Kanchanaburi, Thailand

After a few days in Bangkok we needed to get out of the city but with friends arriving midweek and a charity event next Saturday it wasn't worth going too far so on a recommendation we headed for Kanchanaburi. A good decision as the strip of the town with tourist accommodation and eateries along the river south of the bridge suited us very nicely. Good wildlife and cheap places to eat good local food and plenty of bars to choose from if that's your thing.

A good tip for birders is to stay in one of the raft rooms here. We chose the Tamarind Guesthouse which was reasonably priced for a raft room with a/c and en suite. These are next to rafts of lilies on the river so we were treated to close views of Cotton Pygmy Geese, Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, White-throated Kingfisher, Pond Herons, Black Drongo and Little Cormorant. You can also get close to Water Monitors.

The well-known film unfortunately got the name of the river wrong (The original River Kwai flows into this river a little way downstream). So the simple solution was to rename this river the Kwai Yai and the original the Kwai Noi. Hey presto the bridge is now on the River Kwai (or at least one of them!). A visit to the beautifully tended war cemetery here is essential to pay respects to the thousands who were worked and beaten to death building the railway through to Burma during the war. It's sobering to contemplate what they went through. The bridge itself was bombed and rebuilt many times despite the Japanese marching hordes of prisoners of war onto the bridge in an attempt to deter the bombing!

While there we took the train up to Nam Tok (but unfortunately didn't have the time or money to continue up to any of the national parks). If staying at Nam Tok for a couple of hours between trains either take a songthaew to the waterfall (which we should have done but didn't) or kick around the station area for a bit. There is a pond and gully a short way up the road beyond the station which added a bit of avian variety: Verditer Flycatcher, Black-naped Monarch, Grey Wagtail, Black-crested and Black-headed Bulbuls. Worth keeping an eye open from the train on the way there and back as well. It tends to go slowly and there are plenty of White-throated Kingfishers, Blue-tailed and Green Bee-eaters, Indian Rollers, etc. I was treated to an unexpected close view of a Bronzed Drongo while stopped at the station near some caves.

Sooty-headed Bulbul is worth a short mention. I saw two birds. One close to the accommodation had a yellowish vent - possibly with an orange tinge. The other was from the train to Nam Tok and had a red vent. I'm guessing there is a boundary or intergrade between the forms around here.

Final tip for birders here is to visit the quirky "Jeath War Museum" close to the bridge. This haphazard, eclectic collection of war-related memorabilia is cheap to visit and interesting enough but on the lower level at the back is an extremely quiet area overlooking a reedy overgrown edge of the river. A while spent here could prove productive. I picked up Black-browed Reed Warbler, Dusky and Yellow-browed Warblers, Yellow Bittern and White-breasted Waterhen plus close views of Water Monitor and Common Treeshrew in the trees.

A few extra species were seen from the dusty train journey back to Thonburi station in Bangkok including Lesser Whistling Duck, Great Egret and a Whiskered Tern. Although the train is cheap and offers good views of the countryside, arriving at Thonburi station is an inconvenience. The taxis, etc here know they can charge more or less what they like and refuse to use a meter. Best way to avoid being ripped off is to walk 1km east to the river where you can get an orange flag boat for 15 baht to Sathorn BTS station or anywhere else along the river. Anyone will point the way for you. Alternatively walk well away from the station to where you can flag down a taxi with its meter on but that can be a bit of a lottery.

Cotton Pygmy Goose Nettapus coromandelianus

Oriental Garden Lizard 

Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger

Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus

Red-spot Jezebel Delias descombesi

Apple Snail Pomacea sp.

White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis

Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis

Lesser Whistling-Duck (from train to Bangkok)

Cotton Pygmy-Goose

Rock Dove

Red Collared Dove

Spotted Dove

Zebra Dove

Greater Coucal

Asian Koel

Asian Palm-Swift

White-breasted Waterhen

Black-winged Stilt

Red-wattled Lapwing

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

Bronze-winged Jacana

Common Sandpiper

Whiskered Tern (from train to Bangkok)

Asian Openbill

Little Cormorant

Indian Cormorant (from train to Bangkok)

Yellow Bittern

Purple Heron

Great White Egret (from train to Bangkok)

Little Egret

Cattle Egret

Striated Heron

Black-winged Kite

Eurasian Hoopoe

White-throated Kingfisher

Green Bee-eater (from trains)

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Indian Roller

Coppersmith Barbet

Ashy Woodswallow

Brown Shrike

Black-naped Oriole

Black Drongo

Ashy Drongo

Bronzed Drongo (Kra Sae cave station)

Malaysian Pied-Fantail

Black-naped Monarch (Nam Tok)

Large-billed Crow

Indochinese Bushlark (from train to Nam Tok)

Barn Swallow

Black-headed Bulbul (Nam Tok)

Black-crested Bulbul (Nam Tok)

Sooty-headed Bulbul

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Streak-eared Bulbul

Yellow-browed Warbler

Dusky Warbler

Black-browed Reed Warbler

Common Tailorbird

Oriental Magpie-Robin

Verditer Flycatcher (Nam Tok)

Black-collared Starling

Asian Pied Starling

Common Myna

Great Myna

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker

Olive-backed Sunbird

Grey Wagtail

Paddyfield Pipit

Eurasian Tree Sparrow