Safarihiker.: March 2026

Great Hornbill

In February 2026, I nicked off with my partner Shiny to Thailand for a week to recreate and make mischief.

We did the touristy nonsense and revisited old haunts around Bangkok and Kanchanaburi and then headed to Thailand's largest National Park, Kaeng Krachen, for a fantastic couple of days of bird watching and wildlife spotting.

Park info here.

Crested Serpent Eagle

I had pre-arranged a pick up with Baan Maka Nature Lodge to scoop us up from the coast at Hua Hin.

It was a bit hit and nearly miss but eventually we were collected and driven to Baan Maka. We quickly threw our gear into our chalet unit and chowed down on legit delicious Thai food and frosty beer while watching the squirrels and Drongos and even a Hornbill swoop down and get stuck into the bananas and grain at the feeder station.

Magic. Straight into the local fauna.

There are short hiking trails and nice views on the property.

Baan Maka lodge website here.

Park map

For our first full day we were lead into the park by an older, very knowledgeable guide.

Everyone is smashing breakfast before first light.

You head off into the hills in a 4WD ute scratching your eyes open swerving Soi dogs and stopping whenever an interesting critter pops up.

Kaeng Krachen is a bird nerd mecca and we were surrounded by serious twitcher types toting gargantuan camera lenses. We aren't that tragic but still keen to see everything and anything that the park contains.

Which is quite a lot actually.

The park is loaded with monkeys and birds and reptiles and big cats and caves and rain forest flora and stinging trees and stupendous views and is an ethereal antithesis to everything modern, gritty, overpopulated Thailand represents today.

Map sourced from Google Maps

View from Phanoen Thung campsite

The drive up to Phanoen Thung is 30 kilometres and winds up a bumpy track. 90 minutes with stops to spy on the wildlife.

Once up on the ridge top it's all monkeys and views and colourful birds.

Back at Baan Maka we chugged brews and went paddling on the lake and listened to the rain pounding on the roof all night.

Banded Kingfisher

Asian Forest Tortoise

Blue Eared Barbet

Second day we knew the drill and hauled ourselves out of bed earlier and pushed food and caffeine down our necks and jumped in a truck with a younger guide. He floored it all the way to the top of the track to Phanoen Thung without stopping, very different from our previous guide the day before who pulled off to show us every single living thing he spotted.

However Shiny took her best photos and we sighted more wildlife with this guy and had better viewings all over. There you go.