bobmcgee

My Rockjumper cap had arrived in the mail before leaving Australia. I put it on as I stepped into the outside world from the sequestered realm of Customs and Immigration. This, I hoped would improve my chances of finding my limo driver.

Bangkok is a sprawling traffic jam imprisoning some 11 million souls. Skyscrapers of concrete and glass reach up, entwined by tollways, overpasses and bridges. New roads are being built on stilts over old roads desperately trying to keep up with the needs of a populace who all just bought a nice new car. As the Rough Guide puts it …

… under the shadow of the skyscrapers you’ll find a heady mix of chaos and refinement, of frenetic markets, snail’s-pace traffic jams and hushed golden temples, of dispiriting, zombie-like sex shows and early-morning alms-giving ceremonies.

It was early morning when I arrived at the Maruay Gardens Hotel. Way too early to check in but they were kind enough to store my luggage and let me use the wifi. Good old Google Maps showed a park not too far away although the receptionist thought my chances of finding a whole load of birds there were pretty low. I took a taxi to Chatuchak Park, joggerland.

There were a lot of people but I felt really, really special as the only one carrying binoculars …

but, hey, it was worth it. There were birds, mammals, reptiles, trees, grass and a lake. It was a gentle introduction to the birds of Thailand with all day to figure out what they were …

I managed to identify 18 species of bird, a couple more slipped through to the wicket keeper. Some Squirrels were happy to pose and a couple of reptiles were about although one was the introduced Red-eared Slider. I was far more impressed with this one, especially when it began stalking some pigeons …

I’ve been back about a month.

It was a Rock Jumper birding tour and therefore a pretty hardcore, monomaniacal trip but if your eyes are open for birds and your mind isn’t closed to all else you get to see quite a lot.

Thailand sits in the centre of the Indochinese peninsula, it is in the northern hemisphere and entirely within the tropics. It has a land area of 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi), and a population of about 66 million people. The landform is essentially that of a large bowl, a central fertile and mainly flat region embraced by mountains to the west, north and east. The Malay peninsula juts out to the south separating the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea.

You can find an interactive map and regional information at Rough Guides, not a bad place to start if your interests are more main stream than mine!

In broad outline there are three seasons to the year. Mid May to mid October is rainy because of the south-west monsoon. This is followed by the north-east monsoon, allegedly this is winter, characterised by milder temperatures and, for most of the country, less rainfall. This lasts until mid February when summer begins. The result for most of the country is a Tropical Savanna climate, the Malay peninsula is considerably wetter and warmer, the mountains considerably cooler. Summer temperatures commonly range up to 40°C, outbreaks of cold air from China can bring winter temperatures down to zero.

My visit lasted three weeks and took me to all points of the compass, to the top of Doi Inthanon at 2,565 metres (8,415 ft) and the Pakthale saltworks at sea level. I got to look a wild Asian Elephant in the eye, see Gibbons swing past at close range and encounter 490 species of bird. It was a very successful trip.

Thailand is a very complex place, presently a military dictatorship with a constitutional style monarchy. As you drive around it has some of the look and feel of other parts of tropical Asia but it is clearly more affluent than say Vietnam. Modern industrial buildings sit alongside beautiful Buddhist temples, apartment blocks and modern houses alongside bamboo shelters and market stalls. Pictures of the former king are everywhere, on billboards, public offices and private enterprises large and small. The present king not quite so much but that may change once the period of mourning for his father ends in October.

The other day in Bangkok someone detonated a pipe bomb causing several people to suffer ringing in the ears. It’s not that long ago that tear gas was required to keep the Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts apart, but as a visitor the impression is of a modern, orderly and safe society.

To be continued …