Flora and Fauna in Thong Nai Pan

I was aimlessly surfing the net today and discovered the official website for the Department of National Parks and Plant Conservation – www.dnp.go.th. It’s a really clunky website; typical of government websites in Thailand, but it does contain some interesting information.

I have always been curious about what flora and fauna you can expect to see in Thong Nai Pan. I have seen large birds, snakes, lizards and a plethora of insects. I have also spotted lots of different types of tree and flower. But beyond personal experience and anecdotal accounts of huge snakes etc., I have been unable to get a definitive list of what you might hope to see in the Thong Nai Pan area. That is until now. The national parks website has a page about Than Sadet, just a few kilometers down the coast. It is a safe bet to say that most of what Than Sadet has got Thong Nai Pan also has.

Here is what the website lists for Than Sadet:

Flora and Geography

Interior: lush primary forests filled with evergreen trees. The forest floor is important as it contains such flora as hopea odorata.

Hillside: dry primary forest with stone channels where important plants such as chukrasia velutina are found. It is a limestone mountain containing Portia tree and hibiscus.

Fauna

Mammals: cervus unicolour (deer), monkey, spectacled langur, slow Loris and Javan mongoose

Birds: brahminy kite, white-bellied sea eagle, hill myna

Snakes: both venomous and non-venomous such as cobra, king cobra, green cat snake, python.

Amphibians: frogs, Blyth’s mountain frog

Other aquatic life: striped sea catfish, striped snake-head fish, crab, shrimp, land tortoise, splendid squid, rainbow cuttle fish.

Shell: oyster, scaly giant clam, abalone.

Sea turtle: green turtle and hawksbill turtle.

Notes

1) The deer, as legend has it, were released under the orders of King Rama V around Than Sadet. I’ve never met anyone who has seen one of these deer. They are protected by royal edict but who knows if they established themselves into the island’s eco-system.
2) To this list I would add monitor lizards, geckos and numerous birds (see bird’s of Thong Nai Pan post) and water buffalo (domesticated), dogs (domesticated) and cats (domesticated)