#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  > Thailands National Parks >  >  A photo expedition to one of Thailands greatest National Parks

## mobs00

About a year ago I had the opportunity of a lifetime; my friend Bruce who is a wildlife photographer here in Thailand asked me if I wanted to go on a shoot with him in the Thung Yai Naresuan World Heritage site. The only way to get a permit to enter the park is with special permission from the office of the Director General for all National parks in Thailand. 





  Map of the region


*Sai Yoke  Kanchanaburi  Province  June 10, 2007*

  We left Bangkok early this morning and are headed out to Kanchanaburi to pick up the guides who will be helping us during the week. Tonight we will spend the night at Wades house in Sai Yoke N.P. 

  Recently Bruce camera trapped a tiger up on the hill behind Wades house. Unfortunately hunting and poaching is still a problem here and tonight I heard a few gunshots in the hills.


 
View from Wade's house


We needed to take a boat across the river to his house. Luckily it was the dry season still.


*Khao Laem N.P.  Thung Yai  - June 11, 2007*

  We left Wades house and picked up the rest of the boys then began the journey to Thung Yai. About 2km into Khao Laem N.P. we stopped to rearrange the gear. 









We continued on for another 1.5hrs and arrived at the headquarters of Thung Yai. 












From here the road gets very rough and is mostly uphill through thick jungle. Its a small dirt track only big enough for one vehicle. 







I was warned that it is going to be a bumpy ride but I had no idea it was going to be like this.



 This mud hole was about 18" deep.




The gate in front of this road was closed. I was a bit curious as to where it went but was not going to find out. I sure did look like an easy meal out here in tiger country and later I'll post some footprints I came across walking down a trail.






  We make it through the mud and get to the first station 20 km inside the park; it took 2 hours to drive this far.

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## JoGeAr

Nice thread. Great pics. Keep 'em coming. 

Green on its way !!

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## melvbot

Great stuff. This is the sort of thing we all love. More pics to come I hope

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## mobs00

Thanks, I've got loads more and will upload them this afternoon.

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## kingwilly

> Great stuff. This is the sort of thing we all love. More pics to come I hope


That's for sure, great effort mate! 

*I almost feel bad about taking the piss outta ya earlier when you posted about not being able to post pics until you had 5 posts, well this was worth waiting for! 

Greened already!

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## klongmaster

Great stuff MO: thanks for the effort...looking forward to the rest...

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## Begbie

Thanks. And regards to Bruce.

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## sabang

Great start.  :Smile:  I look forward to this.

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## hillbilly

> Thanks, I've got loads more and will upload them this afternoon.


Well we made it through the mud and now we are stuck at an isolated home.

Come on now, don't leave us hanging.  :Smile: 

*thoughts of Jason*

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## melvbot

Nice to have a bit of suspense, posting all the pics at once doesnt leave much to come back for.

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## mobs00

_Sorry for the wait......._



Thung Yai – June 12, 2007

  I woke up at first light and decided to walk around. At this point I was still too scared to wander off alone so I ate breakfast and helped clean and ready the camera traps.


  The sounds in the jungle are incredible. Birds, monkeys, deer that bark like dogs and insects. The bugs are almost deafening and constantly making noise. 






  After this I walked behind the camp and found a small game trail leading down a hill. I finally got some balls and took the trail. 






The trail made its way down until it came to an area where giant old growth trees stood. Thung Yai is one of the only places in Thailand that has never been logged. Some of the trees here were 200 feet high and must have been 10-15 feet in diameter.


(if you look hard, to the right there is an old tree stand still there. I looked and there was no way I was going up it.)

    The trees here are so tall and the canopy is so thick it blocks out most of the sunlight hardly anything can grow on the jungle floor. All around this area was thick, dark jungle.

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## mobs00

There were monkeys jumping around in the canopy but they were too far away to get any shots.

  I walked around a bit and found a small mineral lick in front of the large tree pictured above and decided that would be a good spot to hide to take some shots the next day.




  I went back to camp and we set out to ready a few camera traps near a large mineral lick.




  Here is Wade setting up one of the camera traps.





  The finished trap ready to shoot. It uses a motion sensor to take the photos.


  The mineral lick is massive and there is animal sign everywhere. Mineral licks are just a place where minerals (mainly salt) rise to the surface of the ground with moisture. The animals all gather here to lick or eat the mud for nutrients.






This is a track from a Gaur. A giant bovine it is actually the biggest species of wild cattle in the world.






    Unfortunately I never got a shot of one but I found the above on the net.

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## mobs00

And here it is. The park rangers brought us to a site where there have been signs of Tigers. I knew there was a reason I didnt want to go off alone. The prints were huge!











Tigers are one animal I may not be ready to take a close up of.



This is the type of grass that lined the roads and trails. It is so tall anything could be hiding in there.

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## mobs00

After setting up the traps we went back to camp. 




  The roads are so gouged and torn up in the park. There is a village near the end of the park about 100km in. These people were here before the park was established and still get to use the roads. They are one of the main reasons the wildlife is disappearing due to poaching. 




  I went back to the clearing I found and set up for some shots. I sat in the small indent between the roots on the left side of the pic.






This is a pic of the small salt lick.






  Looking out from my spot.



  So I am sitting here near dusk and it is dark anyway due to the canopy. All of a sudden I here something coming towards me from behind. I have my back to the tree so I can’t turn to see. At this point I am questioning whether or not I should have done this. I am alone and just saw tiger tracks. Out of the corner of my eye the animal starts to come into focus. It is a muntjac or barking deer; thank god. I try to turn slightly but it must have seen me and barks then runs off.




  I got a few shots but they were pretty blurry. The above photo I got off the net. They are small for deer; about the size of a large dog. 






    After this I walked around. This is a pic of a Cycad, its one of the oldest plants in the world.





  This area had sink holes all over the place. I am not sure what caused them but it could be from the root system of long dead trees finally rotting away.





  These are some of the largest leaves in the world. I don’t know what they are called but I have seen them all over Thailand. 







Although I have never seen them this big.








These ones were about 6 foot long and 4-5 feet in width.






It was getting dark now so I headed back to camp. Tomorrow we’ll come back here to set up a camera trap.

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## Propagator

Brilliant thread to introduce yourself. Green on the way.

Btw the leaf appears to be that of the Alocasia robusta

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## mobs00

I probably should have posted this first but here is some background info on the park and region. I took the pic below at the main headquarters 40 kms inside the park. There is a 6 foot high monument with this placard on it.





Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sancuary, the natural world heritage. Thungyai is            the heart of the western forest complex, which is comprised of 17            forest regions, situated in western Thailand along the Tranao Sri            Mountain Range, near the Mayanmar border. It is called "western forest complex" because its boundaries            extend through 5 provinces--Tak, Kampaengpet, Uthaitani, Supanburi and            Kanchanaburiand collectively protect 11.7 million Rais (approximately            4.4 million Acres) of forest. This is the largest and most important            forest tract remaining in South East Asia with an intact ecology and a            watershed that provides drinking water to thousands of Thai people.           

          In 1 square metre of Thungyai forest, there are more than 5,000            species of bacteria. In 1 square kilometer, there are more than 10,000            species of insects. Thungyai is also home to large proportion of Thailand's wildlife species: 153 of 258 mammal species, 400 of 930 bird            species, 188 of 500 fish species, 89 of 313 reptile species, and 41 of            106 amphibian species. The Thungyai Forest can be compared to the            Amazon Rainforest of South America because it supplies oxygen to            southeast Asia and moderates flooding during the rainy season. 

Source: Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary :  The World Heritage : WFCC : Western Forest Conservation Club

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## flash

Interesting thread, well done.

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## Happyman

> Brilliant tread to introduce yourself.    Green on the way.
> 
> Btw the leaf appears to be that of the Alocasia robusta



Not sure about that Props - looks more like the lesser known 

"Fuckitforgotmyumbrellara"  :rofl: 

Agree it s a great thread !

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## mobs00

Again I woke up before the sun but out here you go to bed at around 7pm anyways because after dark there is nothing to do. 






  We set up another camera trap and then left for the main HQ which is around 40kms inside the park. 




   Take a look at this tree. There was an eerie feeling in this area and this tree just stood out. Any ideas as to what kind it is?






  The road here is less travelled and therefore much rougher. It took 3 hours to travel 20 kms. The truck kept bottoming out and skidding down the hills.

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## flash

You should have tried starting the engine in the truck, having a few little men pulling you around on a bit of rope is always gonna be pretty slow.

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## Wayne Kerr

Great thread Mo and I am very jealous. I was up there end of 2006. Love the place and studied the work of Seub Nakhasathien many years ago now and was great see the statue of the great man in the park. A few pics of my trip there are here (Wayne Kerr's Isaan Sojourn). The tiger prints you shot are bloody huge  :Smile: .

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## mobs00

We get to the Headquarters and I take a look around. This is the original HQ but as it is so far in that a few years ago they moved it to the entrance. 







This station is much nicer with about 6 buildings. There are even flushing toilets!







  This is our new house for the next couple of days.







  The house we stayed in last night was just concrete and tile. Tonight I get to sleep on a wood floor which is actually more comfortable and a whole lot warmer.








    So it looks like if I wander off its going to be a hell of a long way to anywhere! There is only one road through here and Im on it. Needless to say, I never went more than a km from camp.







  Sompon cooking dinner. Some bushes, roots and a fish he caught with his bare hands were on the menu this evening.

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## mobs00

> You should have tried starting the engine in the truck, having a few little men pulling you around on a bit of rope is always gonna be pretty slow.



We were trying to conserve fuel. It worked great when we were going down hill but on the up the boys found it difficult.

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## mobs00

Here are some more photos of the headquarters.




 













    The HQ is in the middle of the jungle. They cleared all the small growth and left the large trees. They did an excellent job designing the layout and the rangers do a great job maintaining it.








This evening I was trying to get some sleep and all this commotion and noise was coming from under the floor. I go outside with my camera and this is what I find. Look at his bulge.





  I look under the house and right under where my head was there is this birds nest. Doesnt take much to figure out what happened.





  Seems he left a snack for later though.








I don't know how he did it but there he is climbing vertically up the tree.

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## mobs00

Tonight we saw the only other group so far in 3 days. The editor on National Geographic Thailand was doing a 2-3 week trip for an upcoming issue on the two parks; Thung Yai and Huai Kha Khaeng. He saw some of Bruce’s work and offered to publish some in the magazine. Bruce is one of the few people who have ever photographed an Asian Tapir swimming in the wild. It will be the cover of his new book to be released within the next month or two.

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## mobs00

> Great thread Mo and I am very jealous. I was up there end of 2006. Love the place and studied the work of Seub Nakhasathien many years ago now and was great see the statue of the great man in the park. A few pics of my trip there are here (Wayne Kerr's Isaan Sojourn). The tiger prints you shot are bloody huge .



Nice shots. I have yet to go to Huai Kha Khaeng but there may be a future trip within the next month or two. 

I have heard rumors that there may still be a herd of elephants in these parks. Now that would be something to see.

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## Wayne Kerr

Yeah I heard about the herds of elephants in Huai Kha Khaeng, a friend even told me there are a few white elephants amongst them too. I could really use a week or two up there.

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## sunsetter

great thread, love the pics, green!

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## Marmite the Dog

> It is a muntjac or barking deer


Got them in England. One of my sister's boyfriends hit one once at about 70mph. Made a right mess of the car and the deer.

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## Rascal

Ashame no wildlife pictures, but very awesome for certain.

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## mobs00

I cant believe I forgot this one. Here is a video I took at the spot where I saw the barking deer. Turn your speakers up and listen to all the sounds. Enjoy.







_Maybe an admin could link this directly to this post/thread????_

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## mobs00

> Ashame no wildlife pictures, but very awesome for certain.


Yeah I know. It really isn't as easy as it seems to get good shots of animals even in a jungle that is full of them. Waiting and looking for animals reminded me a lot of hunting. I did have "buck fever" when the baking deer walked up on me. The adrenaline rush, shaking, and sweats, not to mention fear of not knowing exactly what was coming.

Bruce in fact was always a hunter here in Thailand. About 15-20 years ago he was out with Wade in Sai Yoke and shot his first Gaur. It was huge. Something happened then and he has since only hunted with his camera. He has made it his mission to preserve the flora and fauna of Thailand through his books because soon it will be gone.

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## Mathos

This is a great thread, the area is superb territory and you are covering the same well. 

How did your strategically placed cameras do in general, anything interesting?


Well done, excellent work  green en route.

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## mobs00

*Thung Yai HQ – June 14, 2007*









Today I actually got to sleep in and as a bonus I took a dump in a toilet instead of a bucket. I think I woke up around 7am. 




  I looked around camp and found a small stream out back. 







I followed the stream and must have spooked a deer as I heard loud crashing coming down the hill from my left, splashing in the stream and more crashing up the other side towards my right.





  I walked for what seemed like 2kms and didn’t see much but a few birds. At this point I was starting to get a bit nervous and thought maybe I should head back and follow the stream to camp. I pushed forward though and about 100 meters from there I came to the road. 







So I am now standing on this road in the middle of the jungle. Do I go left.......








 or do I go right? We have chains on the tires that leave distinctive marks on the road. I looked around and thought I saw them but then again??? Maybe not??? 









I rolled the dice and took the trail to the left and after about a km I made it back to the camp.

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## mobs00

> This is a great thread, the area is superb territory and you are covering the same well. 
> 
> How did your strategically placed cameras do in general, anything interesting?
> 
> 
> Well done, excellent work  green en route.



Thanks. This time the camera traps didn't produce much; some civets, barking deer and Sambar. We set up traps this time for tiger, gaur and tapir along trails with signs from them, there were a couple of gaur shots but nothing usable.

On previous trips he has camera trapped tiger, leopard, gaur, water buffalo, bantaeng, elephant and tapir.

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## mobs00

I got back and we ate breakfast. After this a ranger is going to take us to a large mineral lick/lake.








  They built this brand new bridge. It was still shiny and green when we got there. 




  It was a ways down if you fell.




  This if the trail through the jungle to the lick. It is just another game trail trampled down by herd of cattle or deer.





  This is the biggest mineral lick I have seen so far but I am told there are much bigger ones in the park. They are everywhere and I am sure most are unknown deep in the jungle. There is animal tracks and sign everywhere. Mostly from herds of Gaur.






  We set Bruce up in his blind and then went off to set up another camera trap on a game trail.




  The camera trap is on the tree to the right. These game trails are massive. Look how wide it is from left to right. They think the herd of Gaur here is about fifty strong.






    We then head back to camp leaving Bruce there till after dusk. The boys will go get him later. Notice the trail we took on the other side of the riverbank.

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## mobs00

The boys went to get Bruce and they all came back and we had dinner. 


  As Charlie was washing the dishes outside he all of sudden came back with a ghostly look on his face and said he heard something. He was scared to death! I wish I would have taken a photo then but missed my chance.




  Heres Charlie! He kind of looks like a bare knuckle boxer from the 20s, minus about 100 pounds.






  We set up a couple of flashes and waited around. Turns out it was just a civet, but exciting none the less. It was the first time I got to see one and it came right up to the house looking for food. It must have been pretty close to Charlie as they didnt spook easily. I didnt get a photo but Bruce did. There were quite a few around camp that night and we could here them fighting with each other. This is a photo I pulled off the net.

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## mobs00

*Thung Yai – June 15, 2007*

  This is the last day of my trip. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done.

    We arrived back to the ranger station where we spent out first night. 







The rangers tell us they have found sign from Tapir and Tiger just 200 meters from camp. We followed them to the spot next to a stream. I wandered around and found some Tapir tracks on the other side.






  This strangler fig was enormous and had so many things living on it. It was like it had its own mini ecosystem.




We did our final packing and I had a chance to take a few more photos. This is when I took my most famous photo. (see below)







The road out was a bit rough going.






  We stopped near the exit to wash the truck down.






  Good as new.






  This is a pic of our group, Bruce, myself, Say, Sompon, Charlie and Wade.








  I found this average looking butterfly near the first camp and took a couple of shots of it. Little did I know this would be my first published photo. Bruce decided to put 3 of my pics in his new book. He calls me up one day to say he liked the shot of my butterfly. He then told me the name of my first published photo; it’s a “Pansy Butterfly”. WTF. I thought he was joking and wouldn’t believe it till I looked it up on the net and there it was: _Junonia lemonias,_ commonly know as the Lemon Pansy Butterfly.

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## mobs00

So that was my trip. I have a few more photos I need to find and will post them in the coming weeks.

As a side note: I was shooting with two cameras. A canon powershot SD630, which I used to take all the photos posted here so far and a Canon Digital SLR. I have yet to organize the photos from the DSLR as it belongs to Bruce and I have been to lazy to get it.

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## El Gibbon

> *Thung Yai  June 15, 2007*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have lots of books showing the Lemon Pansy and have taken several hundred myself in Makham but NONE compare!  What a shot. Don't give anything but one-time rights!   :Smile: 

It is seldom that you get the perfect specimen and the correct lighting to show off the details AND the great focus. It is truly rare that you can discern the scales as well as you've captured.

excellent

E. G.

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## sabang

Excellent stuff.

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## mobs00

Here are a few more.


This barking deer I got when I was sitting at the small mineral lick.




This one wandered into camp. There was also a mineral lick at the ranger station and this was where it was headed.





This was the snake that had just eaten a bird.



This bird has a spider in its mouth.




These butterfly's were licking salt off the boots.




The reflection in a pool of water.

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## sunsetter

nice, green

gotta spread some first

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## mobs00

> nice, green
> 
> gotta spread some first




Are you holding my greens hostage now????

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## sunsetter

yeah and i aint giving them up yet :Smile:  :rofl: 

just kiddin, youre doing some nice pics and threads mobs nice work

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## Happyman

> Originally Posted by sunsetter
> 
> 
> nice, green
> 
> gotta spread some first
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not me !!!
 one on its way !

Gotta spread some first though! 
 :Sad: 

Owe you one !!!

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## mobs00

^ ^ How can you tell how many I've given? Are you spying on me?

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## sunsetter

havent a clue how to do that mobs, just know ive sent you afew and cant send anymore yet

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## mobs00

& I like you too! Thanks. So much bonding here.....

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## sunsetter

:rofl:  spread some love!

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## mobs00

I met with Bruce today and saw his new book. Awesome photos and the book is something like 320 pages long. Mostly photos this time around so it should be an easy read for most of you  :Smile:

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## sunsetter

where do i/we get hold of the book?

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## mobs00

^ it won't be available till the end of next month. All the major bookstores will carry them , ie. Asia Books, etc.

His name is "L. Bruce Kekule"

He has 3 books in print. The first one probably isn't available anymore. They are:

1. Wildlife in the Kingdom of Thailand

2. Thailand's Natural Heritage

3. Wild Rivers

After seeing Wild Rivers today I think it is going to be his best one so far.

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## sunsetter

cool nice one, ill put a search out in the library tomorow

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## sgoldieje

mobbs, what kind of camera are you using? DSLR, point and shoot>?

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## mobs00

A Canon SD630 point and shoot.

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## mobs00

I have recently talked with Bruce and he has been floating around TD. He is busy with his book launch but says when it's done he plans on writing some threads and putting pics on here. 

He has much better stories than I do so I'll be looking forward to it.

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## sunsetter

easy mobs,thatll be cool, hope he dosent bugger off somewhere else like that other bloke

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## mobs00

*Foreign Correspondents' Club of  Thailand*
The Bulletin

*Volume 598*
*Wednesday, September 10, 2008*

Tues, September 16 - Book Launch: Wild Rivers -  A photographic odyssey in  Thailand, text and photographs by L. Bruce Kekule  (7:00 pm)

 
*Book Launch: Wild Rivers*

*A  photographic odyssey in Thailand, Text and photographs by L. Bruce  Kekule*










*Tuesday, September 16, at 7:00 pm*
*No cover  charge*

For more than 12 years wildlife  photographer* Bruce Kekule* has devoted his  life to Thailand’s wild flora and fauna – so that others can appreciate the  beauty of the natural world. ‘Wild Rivers’ is his third book – an amazing  collection of nearly 400 photographs of many endangered Asian animals and  watershed habitats, and the stories behind them.

Five important rivers in  the west and north are featured in this 320 page book: The Phetchaburi, Huai Kha  Khaeng, Mae Klong, Khwae Noi and Mae Ping, along with chapters on nature  photographers, wildlife photography and wildlife in peril. Many creatures seen  here are close to extinction in our fast changing world, which seems unforgiving  and distant from nature. Over the years, Kekule has used film cameras and in  then 2005, started shooting digital. He has also produced his own
custom-made  infrared camera-traps to capture on film many rare animals like tiger, leopard,  gaur, elephants and many more.

Born in Sacramento, California USA in  1945, he grew up in Hawaii for 12 years and then 1958 moved with the family to  Hong Kong for another six years before moving to Chiang Mai, Thailand in 1964.  He now lives in Bangkok with his Thai wife, their daughter, son-in-law and two  grand daughters.

Bruce continues to fight for the conservation of the  Kingdom’s precious animals and intricate ecosystems. His ambition to produce  wildlife books is ongoing, and believes photographs are one of the best methods  to increase awareness and protection of the natural world.

Copies of his  book will also be available for purchase at the entrance throughout the evening,  priced at 1,800 Baht.




The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand  
Penthouse, Maneeya Center 
518/5 Ploenchit Road 
(connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330

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## drgreg9899

:Smile: Nice trip.  Just can't seem to get out of Ptty!!!!

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## The Fresh Prince

Excellent thread mobs, will look out for the book as you've recomended it.

I'm just happy that there are still wild Tigers in Thailand. :Smile:

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## Bobcock

I'll be heading to the FCCT for that one, always enjoy an evening there and I'll still got a few beer tokens left.

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## bwylde01

Very nice post! The pics are awsome, and bring the real feel of the wild life.Thanks!

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## mobs00

Thanks for all the nice comments!

Looks like I may be headed out that way again. Next week I hope to be heading up river in a longtail boat on the Sai Yoke Noi river out to somewhere. Should be a good adventure and I'll definitely post it on TD. Bruce has camera trapped tiger in this area.

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## pangsida

I liked this thread so much I joined teak-door! I also enjoyed the Kaeng Krachan thread also thanks.

Its not a National Park though - its a sanctuary (the difference being that a NP has in its charter that it should educate the public whilst a Sanctuary (as this is) does not. It's taken me a long time to figure that out as some sanctuaries allow visitors but others do not (without a permit that is).

Anyway thats not the point of this post - my point is to say thank you to you for such a great insight and also thanks to Mr. Bruce for such a great book (all three of them) -  little is said about this great natural resource that Thailand still has - but is fast losing, indeed it has lost some 75% of its gibbon habitat (the great noise in your vid) since the 60s resulting in the collapse in the gibbon population from an estimated 3,000,000 to 18,000 (scary!) due to habitat destruction.

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## good2bhappy

lovely part of Thailand.
I have a little land just to the east of the park/sanctuary, where the hills meet the plain

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## phuketbound

Stunning pics of the wildlife. Your camera takes very nice, clear and colourful photos too. Did you get to see any tigers? Do you know how many tigers approx. are still roaming around Thailand?

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## pangsida

From what I have read I would guesstimate about 400 or so. The three numbers I know are:

Khao Yai 3 (census in 1990s)
Phu Khieo 19 (census in 1990s)
Western Forest complex 200 (estimate)

I think they are incredibly hard to count being nocturnal, requiring large unspoilt territories, etc. I remember asking a ranger at the Eastern Forest Complex if he had ever seen one of their tigers - no was the answer and he had worked there for 20 years!

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## mobs00

> Stunning pics of the wildlife. Your camera takes very nice, clear and colourful photos too. Did you get to see any tigers? Do you know how many tigers approx. are still roaming around Thailand?



I have never seen a tiger in the wild but have seen plenty of signs that they were in the area. On the last trip to Kaeng Krachan I found some sign of a struggle and what looked like an area where an animal was dragged out of a salt lick. From the shape and size of the tracks it looked like a gaur was trying to get away from something.

As far as Tiger populations it is very hard to get an approximate number as there have not been any worthwhile surveys done. As pangsida said, the agreed upon guesstimate is around 400-500.

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## phuketbound

^^Great to hear that there are still a few around. Thanks.

mobs00, what do you think of places like Tiger Temple that chain the tigers up and use them as a tourist attraction?

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## mobs00

^ I think you may already know... In short, I do not agree with programs that breed animals for tourism and not for re-introduction. 

There are plenty of threads here on TD about the Tiger temple.

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## phuketbound

^I thought you  may say that. One reason I haven't been to the tiger temple is just that. Last time i was there, I was appalled at seeing the monkeys chained up and even the way some of the elephants are treated.

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## pescator

Fantastic trip report!
Much appreciated.
I`ll look up Bruce`s books on the net to get my hands on all 3 of them.

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## SunTzu

Fantastic threads ! Thanks for sharing.



just for info :
[cite]




This area had sink holes all over the place. I am not sure what caused them but it could be from the root system of long dead trees finally rotting away. [/cite]


A you guys probably are in a limestone area, this could well be  a cave-in (a cave that collapsed somewhere underneath). Limestone formations are usually caved pretty much like swiss-cheese.



Cheers

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## pangsida

I never thought I would have the chance to see a wild tiger in Thailand BUT I have! 
Stood 30 meters in front of me on a track in Thap lan park. I feel very lucky indeed.

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## Takeovers

> I never thought I would have the chance to see a wild tiger in Thailand BUT I have! 
> Stood 30 meters in front of me on a track in Thap lan park. I feel very lucky indeed.


And you live to tell the story.

Congratulations

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## oldracer

> I never thought I would have the chance to see a wild tiger in Thailand BUT I have! 
> Stood 30 meters in front of me on a track in Thap lan park. I feel very lucky indeed.


When and how? This is worth a story by itself.

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## pangsida

Hope its OK to put a link a link to my own website - if not I apologize and pls delete

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## Nawty

Not allowed to post links...they are not real. The boss will chastise you for this.

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## Nawty

You should post some of your 4wd trips here, I would like to see and read them.

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## pangsida

Have deleted the link. But here is the text from the post

"July 4th, 2009 at 11 minutes past 11 in the morning is going to stay in my mind for a longtime.

Close the border of Pang Sida National Park and Thap Lan National Park I had my first encounter with a wild Thai tiger.  

The trip was intended to see how much of the old 3462 road was closed down 15 years ago - which I now know to be about 35 kilometers - in order to prevent further degradation of this natural area and world heritage site. The laterite track into Thap Lan mirrors the Pang Sida route in that its 25 km long BUT it is currently 4WD only from 15 KM and not drivable after 23 KM.

And there it was, at an altitude of 538 meters, 24 kms in, walking nonchalantly up the track and giving me 10 seconds of full frontal before it looked up at me and disappeared into the undergrowth. Something I thought I would never have the chance to see, one of the 400 or so surviving tigers in Thailand and one of only 4 known in this area."

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## cdnski12

My Thai GF has a few of these plants at her farm near Bandung, E of Udon Thani.

After setting up the traps we went back to camp. 




The roads are so gouged and torn up in the park. There is a village near the end of the park about 100km in. These people were here before the park was established and still get to use the roads. They are one of the main reasons the wildlife is disappearing due to poaching. 




I went back to the clearing I found and set up for some shots. I sat in the small indent between the roots on the left side of the pic.






This is a pic of the small salt lick.






Looking out from my spot.



So I am sitting here near dusk and it is dark anyway due to the canopy. All of a sudden I here something coming towards me from behind. I have my back to the tree so I cant turn to see. At this point I am questioning whether or not I should have done this. I am alone and just saw tiger tracks. Out of the corner of my eye the animal starts to come into focus. It is a muntjac or barking deer; thank god. I try to turn slightly but it must have seen me and barks then runs off.




I got a few shots but they were pretty blurry. The above photo I got off the net. They are small for deer; about the size of a large dog. 






After this I walked around. This is a pic of a Cycad, its one of the oldest plants in the world.





This area had sink holes all over the place. I am not sure what caused them but it could be from the root system of long dead trees finally rotting away.





These are some of the largest leaves in the world. I dont know what they are called but I have seen them all over Thailand. 







Although I have never seen them this big.








These ones were about 6 foot long and 4-5 feet in width.






It was getting dark now so I headed back to camp. Tomorrow well come back here to set up a camera trap.[/quote]

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## pescator

Their popular name is elephant ear plant.
Dton hoo chaang.

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