon

Huai Kha Khaeng

A UNESCO World Heritage sanctuary and the most important protected forest in the country, with the core zone closed. What is open is quiet dry forest with large prey animals and almost no other visitors, which is a rare combination.

9 of 27 recorded species

Indochinese tiger resting against a granite boulder

Indochinese Tiger Very rare Endangered

Panthera tigris

The largest cat in Asia and its top predator, a striped ghost most people only ever know from a paw print.

Where: The core zone, closed to general visitors. Best: Nov-Apr, dawn and dusk. The most important tiger population in Southeast Asia, and deliberately unreachable. Access is by permit and research programme only.

Gaur, the world's largest wild cattle, head and horns

Gaur Occasional Vulnerable

Bos gaurus

The largest wild cattle on Earth, a muscle bound giant that dwarfs any farm cow.

Where: Grassland edges and salt licks. Best: Nov-Apr, dawn, best Feb-Apr.

Green peafowl displaying its train

Green Peafowl Occasional Endangered

Pavo muticus

The wild, and far rarer, cousin of the familiar peacock, with metallic green plumage and a towering train.

Where: Riverine grassland and dry forest clearings. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn, listen for the call. One of the last strongholds in Thailand.

Clouded leopard resting in dense forest vegetation

Clouded Leopard Rare Vulnerable

Neofelis nebulosa

Perhaps the most beautiful cat you will almost certainly never see, cloud blotched, tree climbing and maddeningly elusive.

Where: Deep forest in the core zone. Best: Nov-Apr, night, best Feb-Apr.

Banteng, wild ox, white rump patch and lower legs, bulls blackish, cows chestnut.

Banteng Rare Endangered

Bos javanicus

A sleek wild ox with a white rump patch and white stockings, far rarer and more elegant than the domestic cattle it resembles.

Where: Grassland and dry dipterocarp forest. Best: Nov-Apr, dusk, best Feb-Apr at the salt licks. Huai Kha Khaeng holds Thailand's most significant banteng population.

Elongated Tortoise, elongated yellow-tan shell with black blotches, pale head, pink flush when breeding.

Elongated Tortoise Rare Critically Endangered

Indotestudo elongata

A forest tortoise whose pale head flushes pink around the eyes and nose in the breeding season.

Where: Dry forest floor after rain. Best: May-Oct.

Crested Serpent Eagle, dark brown with white spots, bushy crest, yellow cere and face, white wing band.

Crested Serpent Eagle Common

Spilornis cheela

A snake-hunting eagle that circles the forest on broad wings, calling with a far-carrying, wailing whistle.

Where: Perched over open forest. Best: Year round, day.

Bengal Monitor, grey-brown monitor with fine pale speckling, banded tail, nostril nearer the snout tip than the eye.

Bengal Monitor Occasional

Varanus bengalensis

A dry-country monitor that climbs well, digs constantly and eats essentially anything smaller than itself.

Where: Dry forest floor and termite mounds. Best: Year round, warm hours.

Burmese Python, very heavy body, tan ground colour with dark brown blotches, arrow mark on head.

Burmese Python Occasional Vulnerable

Python bivittatus

One of the largest snakes on Earth, a giant constrictor that can swallow prey the size of a deer.

Where: Grassland margins and waterholes. Best: Nov-Apr, day.

See all 27 species recorded at Huai Kha Khaeng

Krabi and the southern limestone

Short walks rather than expeditions, on boardwalks through mangrove and up onto limestone. Low effort and high return: langurs on the cliffs, mudskippers and fiddler crabs under the boards, and pittas for anyone who comes in the right months.

9 of 25 recorded species

Long-tailed Macaque, grey-brown, very long tail, backswept crown crest, pale cheek whiskers.

Long-tailed Macaque Common 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: Railay, the cave temples and the Ao Nang headlands. Best: Year round, day. Bold around visitors. Keep bags closed and never feed them.

Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed Bat, small dark bat with wrinkled lips and a free tail, leaves caves in vast evening columns.

Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed Bat Regular

Chaerephon plicatus

The bat behind Thailand's great cave exodus, when millions stream out at dusk in a river of wings.

Where: Limestone caves at Khao Kanab Nam and Than Bok Khorani. Best: Year round, dusk.

Asian water monitor raising its head beside water

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: Mangrove creeks, town canals and the riverside walkway. Best: Year round, day.

Dusky Langur, grey monkey, white eye rings and mouth, orange infants.

Dusky Langur (Spectacled Leaf Monkey) Common Endangered

Trachypithecus obscurus

White spectacles make the adults look permanently startled, and the bright orange babies are pure crowd pleasers.

Where: The limestone cliffs and forest edge at Railay and around Ao Nang. Best: Year round, early morning and late afternoon. Railay is the easiest place in Thailand to watch this monkey, often at eye level from the beach path.

Asian Small-clawed Otter, small otter, pale throat, dexterous paws with tiny claws, sociable groups.

Asian Small-clawed Otter Rare Vulnerable

Aonyx cinereus

The smallest otter in the world, a sociable, hand-using charmer that feels for prey with nimble fingers.

Where: Quiet freshwater and mangrove creeks inland of Ao Luek. Best: Year round, early morning.

Germain's Swiftlet, small sooty-grey swiftlet, slightly paler rump, fast fluttering flight.

Germain's Swiftlet Common

Aerodramus germani

The little cave swift whose nest of pure saliva is harvested from sheer sea caves for bird's nest soup.

Where: Sea caves and the karst towers at the river mouth. Best: Year round, day.

Lesser Adjutant, very tall stork, bare yellowish head, heavy pale bill, dark back, white belly.

Lesser Adjutant Rare Vulnerable

Leptoptilos javanicus

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

Where: Mangrove edges and open flats near the estuary. Best: Nov-Mar.

Helmeted hornbill in flight

Helmeted Hornbill Very rare Critically Endangered

Rhinoplax vigil

A hornbill with a solid ivory casque, hunted to the brink for carving, whose call sounds like maniacal laughter.

Where: Tall lowland forest at Khao Nor Chuchi. Best: Year round, listen for the accelerating call. Poached almost to nothing for its solid casque. Hearing one is more likely than seeing one.

Atlas moth with wings spread, showing the cobra-head wingtips

Atlas Moth Occasional

Attacus atlas

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

Where: Lights at forest-edge accommodation. Best: Mar-Jun and Sep-Nov, night.

See all 25 species recorded at Krabi and the southern limestone

Planning and responsible watching

Start at first light and accept that the forest goes quiet by mid morning; a 06:00 start and a 10:00 finish will beat a full day begun at nine. Wear leech socks between June and October in the southern and western forests, because Khao Sok and Kaeng Krachan both have them in numbers and they are harmless but relentless. Take more water than seems reasonable and a head torch even on a day walk, since dusk in closed canopy arrives faster than you expect. Walk slowly and stop often: standing still for five minutes beside a fruiting tree produces more than another kilometre of trail, and almost every good sighting on a Thai trek comes to someone who was not moving. Use a park guide where one is required and consider one where it is not, because a guide who works a trail daily knows which stretch the gibbons have been using this week. And keep a proper distance from elephants: they are common on the Khao Yai roads and in Kui Buri, they are wild, and a vehicle between you and the animal is not optional.

Find guided treks and park lodges at Khao Yai, Khao Sok and Kaeng Krachan

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Frequently asked questions

Where is the best jungle trekking in Thailand for wildlife?

Khao Yai for the easiest introduction and reliable gibbons and hornbills within three hours of Bangkok, Khao Sok for the oldest and wettest rainforest, and Kaeng Krachan for the most serious walking and the widest species list. Chiang Mai and Doi Inthanon for a completely different montane forest.

Will I see big animals on a jungle trek in Thailand?

Rarely, and it is worth knowing before you book. Walking is a poor way to see large mammals because you make noise and cover ground they have already left. What treks deliver is gibbons, hornbills, snakes, frogs and invertebrates, which a vehicle passes without seeing.

When is the best time for jungle trekking in Thailand?

November to February is the most comfortable across the country: drier trails, lower humidity and fewer leeches. June to October is wetter and harder walking but far better for amphibians, insects and reptiles, and the forest is at its most alive.

Are there leeches in Thai jungles?

Yes, particularly in Khao Sok and Kaeng Krachan between June and October. They are harmless and they are persistent. Leech socks solve the problem entirely and cost very little.

Do I need a guide for trekking in Thai national parks?

Some trails require one and most do not. It is still usually worth it: a guide working the same trail daily knows what has been where this week, which is the whole difference between a walk and a wildlife walk.

Is it safe to trek in Thailand with wild elephants around?

Elephants are present at Khao Yai, Kui Buri, Kaeng Krachan and Khao Sok and they are genuinely dangerous at close range. Keep a large distance, never approach or block a route, follow ranger instruction, and treat a vehicle as your safe position rather than an inconvenience.

Part of the Wildlife in Thailand guide.

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