Nakhon Si Thammarat Province has a diverse range of habitats, from lowland plains, near the coast and to the south-west of the province, to central mountain ranges, which includes Khao Luang which, at 1835m. in height, is the highest point in Thailand south of Bangkok. It has been in these central mountains and their foothills where I have concentrated my searches, as it is there where one can find the best rainforests.

I have not been disappointed! The star of the show was this Delias singhapura singhapura (Lion Jezebel).

Delias singhapura singhapura – male

This is one of the rarest species in Thailand, and the subspecies can only be found in Southern Thailand and in West Malaysia, where it is equally rare. Owing to this, I can not, unfortunately, reveal the exact location of the finding. We found a small colony, which I had not found during my previous visits to the location a few years back. However, they were breeding, as can be seen in the photo of the female, who, with her abdomen raised, is saying that she had already mated, and therefore did not want to be bothered with a male that was fluttering, hopefully, close by.

Unwilling female, with suitor flying around

I will be keeping a close watch on this colony in the future in the hope that it may expand in size, and also be found in other locations nearby.

Locations we visited where I can reveal which species we found include Karom Waterfall. There is a quite short nature trail there, and below are a couple of the species we saw there.

Arhopala ariel. A rare species of the ganesa subgroup of this huge genus.

Pirdana hyela rudolphii

At the Krung Ching Waterfall trail (about 4Km.long) we have seen many species. Near the start of the trail, there is a short steep climb, and at the end, near the very beautiful waterfall, a long, steep and slippery drop, which could be dangerous with the wrong soles on your shoes. The species include:

Choaspes stigmatus caudatus. A late afternoon species.

Deramas livens evansi. All members of this genus are very rare.

Sithon nedymond ismarus – male

Arhopala ammonides ammonides. Another member of the ganesa subgroup, but with an additional costal white spot.

Idea lynceus lynceus

Kallima limborgi. The famous Leaf Butterfly, a species I had always wanted to find.

Symbrenthia hypatia chersonesia

Zeuxidia doubledayi doubledayi – male. A rare upperside shot.

Isma bononoides. A very rare species distinguished by having the hyaline spots yellowish.

Yong Waterfall National Park was the southernmost area I visited. Again, there is a short nature trail away from the main waterfall which is very popular with locals, and, once more, I came across some new species to me.

Britomartis cleoboides cleoboides

Losaria neptunus neptunus

These are just three of the places we visited on our trips, and there are many more locations that can be investigated in this varied and beautful province, a large part of which, I am pleased to say, is made up of protected areas.

This is an interesting location as it is situated just north of the supposed divide between the Sundaland fauna (South), and Indo-Burmese fauna (North). I was therefore hopeful that I would come across a few species not seen on or near my Samui home. I was not disappointed.

The park is the third largest in Thailand, situated on the southern border of Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), and home to many of the larger mammals of Thailand. We stayed at a small resort just outside the Park boundary, and it is used primarily by bird-watchers, as this park is a well-known mecca for this activity.

The park office is about 15Km inside the boundary, and the road to it starts of paved, but halfway along reverts to the more normal dirt track. At the office, there is also a restaurant, and camping facilities. To travel further, there are strict times when vehicles are allowed either up or down. This is because after 3Km. the road is single track, very steep in places and with no passing areas. Only 4-wheel drive vehicles are allowed after the 3km point. As a group, we did not venture past that point, but before my friends from Singapore and Malaysia arrived, Antonio and I did venture up to the top of the mountain (1035m). It gave very pretty views, but was not rewarding, butterfly-wise.

The best areas for butterflies were 3 areas where the road from the office to the 3Km. point were crossed by small streams. I have never seen so many puddling butterflies in such a small area in my life. It certainly never seems to happen further south on the peninsular. The pictures below can only give a poor idea of the true numbers seen at these locations at any one time.

Puddlers disturbed!

Group puddling

These huge conglomerations made it difficult to isolate single specimens to get decent photos, but we still managed it to our satisfaction, though some species seen were never co-operative. In fact, there were so many that I missed several species which, although previously photographed by me were of a different subspecies, which I had not come across before. There was one species which I had dismissed for the first couple of days as Papilio memnon, common on Samui, and so had ignored it. Only on the third day did I discover that the undersides were different and it was a new species for me, The Spangle (Papilio protenor euprotenor).

Papilio protenor euprotenor (The Spangle)

One of our main objectives had been to photograph the Great Nawab (Charaxes (Polyura) eudamippus eudamippus), and a few happily turned up. This species is one of many that we saw that are at close to the southernmost part of their range.

Charaxes (Polyura) eudamippus eudamippus (Great Nawab)

Another of the species, which only appeared on the first day, so Ellen, Nelson and LC all missed it, was this Blue-striped Mime (Papilio slateri slateri).

Papilio slateri slateri (Blue-striped Mime

A true jewel of the forest is the Paris Peacock (Papilio paris paris), which was seen on most days, it is stunning! It is also not found further south.

Papilio paris paris (Paris Peacock)

I had hoped that I might find a species, the Blue Helen (Papilio prexaspes andamanicus) known once from Samui, but for which I am still lacking a photo. The species was there, but it was the wrong subspecies, P. prexaspes pitmani, which immediately told me that I would not find my goal here as two subspecies can not live in the same area.

Papilio prexaspes pitmani (Blue Helen)

Below are other species found in the open, near the road, which were new to me. As far as I can see, some of these photos may increase the known range of the species southwards.

Athyma ranga obsolescens (Black-veined Sergeant)

Graphium xenocles lindos (Great Zebra)

Seseria strigata (Evan’s White Flat)

Ctenoptilum vasava vasava (Tawny Angle)

Symbrenthia lilaea luciana (Common Jester)

Libythea narina rohini (White-spot Beak)

There are a few short trails off the main ‘road’, and these produced different species, which prefer to stay in the undergrowth.

Tagiades lavatus (Plain Snow Flat)

Zographetus satwa (Purple and Gold Flitter)

Sinthusa nasaka amba (Narrow Spark)

Because of the overwhelming number of butterflies around, I spent little time looking for other forms of insects, but we did come across this particularly beautiful Long-horn Beetle.

Thysia wallichi tonkinensis

This National Park is a wonderful place to visit at any time of the year, though the road up to the mountain is closed during the rainy season for safety reasons. However, it is very remote, the nearest petrol stations and ATMs are about 30Km. away and credit cards are not universally accepted! Be warned.

For all the species and subspecies new to me from this trip, please go the ‘Expeditions’ section and click on Thailand-Mainland.

Fraser’s Hill is famous as a bird watcher’s paradise, though it was originally built as a hill station by British colonialists in the early 1900′s, as a cooling summer retreat from the hot and humid towns in the lowlands. It stands at approximately 1500m above sea level. As its name suggests, the terrain is generally very hilly, making treking in the area quite arduous.

Both on the way there, and back, we stopped at a small riverbank near the reservoir at Chilling. Puddling butterflies were plentiful, and if I ever see another Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida), I will scream, they were everywhere, disturbing shots I wanted to take of other species. Despite their constant intrusions, I was delighted to get an upperwing shot of the Jewel Nawab (Polyura delphis concha), as I already had underside shots of that species.

Polyura delphis concha

One rarity I came across there was Amathusia perakana perakana. This is very much like the very common PalmKing, which can be found anywhere there are coconuts, and its identification was only confirmed after my return home.

Amathusia perakana perakana

Owing to the altitude of FH, I was hopeful of seeing some of the more montane species to be found in Malaysia, especially  some Delias. I was not disappointed getting three Delias species into my camera, together with a few other montane species which were new to me.

Delias baracasa dives

Delias descombesi eranthos

Abisara neophron chelina

Stiboges nymphidia nymphidia

Poritia phama rajata

Rapala nissa pahangana

On the way back, after the Chilling stop, we also stopped at Sungei Tua Nature Reserve, and found a couple of interesting species, but only one was condescending enough to act as a good model.

Dacalana vidura azyada

To be perfectly honest, FH does not have many attractions except for nature lovers, and more than a couple of days stay there may not be appropriate if travelling with a young family as there is little to do there, apart from playing on the oldest golf course in Malaysia, and very few shops except restaurants for tourists.

To see all the Malaysian species found during my travels, go to the West Malaysia section of ‘Expeditions’.