wildlife
- Environment News
After pipeline spills, Rayong officials say beach is “still unsafe”
After 3 separate oil spills from the same company within a month, Rayong officials say the Mae Ramphueng beach is still unsafe. Health officials tested urine samples of officials who had to collect the oil. Out of 534 officials, 3 showed unsafe levels of volatile compounds. 18 other officials still await their results. The Rayong Pollution Control Centre also said…
- Phuket News
Baby turtles hatch in Phang Nga national park
A female green turtle laid eggs on a beach in Phang Nga province in December, and last week, her babies hatched. The turtle laid 75 eggs altogether, and park officials confirmed yesterday that 66 had hatched and have been released into the ocean. Seven eggs were unfertilised, and two baby turtles had died. The 90.7% of hatchlings that survived spent…
- Thailand News
Elephant crossing! 35 new road signs warn Kanchanaburi drivers not to hit elephants
After a pickup truck hit and killed an elephant on a Kanchanaburi highway in January, 35 new elephant crossing signs have been posted along that highway, a wildlife sanctuary chief told the Bangkok Post yesterday. Elephants regularly cross this highway, Highway 1399, to move between different feeding areas. The signs warn drivers that the speed limit is 60 kilometres per…
- Thailand News
3 men arrested after allegedly selling tiger, leopard skins to undercover police
Three men were arrested yesterday after they were allegedly caught selling clouded leopard and tiger hides to an undercover officer. Along with three live leopard kittens, tiger and leopard hides valued at two million baht were seized by national park officers and police at a resort in Kanchanaburi, which borders Myanmar. Officers had received a tip that illegal wildlife traders…
- Thailand News
Phuket conservationists butt heads with locals on coral reef
Conservationists are fighting to stop a bay being dredged in Ao Kung in Pa Khlok, on Phuket’s east coast, as they say it will damage nearby coral reefs. A former village headman says the bay needs to be dredged because fishing boats have a hard time getting to the port at low tide. At a meeting with representatives of local…
- Environment News
Oil-affected Rayong beach will host Valentine’s Day event to celebrate reopening
Love will conquer all, including an oil spill off the Thai coastline. The Rayong beach where oil reached its shores last month will host a Valentine’s Day event called “Rayong in Love” to celebrate the beach’s reopening. The event at Mae Ram Phueng Beach will start on Saturday, February 12, and end on Monday, February 14. The Rayong governor said…
- Thailand News
Too much monkey business in Petchaburi, now they’re getting sterilised
In Petchaburi, a central province, monkeys are breeding like rabbits. They might look cute at first, but the booming number of monkeys might threaten tourism since the monkeys often steal peoples’ belongings. Right now there are 1,000-1,500 per district, and this number is rising to 3,000 in Muang district. An adviser to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said…
- Thailand News
Official vows to protect Kanchanaburi locals against tiger attacks
After a Karen man was seriously injured after three tigers attacked him in a Kanchanaburi forest in January, the director of Protected Area Regional Office 3 says patrols from two national parks will guard locals against attacks. The man managed to climb up a tree to escape, but the tigers killed two of his dogs. He was taken to a…
- Thailand News
Thailand takes steps to fight tiger poaching following last month’s Bengal killings
Thai authorities taking steps to end the longstanding problem of tiger poaching. The move follows last month’s case where two Bengal tigers were killed at a national park in the western province of Kanchanaburi. Park officials found the pelts hung up at a camp and the tiger meat cooking on a grill. The country’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and…
- Thailand News
Youtube star discovers new species of tarantula in Thailand
Wildlife Youtuber JoCho Sippawat made a wild discovery when, on one of his many outdoor expeditions in Thailand, he stumbled upon a tarantula species not previously known to humanity. The species, which scientists have officially named “Taksinus Bambus,” lives only in hollowed bamboo stems. JoCho discovered the species in a forest of Mae Tho, Mueang Tak district, Tak province, where…
- Thailand video news
Test & Go, then test again I GMT
Thailand resumes TEST & GO scheme, reopens Pattaya and Ko Chang Sandbox from 1 February 2022, but with new changes and amendments. A wildlife youtuber has discovered a new species of tarantula in Thailand and 20 baht bills in Thailand are getting a modern polymer update on March 24.
- Thailand News
Alleged Bengal tiger poachers must remove their homes from national park
Yesterday, rangers at Khao Laem national park in Kanchanaburi ordered the removal of four homes, belonging to five people suspected of hunting and killing two endangered Bengal tigers last week. The suspects and their families, or anyone else currently living in the homes, must leave within 30 days. Those who don’t comply will be charged with violating the National Park…
- Thailand News
Wildlife academics welcome Supreme Court verdict in Premchai case
Academics have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a lower court’s sentencing of the former boss of Italian-Thai Development. Premchai Karnasuta and 3 of his staff have been sentenced for the killing of protected wildlife in a Thai national park. According to a Bangkok Post report, the construction boss and his team were given permission to enter the Thungyai…
- Thailand News
Wildlife officials search for Bengal tiger roaming across three provinces
A Bengal tiger has reportedly been roaming across three provinces and wildlife officials have been searching for the wildcat, which was last seen leaving a forest in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Uthai Thani. The tiger, named “Vijit,” is wearing a tracking collar and the signal emitted from the collar showed the big cat in a eucalyptus plantation…
- Things To Do
A visitor’s guide to Khao Yai National Park
Khao Yai National Park was established in 1962 as the country’s first national park. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and its wildlife is understandably impressive. From rare elephant sightings to bats and birds, visiting this beautiful park is a great place to see wildlife. Below, we have the best things to do and see in…
- Hua Hin News
Wild elephant breaks into home and raids kitchen in Hua Hin – VIDEO
A wild elephant busted into a home in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin district yesterday, breaking through the wall and poking its head into the home’s kitchen. The elephant’s trunk reached into a shelf, knocking over kitchen supplies and grabbing what appeared to be a bag, then stuffing it into its mouth. The homeowner posted photos and a video on…
- Environment News
Mekong unseasonal water levels endanger nesting birds in Thailand
The following story was written by Tyler Roney for Third Pole, a “multilingual platform dedicated to promoting information and discussion about the Himalayan watershed and the rivers that originate there.” Just 50 metres from the Mekong, in the shadow of a discarded plastic cup, a lone chick sits camouflaged on the sand. It is a newly hatched small pratincole in…
- Bangkok News
Reporter hospitalised with mystery illness after being bitten by monkey
A reporter who visited the Bangkok home of an obese monkey before it was removed by The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, is being treated in hospital after being bitten by the macaque. “Godzilla” found fame overnight after he was removed from his owner due to concerns about his weight. Godzilla had been living at a market…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok market vendor’s obese monkey seized by wildlife authorities
Thai wildlife authorities seized an extremely fat macaque monkey, known as Godzilla, and have now placed the 3 year old monkey on a strict diet. Godzilla’s owner is a meatball vendor in Bangkok’s Min Buri district. Reports say Godzilla was often tied to the market stall, snacking on treats from passersby. Weighing 20 kilograms, Godzilla became somewhat of a local…
- Phuket News
Spotted dolphin found cut open on Phuket beach, park officers investigate
National park officers in Phuket have launched an investigation after a spotted dolphin was found slashed open on the rocks on the shore of Sirinat National Park’s Ao Sai Khu bay. Its body had a deep gash across its head and another from its head to its tail. The spotted dolphins are classified as protected animals under Thailand’s Wildlife Conservation…
- Environment News
Bryde’s whale in Gulf of Thailand gives birth to third baby
A Bryde’s whale living in the Gulf of Thailand has given birth to her third baby whale. Nation Thailand reports that Mae Thong Dee was photographed by wildlife photographer Jirayu Ekkul, whose team has been monitoring the whale. It’s understood she has a number of injuries, including a ripped dorsal fin and serious eye injuries. “We found Mae Thong Dee…
- Covid-19 News
Did the Covid-19 virus actually originate in Thailand? | VIDEO
South East Asia was the source of Covid-19, not China. Even more specifically, it came from Thailand… from the famous Chatuchak market, or, as quoted correctly “a market LIKE Chatuchak”. That’s the claims of a Danish epidemiologist Thea Kolsen Fischer, who was on a recent World Health Organisation fact-finding mission to Wuhan to examine the origins of the latest coronavirus…
- Thailand News
Siberian tiger re-captured after escaping from cage in western Thailand – VIDEO
Staff from the Khao Son Wildlife Breeding Station in the western province of Ratchaburi have re-captured a Siberian tiger who escaped as workers were trying to close its cage. Nation Thailand reports that Aura, a 10 year old female tiger, broke out of her cage and fled, after frightening 2 workers. VIDEO: Thai PBS News Pakpoom Pidthong from the Khao…
- Northern Thailand News
A wild elephant kills 80 year old camper in Khao Yai
A wild elephant killed an 80 year old man camping in Khao Yai National Park early this morning. Park officials believe the bull elephant was in musth, which is when the elephant has rise in reproductive hormones and becomes aggressive. 80 year old Prayot Jitbun was sleeping in his tent when the elephant attacked. Other nearby campers alerted park officials…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | No ‘tourism’ until Q2, Tiger smuggling, Win drivers jailed | Dec 1
Thailand will remain closed to general tourism until at least the 2nd quarter of 2021 Kiss any resemblance of general tourism to Thailand goodbye, at least until march next year, at the earliest. That’s the outlook for Thailand’s beleaguered tourism industry from the usually optimistic Minster for Sports and Tourism. So, apart from the STV and the modified 60 day…
- Thailand News
Protected hornbill dies from gunshot wound, 2 suspects in police custody
A protected great hornbill died after 5 days of medical treatment for a severe gunshot wound. 2 suspects are now in police custody and officers have seized a .22 calibre rifle, according to Thai PBS. A tourist found the injured bird near the Khiriphet waterfall on Koh Chang. The hornbill, known in Thai as a nok nguek, was treated at…
- Pattaya News
Pickup truck crashes into elephant as herd runs across Chon Buri road
A herd of wild elephants running across a road in Chon Buri caused a driver to crash into an elephant, damaging his Isuzu pickup truck and injuring a 20 year old passenger. 34 year old Sompong Duangknam says he was heading to the province’s Ban Ang Kraden district when a group of about 20 elephants ran out of the forest and…
- South Thailand News
Zoos to be investigated for possible involvement in black market animal trade
Zoos across Thailand will be investigated for possible involvement in the black market wildlife trade. The probe follows a case where 2 rare albino barking deer went missing at Songkhla Zoo and a top zoo official investigating the disappearance was shot and killed at the zoo in an apparent murder-suicide. After suspicion that the deer were stolen and sold in…
- Thailand News
Immigration to deport men after alleged eco-vandalism in Koh Phangan
Immigration officials say they will deport the Hungarian and the Dutch man who were photographed handing sea creatures whilst diving in Gulf of Thailand off Koh Phangan. The men were arrested earlier this week and charged with “intruding in an area designated for environmental protection.” Attila Ott and Francesco Simonetti have been so-called “long-stayers” in Koh Phangan. Ott is a…
- Thailand News
Activists want Thailand to lead total ban on wildlife trade
With the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to sweep the globe and the World Health Organisation saying 75% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, campaigners against wildlife crime say Thailand could become a global leader in helping to prevent pandemics by cracking down on poaching and ceasing to be a gateway for illegal wildlife trade. Activists believe this could help stop…
