A Taste of Thailand 2025

During the first two weeks of February 2025, Siân and I went on holiday to Koh Samui in Thailand. This was our first trip to this part of the world, and though it was a beach holiday, I still managed to sneak off at times to enjoy some birdwatching in the local area around our hotel. Lacking transport meant my birdwatching was restricted to how far I could walk in the heat. However, we took a couple of full-day boat trips: one to the mainland and a few small islands and another to the stunning Ang Thong National Marine Park. Details of these trips follow.

Our hotel was located in the south-eastern corner of Koh Samui, a largely dry area of mixed arable fields and gardens. The hotel site itself, comprised of small villas, was very verdant.

A view from our room's balcony

Having browsed through a Field Guide of Thailand for several years, the idea of birding in Thailand seemed overwhelming, with over 1,000 species recorded there! However, eBird had 191 species recorded on Koh Samui, which seemed like a more manageable introduction to this part of planet Earth.

I am not a photographer, so the images accompanying this blog are essentially ‘record shots’ of some of the birds I encountered using my Nikon B700 bridge camera. Some birds were very obliging; others were far trickier to get images of! I always try to leave the birds undisturbed and let them come to me.

The first morning I was up before dawn to find out which birds were comprised the loud tropical chorus. The birds seen on the first morning were: Yellow-vented Bulbul, Common Myna, Ornate Sunbird, Asian Koel, Black-naped Oriole and Spotted Dove.

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Asian Koel

Common Myna


Ornate Sunbird

Exploring the hotel site and the local area around it over the next few days, I saw: Brahminy Kite, White-nest Swiftlet, Asian Palm Swiftt, Oriental Magpie-Robin, White-throated Kingfisher, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, White-throated Kingfisher, Pacific Swallow, Large-billed Crow and Coppersmith Barbet.

Habitat just behind the hotel



Brahminy Kites were constantly in the sky above the hotel



Coppersmith Barbet

Coppersmith Barbet

Greater Coucal


Oriental Magpie-Robin

Pacific Swallow


Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

I saw Three beautiful species every day: Zebra Dove, Indochinese Roller and Blue-tailed Bee-eater. A group of about a dozen Beeaters were constantly hawking above the hotel pool area. Wonderful!

Zebra Dove - tiny little dove


Indochinese Rollers are seen hunting in any suitable habitat on the island

Indochinese Roller

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

The beach at the hotel wasn't great for waders or seabirds, but Whimbrel, Common Sandpiper, Pacific Reef-Heron, Great Crested Tern, Collared Kingfisher and White-bellied Sea-Eagle were all recorded there.

Collared Kingfisher

Pacific Reef-Heron

Eurasian Whimbrel

I did a couple of walks to find some water to look for more herons and other water birds. I found some ponds and added Little Cormorant, Cinnamon Bittern and a few other birds to my list.


White-throated Kingfisher

Chinese Pond-Heron

Little Cormorant

Scaly-breasted Munia

Scaly-breasted Munia

While watching some Pacific Swallow and Barn Swallows hunting over a lake, I saw an Asian Water Monitor Lizard crossing over it. I do love a big reptile.

Asian Water Monitor Lizard

Speaking of reptiles, I nearly stepped on this Green Vine Snake while walking along a road. Harmless, but it did make me jump!

Green Vine Snake

To the west of our hotel was a forested hilly area. This would often have birds of prey circling it, including Brahminy Kite, Oriental Honey-buzzard, White-bellied Sea-Eagle and at least one pair of Shikra.

Shikra

'Pink Dolphin' Boat Trip

We took a boat trip to see if we could find the population of some 40+ 'pink dolphins' near the mainland at the entrance to a river. After a quick search, I picked up several animals and put the crew on them. The captain was very responsible, putting the boat in the area, turning off the engines, and letting the animals come to us. We probably saw 8 -12 Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins, some very pink. I got a few pictures of fins/humps, but Siân and I had three animals about 3 meters away from us (two adults and a calf) on two occasions, but I was too slow turning the camera on and getting it focused!






On the trip on the way over we had a few Common Tern and 9 Artic Skua.

Ang Thong National Marine Park Boat Trip

On another day, we took a boat to Ang Thong National Marine Park, a beautiful string of virtually unspoilt islands west of Koh Samui. A Collared Kingfisher saw us off from the marina.

Collared Kingfisher

We briefly climbed to the blue lagoon at the first island we stopped at.


Lots of birds were singing and calling from the forested area. A few I recognised, and I couldn't put a name to the others. One bird broke cover, flew over the lake and landed in a tree. When I put my bins up, I was surprised to see a Blue Rock Thrush. The last one I saw was on Majorca several years ago!

Blue Rock Thrush
The rest of the day was spent kayaking, snorkelling at a fabulous area (no fish photos, I'm afraid) and having lunch at a small restaurant. The captain of our boat said that there were hornbills on this island and, in a tree at the back of the restaurant, was a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbills for which the restaurant owners had set up nesting boxes.

Oriental Pied Hornbill - male

Oriental Pied Hornbill - female

However, the trip's highlight was a group of seven Bryde's Whales (pronounced Broodus after Johan Bryde, a Norwegian who built the first whaling stations in Durban). The animals were feeding between two islands in the Ang Thong chain on small fish or shrimp. The animals cooperated in twos and threes and ended up with the animals at the surface with their enormous mouths open. In the photos, you can clearly see the three rostral ridges that identify this rorqual.






During the two weeks we spent at the hotel, I kept hearing something calling, but it was difficult to hear above the sound of Mynas, Bulbuls, and Sunbirds. However, during our last few days, I saw what I could hear, a Yellow-browed Warbler. The call was a bit thinner than I am used to hearing in the UK and blended in with the sound of the sunbirds constantly singing or calling. There must have been two or three wintering on the hotel site.

Also, on the hotel site I found a huge spider, I think it was a Northern Golden Orb Weaver Spider (Nephila pilipes). It was about 25 cm across, with body of about 5 cm.

Northern Golden Orb Weaver Spider

The Pallas's Squirrel was a very common mammal across the island, and there were many on the hotel site.

Pallas's Squirrel

We had a wonderful time in Koh Samui; the place was beautiful, the people were so friendly and helpful, and the food was excellent and reasonably cheap. It was great to see a few more new species of bird and adding two more species of cetacean to my list of those that I have seen was something I was not expecting to do on this holiday. This was definitely a taste of Thailand, and we look forward to returning and travelling more extensively in the country. I would love to see more of the habitats, like mountains, jungle, and marsh and see what else I can find.

Below is the complete list of birds I encountered, presented in approximate order. While I saw a few other species of birds and reptiles during our stay that I couldn't identify and don't have images of, I truly enjoyed everything I did see:

Common Myna
Collared Kingfisher 
Brahminy Kite
White-nest Swiftlet
Yellow-vented Bulbul
Asian Palm Swift
Ornate Sunbird
Common Sandpiper
Oriental Magpie-Robin
White-throated Kingfisher
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
Spotted Dove
Pacific Reef-Heron
Little Egret
Tree Sparrow 
Pacific Swallow
Indochinese Roller
Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Eastern Cattle-Egret
Dark-necked Tailorbird
Asian Koel
Red Junglefowl
Large-billed Crow
Black-naped Oriole
Chinese Pond-Heron
Oriental Honey-buzzard
Shikra
Coppersmith Barbet
Black-headed Bulbul
Feral Pigeon
Zebra Dove
Greater Coucal
Eurasian Whimbrel
Great Crested Tern
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Great Egret
Dark-necked Tailorbird
Little Cormorant
Barn Swallow
Scaly-breasted Munia
Cinnamon Bittern
Red-wattled Lapwing
Stripe-throated Bulbul
Arctic Skua
Common Tern
Yellow-browed Warbler
Japanese Sparrowhawk
Blue Rock-Thrush
Oriental Pied Hornbill

Other animals recorded:

Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin 
 Bryde’s Whale
Pallas's Squirrel
 Golden Silk Orb-weaver Spider
 Green Vine Snake
Turtle (probably Green or Loggerhead)
 Gecko sp.
 Asian Water Monitor Lizard
 Frog sp.
 3 Lizard sp.

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