We have moved to a new home........

WildLifeThailand.com

Please be sure to visit us and take part in the new community orientated site of "WildLifeThailand.Com". Members will be able to upload articles to the main website as well as posting in the forums. We have added many more sub-forums such as "Birds and Birding", Insects of Thailand", "Mammals of Thailand", "Classified ads and wants", "Plants and Fungi of Thailand". We hope that members will take over the forums and make them their own. That is the intention, to provide a central site for sharing information and commentary on Thailand's fantastic natural resources, fauna and flora. We are also encouraging members with their own websites to post their own articles with a limited amount of text and a link to the full articles on their own websites. "WildLifeThailand.Com" is all about increasing awareness through information sharing, plain and simple.

Paul will continue to be a member of the new site and post his articles and forum post as a member like any other user of the site. This site will be converted into a gallery site for Paul's personal photography in the near future.

When is the best time time to visit Thailand's National Park's?

Every year I ponder this a little a more as the common view is that the best time is December, January and February. Indeed trekkers all over Thailand are all eagerly awaiting the winter season so their camping and trekking can begin. This annual pilgrimage to the forests by many is based on one factor in my opinion and that is because it is the cool season. But is it it the best time to visit a national park in Thailand?

Things have been quiet for a while and the weather has not been playing fair, which is normal for the time of year. September and October have been a washout and monotonous grey skies have been the norm. Not good weather for trying to take photographs. Luckily the weather seems to have broken and winter is here with clear skies and good temperatures once again. If only it lasted longer!

I have started the winter shooting season with a couple of 8 pointers - I jest - with a trip to Tak and Mae Hong Song to catch the sights and see the annual Thai "sunflower" blooming near Khun Yuam. It was a bit of a surprise to find out the sunflowers are actually from Mexico and were brought to Thailand by missionaries many years ago.

Khao Yai has always held a special place in my heart - it's maybe because of it's close proximity to Bangkok makes it so accessible, or possibly because I think it's the best managed National Park, taking into account the huge number of visitors it has to control, in Thailand. It is a special place full of promise, always offering but never quite revealing itself. A place to return to - many times over to search for elusive glimpses.

I used to like to camp there but I don't camp in Khao Yai anymore - there are simply too many people in the approved camp sites doing John Denver impressions until 3 a.m in the morning. If I heard another camper's rendition of "tek mee hom cunty roads", which might actually describe

After humming and awing over where would be a good location to visit in Thailand taking into account the poor weather and light we have at this time of year I plumped for some indoor locations. Being a Bangkok resident it goes without saying that an outing in Bangkok to take photographs does not really cut the mustard so an alternative location was needed for a miserable and wet September weekend.

After a bit of research I decided to head back to one my favorite provinces in the whole of Thailand, Ratchaburi. I would make the journey via Phetchaburi so I could finally see the Tham Khao Luang site and also indulge in some food at Hat Chao Samran. My stomach is also close at heart when travel decisions are being made.

Last week I had intended to travel to Chonburi, Rayong and Chantaburi to view the Thai fishing boat fleets that traditionally remain at port for the Queen's birthday celebrations. I made the trip but the opportunities for photography were not so good as the weather, which is inclement at best during this time of the year, did not really serve up suitable conditions. So a weekend of photographing fishing boats turned into weekend for relaxing by the sea and sampling the absolutely fabulous east coast seafood. Or so I thought.

What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend trip turned into quite an educational trip but for altogether the wrong reasons. The Queen's birthday weekend coincided with a particulary high tide and what was left on the beaches after the high tide was quite shocking. Serious pollution in Thailand.

Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary often makes the news whether it be for the marauding elephants that had been hijacking trucks of fruit, the reintroduction of the Siamese crocodile or for the keen work of it's forestry officials who in just one year arrested nearly 4000 encroachers.

Khao Ang Rue Nai is just a short drive (2.5 hours) from Bangkok in Chachoengao province and a quick glance at the location on Google Earth shows you it's main problem, it is primarily lowlands and forest under 250 meters that is being encroached from all sides except the mountainous region of Eastern Forest to the south.

We have just entered that unfortunate time of year in Thailand when the rains start and a daily inundation becomes reality. It's a time of year that many enjoy, the raw temperature disipates and mundane protective clouds are a daily feature. Some like to watch the storms roll in and witness the violent resulting torrents. For a photographer, in general, this is absolutely the worst time of year in Thailand!

We suffer a lack of light, a lack of interesting light, a lack of interesting skies. A lack of photo opportunities. Additionally the rain brings "greenery", and as a nature photographer knows this brings a whole host of problems - not only is the light not there, the light is not enough AND there is so much green foliage about that its hard to even spot a potential subject.

Thailand is a country of temples ranging from classic Thai buddhist to Khmer hindu with a welter of Chinese and Muslim thrown into the mix. Their beauty is admired by all and both locals and visitors alike tour the country to view them. The country is famed for its more well known monuments such as Sukhothai, Ayudthaya, Phanom Rung, but the countryside is awash with smaller, sometimes more interesting finds.

One such temple is Wat Khao Tham Talu. Just one hour and thirty minutes drive from Bangkok.

The temple and its grounds are located on Khao Tham Talu, one of the many small mountain outcrops dotted throughout the rich and fertile plains of Ratchaburi province.

This past week has been a culture week and I took advantage of the long weekend to visit Issan อีสาน and to enjoy its sights and temples, not to mention its value! It is one of the cheapest areas for quality food and accommodation I have been to. The trip consisted of a visit to Khorat, Buriram, Surin and Sisaket with a short trip on the border of Cambodia to see the famous Preah Vihear Temple complex.

Its quite amazing just how many Khmer temples there are in Thailand, especially in Surin and Sisaket. A reminder of the past and the former borders of the great Khmer kingdom and influence.

The weather has been strange so far this cool season - the season seems to have lasted longer than normal but without the striking blue skies we normally associate with late winter in Thailand. Today the wind swung around and is now coming directly from the south. Bringing hotter weather no doubt but hopefully also the blue skies so beloved by photographers at this time of year.

What importance does this have I hear you say, well its the unofficial Thailand travel photography season. Its that time of year when we all clamor to take those picture book shots with the neon blue skies with wispy white clouds skipping by. Its a very short season, whilst we do get blue skies randomly throughout the year we suffer cloud on the whole, whether that be

Recently we had the opportunity to return to Lembeh Straits in northern Suluwesi, Indonesia, to photograph the areas underwater biodiversity. The area, once again, delivered on its reputation of being one the world's most prolific established dive destinations for biodiversity. and during this trip we had the good fortune to photograph many species that are not yet in our library as well as species that we had not encountered before.

The strait which is situated at the most northern point of Suluwesi between the mainland and Lembeh Island acts as a fast flowing venturi that channels water through the channel. It has a multitude of small bays which water eddies into and provides a safe depository for ocean and reef life larve to develop into maturity.