herping tour bangkok

Thailand Herping Field Trips – Reptiles & Amphibians

[Updated: 20 June 2023]

Thailand Herping (Snake) Field Trips

You’d think Thailand would be inundated with educational snake, lizard, gecko, and slow loris field trips because the number and variety of snakes and other wildlife is so excellent. Truth is, there are very few places you can go for a snake field trip or snake herping tour.

Currently, there is one place at Khao Yai in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), and there are tours at a wilderness resort in Krabi that focus on wildlife in general, but if you ask them, they can focus on snakes or other wildlife species’ for you. Spiders, insects, mammals, owls, slow lorises, lizards, geckos… frogs. Whatever you choose, and there is always plenty.

There is one expert Thai tour guide who focuses on snakes in the whole country — “Herp Guide Parinya.” He’s based in Ranong, Thailand which is south of Hua Hin, and north of Surat Thani, north of Phang Nga.

His knowledge of snakes is exceptional, and I think he has a tour guide license or will have one soon. When he gives us a way to contact him, we’ll let you know.

Reptiles and Amphibian Tours (Herping) in Thailand

There are small tour agencies around Thailand’s national parks that offer wildlife tours. Overwhelmingly, the feedback I get on these ‘tours’ is that the guides speak very little English; don’t know the proper names for the animals -common or Latin, and don’t know much or anything about the animals’ behavior and whether snakes are venomous or non-venomous.

So in other words, the educational standards for tour guides like this are in a very poor state.

Reptiles and amphibians in Thailand are vast in number and species diversity. This year I’ve gone on more Thailand herping field trips than any of the previous years. I’ve caught hundreds of more snakes this year.

Primarily, I’ve been looking for snakes, but of course, many other types of animals are found – lizards, geckos, and frogs being some of the most plentiful and interesting to me. In 2020 and 2021 I am looking at a number of solo herping trips around the country on short expeditions to see if I can find some of the snakes I haven’t seen yet.

I’m also considering a few custom tours with friends and snake enthusiasts who are looking for something more than the ‘pack ’em in like sardines’ type snake herping tour in Thailand.

Currently, I’m located north of Bangkok and convenient to Khao Yai National Park, but I’m not sure if we’ll be offering any sort of field trips over there. I think they are very restrictive and insist on one of their own guides going on the field trip.

Just in our little area in Southern Thailand, we’ve seen around 70 different snake species in ten years. We have a few places which are usually productive for snakes, and we stick to them when we can. Two of them are sometimes off-limits and we hope they will stay open, but if not, we’ll source other areas close-by.

What Is Found During a Thailand Herping Tour?

• snakes – cobras, kraits, vipers, rat snakes, kukri, wolf snakes, keelbacks, cat-eyed snakes, etc.
• frogs and toads
• lizards and geckos – and some of them are built for gliding through the air!
• butterflies, moths
• spiders – tarantulas, Hunstman, Orb Weavers, etc.
• scorpions – small and large
• centipedes – the big ones from the Scolopendra genus
• birds, mostly sleeping, but ‘night jars’ are fairly common.
• slow lorises, and civets
• hog badgers
• stick insects
• leaf insects
• preying mantises!
• Many more kinds of reptiles, bugs, birds, mammals, and amphibians.

There is incredible diversity in the wildlife in Thailand and more and more I’m meeting people through my Youtube channel and this website who are interested in going out to see what we can find. This year I’ve gone out with scores of people and found hundreds of snakes, many frogs, lizards, scorpions, spiders, etc. It’s great fun, and I think more people would enjoy it if they knew something like this was available.

If you would like to go out on the Krabi River in a long-tail boat and look for snakes during the day, see the contact info below. Long-tail boats can take maybe up to four people at a time (the small boat). You’ll bring lunch, drinks, and stay out for about 4 hours – however long you book with the boat owner.

NOTE – We are always looking for a Thai guy or girl to help us with reptile, and amphibian herping tours here in Southern Thailand – but, finding a guide is proving very difficult. (Update – it seems to be impossible)

There are few Thais not deathly afraid of snakes. Add to that the fact that many herping excursions will take place during the nighttime hours – and, well, fear of ghosts can factor in as well!

We would also like to have herping tours on the water, by kayak.

So, if anyone knows of a Thai that can swim, is not afraid of snakes, and can take tours through the forest in the middle of the night – please contact us. The rate of pay will depend on how many tours we do – but, it’s safe to say the person will do better than working in 7-11, and have a lot more fun.

If you’d like a custom package tour over a number of days – Contact us HERE >

More Herping Info >

* * * * * *

The video below was taken around 11 pm. as we watched a deadly Malayan krait try to eat a Sunbeam snake (harmless) – and the Sunbeam actually got away after 90 minutes of battle – and had no ill effects from the krait bites.

Here is a video of Al Coritz – VIPERKEEPER at YouTube – and us herping on a field trip. Al stayed with me for a week and we herped every night – a very cool experience.

• This page in Spanish language >
• This page in French language >
• This page in German language >

I am sourcing for some amphibians from Thailand. Appreciate if you can let me know if you have leads for any of the below-mentioned species.

Thanks, Junkai

Sourcing them for what? Who are you?

Sounds awesome..

Looking at moving to Chiang Mai later this year, and have been out of the herping game for a number of years but one of the things I was looking into was herping in the LOS… Glad I found this….

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hua Hin Herping Tour

A private tour in the Hua Hin area, suitable for both beginners and experienced herpers alike.

You may also like

• Tailor-made herping tours
• Tours around Thailand

Tailor-made herping tours around Thailand

By:   Tontan Travel Wildlife Tours

Tour description in short

Our tailor-made herping tours around Thailand have open itineraries. Our expert herping guides will take you on an adventure to search for your target species. Or simply try to find as much diversity of species as possible in the time frame you have.

We will get around by car to travel from destination to destination, as well as from habitat to habitat. And we will primarily set out on foot to search for reptiles and amphibians. Both during the day and at night.

Why our tailor-made herping tours?

Our flexibility will allow to maximize your chances within the time frame you have. On a day-to-day basis we will look at the conditions, and the success we did or did not have in finding the species you would hope to see. From there, we discuss if we wish to stay in the area where we are, or go herping in new terrain with new possibilities. This way of operating has resulted in many successful herping tours we have done over the years.

Thailand has so much to offer with its great diversity of herpetofauna, you do not want to miss this. And we will go the extra mile to get the most out of your trip.

Click the following button to contact us, or continue reading, below.

Tour package summary

• Field herping
• Jungle walk(s)
• Night drive(s)
• Night walk(s)

Tour details

• 1- or multiday tour
• Private tour
• Price on request
• Difficulty level: Easy to moderate

What's included?

• Expert herping guide (English)
• Transport during tour

Tour itinerary

About the itinerary of our tailor-made herping tours around Thailand . Note: We can organize long trips of one or more weeks.

Day 1 (±10:00 to ± midnight)

Being tailor-made trips, we can of course not point out exactly how the itinerary will be. Depending on the total duration of your trip, perhaps the time of year, and the target species you would like to see, we make a decision which region(s) to visit. Even on each day itself, our herping guide will decide hour by hour what to do next, based on your preferences, weather conditions, results, or simply instinct.

On longer trips, some days we might cover long distances to get to a new region with new possibilities of species. Once in the field, we will usually go out on foot to search for the herps. Occasionally, we might do some road herping, but in most situations herping on foot is the most successful, and most fun.

Of course the nighttime is an important part of these tours. But when time allows we will also go out in the field in daytime.

Typically, we start the days a bit later in the morning to allow for some sleep. There's no fixed end time at night, this depends on the energy levels of both you and the guide. But the guide requires about 9 - 10 hours of rest before the the itinerary continues the next day.

Extra information related to these herping tours

Our herping tours can take place all year round. As long as our guide is available. Booking in advance is recommended!

However, it is wise to look into what time of year to visit. It's best to contact us to explain what species you would like to focus on, then we can give you more specific recommendations.

Overall, the wet season is usually the best to see a high diversity of species. It depends a bit on where in Thailand you are which months are considered wet season. Generally it is roughly May to October. In the South this extends till the end of the year.

But some species are best found in their mating season, which might be in the winter or the hot, dry season.

How much does a tour cost?

The rate for our tailor-made herping tours is on request. Usually we will calculate a fixed day rate. This rate only covers the fee for our staff and the vehicle usage. This is a bit different from our usual tour packages which are typically pretty much all-inclusive.

This fixed day rate depends on the group size, and the required vehicle.

The day rate does not include any of the costs made during the entire trip. This allows for a completely flexible itinerary. For example, fuel is not included. That means there is no limit on how far we can travel.

It is also important to note that not only are you expected to pay for your own accommodation, food, drinks, entrance fees, and additional transport if required. But you are also expected to cover all those costs for our staff, which includes one room for our staff for every night of the entire trip at the accommodation you are staying at. The same applies to costs for food, drinks, and entrance fees to national parks for our staff.

Prior to the booking, we will give you an estimate what those additional costs roughly are.

Other tours in Thailand

We'd love to hear from you.

For any enquiries or quotation requests, please, use this contact form.

* = Required

Reviews of the Tailor-made herping tours

Our guests have rated us 5 out of 5 stars ( 2 reviews).

Name: Tim Christensen , United States

Tour: Tailor-made herping tours

Tour date: 13 May 2019

Rating:  

I recently concluded an extraordinary ecological field tour with Tontan Travel (May 13-19, 2019). The tour was phenomenal...there's no other way to say it. It exceeded my expectations in so many ways. In my case, my major interest was observing/photographing insects, other arthropods, and herpetofauna (particularly snakes) - the tours gave me the opportunity to learn so much about these organisms in Thailand. Additionally, the tour was flawlessly organized and executed. Without a doubt, I will be returning next year! What a great time.

Tontan Travel wrote:

Thank you for your kind words. We hope to meet you again! We've added some images of some of the species we found on your trip.

Name: Robert B , United States

Tour date: 30 Jul 2016

We recently spent almost two weeks with Tontan. Ton is a very knowledgable and enthusiastic herper and Tan is a most gracious and pleasant host. I highly recommend them and look forward to returning to Thailand for further adventures with them in the not-too-distant future

Thanks Robert for you kind words. It was a great pleasure to spend 2 weeks of herping with you guys. And with a list of about 80 herp species, and in addition to that some amazing mammal sightings like the Dhole hunting down the leucistic muntjac in the water, made it a very special trip. We're looking forward to meet you again someday, maybe visit some other parts of the country to find different species. Greetings from the Thai jungle!