Herpetological trip to southern Thailand
December 18th 2022 – January 8th 2023
Unless specified otherwise, pictures (c) Jeroen Speybroeck.
Make sure to also check out Matt's report for the first part of our trip.
How I longed to be back in the tropics! Friends Peter and Anniek asked me to join them to what has more or less become their second home country. They had teamed up with Matt, which we did again. His knowledge was pivotal to our success. Besides myself, Loïc and Nicky also joined, thus completing a crew of six. Matt left us about halfway into our trip, while Loïc, Nicky and me split up from Peter and Anniek during the last five days.
Dry season is not the best to find herpetofauna, but there is always plenty to see for those who keep on searching. I was particular hoping to see two Thai frog specialties I had not seen before (
Pelobatrachus nasutus and
Nyctixalus pictus). Despite the season, we ended up doing surprisingly well on the amphibian front (ending up with a total of 52 observed frog/toad species). Snake-wise this was the first trip which had me surpass the 40-species glass ceiling, as we ended up finding 44 live snake species (and even roughly ten species more if you add the success of Peter and Anniek prior to and after the overlapping part of our trip). Absolute highlights were the weird
Erpeton tentaculatum, my first ever kraits (
Bungarus spp.) (can you believe it…) and an array of stunning vipers, with
Daboia siamensis and the (within Thailand) seldom observed gorgeous beast
Trimeresurus sumatranus. The overall diversity was overwhelming, with a total of 144 herp species seen and (as such) far more than I had expected.
search sites and accommodation
December 19th : Phuket
An airport strike made me arrive two days later at Phuket airport, which had the advantage that the others were all set to show me a whole bunch of species. Matt has been living on Phuket for quite a while, which obviously helped us a great deal. We found 23 species in a single night – a great way to kick off the trip. Jetlag can and shall be ignored.
First, we explored a small mangrove trail, which was good for some nice habitat specialists.
Cerberus schneiderii
Cantoria violacea
Cantoria violacea - © Loïc van Doorn
On our way to more terrestrial habitats, a nice python of over 5 m. I regret not taking any half-decent pictures of the beast.
Malayopython reticulatus - © Anniek Aerden
The rest of the night was spent in forested environment, offering some amphibian specialties and two viper species.
Polypedates leucomystax
Polypedates leucomystax
Chalcorana eschatia
Megophrys parva
Leptobrachium smithi
Limnonectes macrognathus
Ichthyophis kohtaoensis
Trimeresurus phuketensis
Cnemaspis phuketensis - © Loïc van Doorn
Tropidolaemus wagleri
Tropidolaemus wagleri
Tropidolaemus wagleri
December 20th : Krabi
We divided our next night between a hill which is home to
Trimeresurus venustus and a nice mangrove. We lucked out on the former, but the latter made up for that, with six species of snakes, which included some fun cobra wrangling.
waterfront dinner
one of our playgrounds for the subsequent night
Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus
Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus - © Loïc van Doorn
Fordonia leucobalia - none as attractive as those I have seen in Australia
Naja kaouthia
Naja kaouthia - © Loïc van Doorn
Cyrtodactylus zebraicus without the trademark original zebra-tail
Gekko tokehos
Lycodon capucinus
December 21st : Trang
We were kicked out of the sites we wanted to search near Trang, so we did not get the anticipated
Calloselasma rhodostoma or the
Bungarus flaviceps we had hoped for. No worries, plenty more to come, and we still found a handful of frogs and lizards.
December 22nd-26th : Narathiwat
Our time in the extreme south can be considered as the main target area of the trip, providing us with numerous highlights. While five nights of searching did not even offer us a scale of
Trimeresurus wiroti, Peter struck gold with the major find during our last night in the area: a stunning adult female
Trimeresurus sumatranus.
Trimeresurus hageni
Trimeresurus hageni
Trimeresurus hageni
Trimeresurus hageni
Trimeresurus hageni
Rhabdophis flaviceps
Rhabdophis flaviceps
Pelobatrachus nasutus
Pelobatrachus nasutus
Pelobatrachus nasutus
Limnonectes deinodon
Fejervarya limnocharis
Cyrtodactylus quadrivirgatus
Theloderma licin
Theloderma licin
Gonocephalus liogaster
Pelobatrachus nasutus
Pelobatrachus nasutus
Pelobatrachus nasutus
Draco melanopogon
Draco melanopogon
Xenochrophis trianguligerus
Hypsiscopus plumbea
Xenopeltis unicolor
Pareas margaritophorus - © Loïc van Doorn
Varanus salvator
Varanus salvator
Amolops larutensis
Cyrtodactylus consobrinus
Bungarus candidus
Leptobrachella sola
Calamaria pavimentata - © Loïc van Doorn
Calamaria lumbricoidea - © Loïc van Doorn
Christmas eve dinner in heaven
Draco formosus
Gekko kuhli
Leiolepis belliana
Sylvirana malayana
Kaloula pulchra (with leech)
Gonyosoma coeruleum
Gonyosoma coeruleum
Pulchrana sundabarat
Rhacophorus nigropalmatus
Rhacophorus nigropalmatus
Leptophryne borbonica
Leptophryne borbonica
Draco maximus
Draco maximus
Calliophis bivirgatus
Calliophis bivirgatus
Calliophis bivirgatus - © Loïc van Doorn
Odorrana hosii - © Loïc van Doorn
Hylarana erythraea - © Loïc van Doorn
Phrynella pulchra
Lycodon subcinctus
Zhangixalus prominanus
Trimeresurus sumatranus as found
Trimeresurus sumatranus
Trimeresurus sumatranus
Trimeresurus sumatranus
Trimeresurus sumatranus
Trimeresurus sumatranus
Trimeresurus sumatranus
© Loïc van Doorn
December 27th : Phattalung
After five hardcore days in the south, we moved back north with satisfaction but some regret in our hearts. The outskirts of a big lake offered us a new highlight in the shape of one of the strangest snakes on the planet.
Erpeton tentaculatum - © Peter Engelen
Erpeton tentaculatum
Erpeton tentaculatum
Erpeton tentaculatum
Enhydris enhydris
Homalopsis mereljcoxi
Ichthyophis kohtaoensis
Ichthyophis kohtaoensis - © Loïc van Doorn
December 28th : Khanom
The day of our unsettled
Trimeresurus venustus business, exploring a wonderful karstic hill and finding the beautiful target species and some splendid others as well.
daytime mini-birding
aaaahhh… the food!
Kalophrynus interlineatus
Kalophrynus interlineatus
Glyphoglossus guttulatus
Oligodon taeniatus
Oligodon taeniatus - © Loïc van Doorn
Cylindrophis jodiae
Elaphe taeniura
Elaphe taeniura
Trimeresurus venustus
Trimeresurus venustus
Trimeresurus venustus
Trimeresurus venustus
December 29th : Phang-nga
We inserted an extra single night stop while moving up north, failing to find the local
Ansonia, but still adding some new frog friends and visiting a nice local park.
Alcalus tasanae
Sylvirana malayana
Phrynoidis asper
Phrynoidis asper
December 30th – January 1st : Khao Sok
The subsequent three nights were spend near Khao Sok NP. Bit crowded, but a nice place to be if you pick one of the accommodations on the outskirts of the village. Herpwise things were really getting tougher, with comparatively (very) low numbers of snakes being found, but we soldiered on and enjoyed. A supersweaty solo daytime hike will remain one of my fondest memories of the trip. Two days on the water were also a very agreeable way to spend the daytime.
a room with a view
front yard friend - Calotes versicolor
breeding pond of Rhacophorus nigropalmatus
Boiga melanota
Clinotarsus penelope
Microhyla berdmorei
one Odorrana hosii and two Chalcorana eschatia
Boiga melanota
Boiga melanota
Boiga melanota
Cyrtodactylus oldhami
Limnonectes blythii - the beast of the brooks
Rhabdophis nigrocinctus
Amolops panhai
Amolops panhai
Acanthosaura phuketensis
Acanthosaura phuketensis
Pareas carinatus
Pareas carinatus
Draco fimbriatus
Draco taeniopterus
Sphenomorphus maculatus
Gekko gecko
Gekko gecko
Siebenrockiella crassicollis
Ptyas carinata
Ptyas carinata
Ahaetulla prasina
Nyctixalus pictus - as found
Nyctixalus pictus
Nyctixalus pictus
January 2nd : Ranong
One mangrove night for a very special snake.
© Nicky De Wit
Bungarus fasciatus - as found
Bungarus fasciatus
Bungarus fasciatus
Bungarus fasciatus - © Loïc van Doorn
Gekko gecko
January 3rd : Sam Roy Yot
Mosquito Ville. No endemic pit viper for me (although Peter managed to find
Trimeresurus kuiburi the next night, dammit).
in-between refreshment
the food, the food, …
Cyrtodactylus samroiyot
Cyrtodactylus samroiyot
Cnemaspis lineogularis
Dendrelaphis sp.
January 4th : elephants & Hua Hin
After an elephant safari, Loïc, Nicky and I said goodbye to Peter and Anniek, and moved on to the wider surroundings of Hua Hin for one night.
Trimeresurus albolabris
Trimeresurus albolabris
Trimeresurus albolabris
Dendrelaphis pictus
Ahaetulla prasina
Microhyla mukhlesuri
Sylvirana nigrovittata
Polypedates megacephalus
January 5th : Sa Kaeo
Further up north and passing Bangkok, we entered an area with not so nice habitat but a very-high-on-our-wishlists viper species.
Microhyla pulchra
Dixonius siamensis
Daboia siamensis - as found
Daboia siamensis
Daboia siamensis
Daboia siamensis
© Loïc van Doorn
January 6-8th : Khao Yai
One last national park, one last pit viper and then it was back home.
Varanus salvator
Cyclemys oldhami
Sylvirana mortenseni
Trimeresurus vogeli
Trimeresurus vogeli
Trimeresurus vogeli
no real trip without some car trouble
Physignathus concinnus digging a nesting hole
Physignathus concinnus
Eutropis macularia
Gehyra fehlmanni - © Loïc van Doorn
Micryletta erythropoda
a final little jungle strawl
exit
Epilogue
It has been an amazing trip, with variable daily results and not as many snakes as we could have found, but nevertheless some remarkable finds and a couple of days with very high species number.
The species accumulation curve shows we were not reaching any plateau just yet, so we should have stayed a little longer.
Remarkable absentees include
Calloselasma rhodostoma and
Trimeresurus macrops. Dry conditions and (in the northern areas we visited) fairly low temperatures may have caused this. Diurnal, ubiquitous snake species like
Chrysopelea ornata and
Coelognathus radiatus were also not found alive. Finding only a single live species of
Boiga was also surprising. In contrast, with 52 species we did rather well in terms of frog finds. A return visit will be in order to have another shot at finding some of my main target species such as
Bungarus flaviceps,
Python bivitattus and (of course)
Ophiophagus hannah.
Species list
