Brown-cheeked
(Eastern Water) Rail (Photo by Nick
Upton)
Chiang Saen is a small town,
in Chiang Rai province, next to the Mekong river close to
the famous "Golden Triangle" border area with Myanmar
and Laos. A mosaic of wetland habitats including rice fields,
fish ponds, overgrown wet areas, pools, open water and the
Mekong river make this area an excellent location for birders
to look for a wide variety of resident and migratory bird
species. The geographical location of Chiang Saen makes it
a prime site for finding birds that are rare in Thailand and
almost every year new species are added to the Thai list from
sites around the town.
The nearby non-hunting area, a lake known as Nong Bong Kai,
is one of the few sites in Thailand that receives annual congregations
of wildfowl in the "winter" and a spectacular harrier
roost is one of the great bird spectacles of the country.
The open nature of the sites here make a telescope an essential
piece of birding equipment but many of the areas are accessible
by car (4-wheel drive makes life easier but it is not essential)
so that birding can be done at a nice pace and makes it a
very suitable place for disabled birders to visit.
Few birders spend a significant amount of time here but there
is a lot of potential to find many species and, given the
northerly location, there is a real possibility of finding
a new addition to the Thai list. Given this and the relaxing
atmosphere of the region Chiang Saen is a really good place
to spend some time to break up the forest birding and at the
same time continuing to find more exciting species.
Unfortunately, like many places in Thailand, there are problems
with both bird
persecution and encroachment
in this area and widespread habitat destruction along the
Mekong has rendered it an ecological disaster zone.
Winter wildfowl is the main attraction for many birders to
take the trip to Chiang Saen, where these birds often congregate
in flocks of thousands, mainly on the lake. Ruddy Shelduck
are sometimes found on both the lake and the Mekong river
and Spot-billed Duck is often easily seen on the river from
Chiang Saen town itself. Many Eurasian species of duck can
be found here with Ferruginous Duck, Baer's Pochard, Baikal
Teal and Falcated Duck being among the most interesting.
Wildfowl is not the only attraction though, with birds such
as Plain Martin, Long-billed Plover, Small Pratincole and
River Lapwing occurring here and over the years many birders
have searched for Jerdon's Bushchat in long grass in this
region with varying success.
One of the most exciting aspects of birding in the Chiang
Saen region is the possibility of finding a "first"
for Thailand; over the years Bar-headed Goose, Greylag Goose,
Common Crane and, most recently, Grass Owl have been added
to the national list from this location. With so many highlights
this region probably deserves three or four days to exploit
its full potential, a length of time which few birders allocate.
Bird
Watching Trips:
If you need help organizing a bird watching trip to Thailand,
take a look at the suggested itineraries for ideas on
creating a tailor-made trip and contact me for advice:
Thailand
bird tours.
Travel Information
Use the interactive map below to plan your
route to Chiang Saen. The blue line shows the route from Chiang
Rai (F), Chiang Rai Airport (A) or Thatorn (G) to Nong Bong
Kai (B), Wat Pak Ma No (C), Nam Kam Nature Reserve (D) and
Mekong River (E).
By Car/Motorcycle
The birding sites at Chiang Saen are spread around so it is
best to go there using your own vehicle. Getting to Chiang
Saen is a simple affair, just get to Chiang Rai and head north
on route 1 and turn right when you see the signposts for Chiang
Saen. Use the map above to pinpoint the exact location of
the sites around Chiang Saen. If you have arrived in Chiang
Rai by public transport then it is possible to hire a vehicle
from town or at the airport.
By Bus
Getting to Chiang Saen by bus is a simple affair being right
on the tourist trail. Buses leave Chiang Rai bus station quite
regularly and the journey takes an hour or so. There is also
transport to and from the nearby towns of Chiang Kong and
Mae Sai where visas can be renewed with a brief trip over
the border to Myanmar.
If you are using bus to get to Chiang Saen then, of course,
you will have to get to Chiang Rai first. Getting to this
provincial capital is easy too with all the nearby provincial
capitals having direct bus services heading here. If coming
from Bangkok, the Mor Chit bus station in the north of the
city is the one required to get here; this journey will take
about 12 hours!
By Taxi/Motorcycle Taxi
In my opinion it is too far from Chiang Rai city to Chiang
Saen to think about taking a motorcycle taxi. This is a dangerous
way to travel and a journey of this distance is likely to
result in some sort of accident. There are taxis of a sort
in Chiang rai and one would have to negotiate with them the
fare to Chiang Saen. If you are considering using a taxi it
would be better to get your accommodation in Chiang rai to
organize it for you.
By Train
There is no railway in Chiang Rai. The nearest station is
in Chiang Mai, 2-3 hours away.
By Boat
An alternative and rather interesting method of getting to
Chiang Rai is by boat from Thaton, taking about 2.5 hours.
Boats leave from Thaton (it's easy to see them from the bridge)
once or twice a day and tickets can be purchased at the small
pier. The boats are quite small and uncomfortable; sitting
squashed up in them for almost 3 hours is not that pleasant
and if you are not the most supple person around a trip by
bus may be a better idea, however the scenery is nicer by
boat. It is necessary to take a ride into Chiang Rai from
where the boat stops, but there are songtaew drivers there
ready to take you so this is easy to do.
By Plane
There are many flights to Chiang Rai airport from Bangkok
and other provinces. AirAsia, Nok Air, Bangkok Airways, VietAir,
Thai Lion and Thai Smile all fly to Chiang Rai. From the airport
you are able to pick up a rental vehicle or possibly arrange
other transport on to Chiang Saen.
Finding Birds
Over the years the Mekong and Chiang Saen
lake have attracted a lot of attention from birders but these
two bodies of water are just a part of a greater area of wetlands
that continue to host a lot of interesting birds even though
habitat degradation continues throughout the area. There are
a number of good spots that still turn up a lot of species
but there are lots of scraps of land worth checking out in
the area that could easily turn up equally good birds and
even rarities.
Mekong
River: The "Mighty" Mekong is in
a terrible state with Chinese control of water flow through
their upstream dams creating artificially high water levels
at critical times of the year, denying birds valuable feeding
and breeding grounds when the water levels naturally would
be low. Added to this many of the islands and sand bars that
used to attract birds have been dreadfully degraded by development
on the Laos side of the river and by reclaiming of land for
farming on the Thai side. This means that gone are the days
when Long-billed Plover could regularly be found here and
resident species such as Grey-throated Martin, River Lapwing
and Jerdon's Bushchat are only just hanging on.
Having said that the geographical location of the river means
that it still worth a look and if the water level is low enough
to reveal some sand and gravel bars then a number of interesting
species can be found. The only place where birders are likely
to find anything of interest on the river close to town is
at the "Rim Khong" restaurant - just park at the
restaurant and walk to the back where there is a riverside
embankment from where you can view the river; the staff are
used to birdwatchers, so just smile and make your way towards
the river. If there is any sand or gravel exposed Small Pratincole
is likely to be seen and other waders that are frequently
seen include Common Greenshank, Little Ringed Plover, Green
Sandpiper and Temminck's Stint. East of Chiang Saen too, towards
Chiang Kong, there are a few places to overlook the Mekong
and these days represent a better chance to locate Small Pratincole,
River Lapwing and Jerdon's Bushchat.
In the fringing vegetation Plain Prinia and Yellow-bellied
Prinia are common resident birds which are joined by Dusky
Warblers in the dry season. This undergrowth is also a good
place to look for Red Avadavat which are most easily seen
in the late afternoon when they drink and bathe in the river's
margins. Althought they are much reduced in number this is
still one of the only places you are likely to see Grey-throated
Martin in Thailand (but for how much longer?) and Indian Spot-billed
Ducks can sometimes be joined by Chinese Spot-billed Duck,
Ruddy Shelduck or Common Shelduck. Those searching for Jerdon's
Bushchat are going to have to travel further east along the
river to find areas of tall reeds/grasses that contain this
rapidly declining bird.
Nong
Klab: When one reads old reports of a wide
variety of birds at Nong Klab from the past a look at the
site now is a good demonstration of how habitat in the area
has been desecrated over the years and how this is continuing.
This is now a largely sterile lake with a surrounding road
and steep sides. Somehow it does sometimes turn up the odd
rarity, usually Great Crested Grebe, and the rice fields close
by may host a few interesting birds; I saw a Yellow-breasted
Bunting close-by in early 2018. Generally, though, there is
too much disturbance for many birds to stay long here.
Nam
Kam Nature Reserve: With the destruction of
almost every other scrap of reedy habitat this small, private,
nature reserve is a valuable refuge for a number of species
that are under extreme pressure in the area as well as consistently
turning up Thai rarities. Along route 1016 there is a sign
indicating the turning for this site and there is a small
car parking area and toilet for visitors.
Although this is a wetland, water is often in short supply
and the pools frequently dry out completely. However, if there
is some water Green Sandpiper is likely and Greater Painted
Snipe can be found. Ruddy-breasted Crake and Slaty-breasted
Rail are both resident but in the dry season this is one of
few reliable sites to find Brown-cheeked (Eastern Water) Rail
in Thailand.
Tall trees surrounding the site are where birds sit out in
the open in the early morning and many of the trees here flower,
attracting many species. Lineated Barbet, Black-collared Starling,
Coppersmith Barbet, Racket-tailed Treepie, Green-billed Malkoha,
Asian Koel and Chestnut-tailed Starling can all be expected
and sometimes rarer starlings will join this latter species.
Many of the birds here are supreme skulkers and are only often
located when study groups trap them in mist nets for ringing
but it is possible to get lucky and see Baikal Bush Warbler
out in the open or more often a stunning male Siberian Rubythroat
while Dusky Warbler is common. Other skulking birds that will
come into the open include the handsome Chestnut-capped Babbler
as well as Yellow-eyed Babbler while sitting at one of the
hides that overlooks a bird bath can turn up some extreme
Thai rarities in the driest conditions including Chestnut-crowed
Bush Warbler, Chinese Bush Warbler, Paddyfield Warbler, Baikal
Bush Warbler and Thailand's first record of Firethroat was
here with the same bird returning for a couple of successive
years. Other extreme Thai rarities that have occurred here
include Blyth's Reed Warbler, Large-billed Reed Warbler and
(Siberian) Chiffchaff. I photographed the first Pale-footed
Bush Warbler for this site in December 2019 in one of the
hides.
In the late afternoon/evening sometimes large numbers of Baya
Weavers come to roost in the reeds here and they can be joined
in the dry season by Chestnut Buntings in good numbers and
it is worth looking for Yellow-breasted Bunting, Black-faced
Bunting and other species in these flocks, if they appear.
Nam Kam is one of those places where it is hard to predict
exactly what will be seen and birding here is very hard due
to many of the birds hiding in the dense vegetation but species
as varied as Jerdon's Bushchat, Grey-crowned Warbler, Asian
Barred Owlet, Rufous-winged Buzzard, Laced Woodpecker and
Asian Openbill can be seen here for those who put in the effort.
Chiang
Saen Lake (Nong Bong Kai): This large lake
is one of the few places in Thailand that regularly attracts
a variety of wildfowl. Most of these are Lesser Whistling
Duck and Indian Spot-billed Duck, which are present all year
round, but between December and March there are also usually
good numbers of Garganey and Northern Pintail with Ferruginous
Pochard being the most numerous diving duck. Smaller numbers
of Northern Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Common Teal and Eurasian
Wigeon are usually among the flocks. Most of these species
are rather unexciting to many birders but it takes patience
looking through these birds, which keep disappearing behind
floating masses of water hyacinth, to find any rarer species
of duck that may be present.
The big prize among these commoner ducks is the critically
endangered Baer's Pochard which is still more or less an annual
winter visitor in ones and twos but species such as Gadwall,
Mallard, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Shelduck, Mandarin Duck, Red-crested
Pochard, Baikal Teal and Falcated Duck occasionally turn up
too and even Long-tailed Duck has been seen here. It is also
worth keeping an open mind as to what could be among the flocks
as more species are likely to be added to the Thai list in
future years.
These days the water level is usually fairly high and marshy
margins are few and far between but there are areas where
species such as Black-winged Stilt, the handsome Grey-headed
Lapwing, Grey-headed Swamphen, Bronze-winged Jacana and a
few Pheasant-tailed Jacanas too. If it has been a dry year
and water levels are low it is sometimes possible to see White-browed
Crake, Ruddy-breasted Crake and even Brown-cheeked (Eastern
Water) Rail. Common and Pintail Snipe can also be found and
even Swinhoe's Snipe occur here but identifying the latter
is extremely difficult and there are few accepted records
from Thailand.
The island in the lake is just about the only place in Thailand
to spot Great Cormorant perched out on the trees along with
Purple Heron, Grey Heron and, usually, Western Osprey. These
birds are always worth checking in case something rarer is
among them. The lake is also one of few sites in the country
where Common Coot is abundant and Great Crested Grebe is an
annual winter visitor in very small numbers.
In the surrounding farmland, gardens, grassy areas and copses
a variety of other interesting species can be seen with Racket-tailed
Treepie, Black-collared Starling and Sooty-heaed Bulbul as
common resident species but it is usually possible to find
Eurasian Wryneck, Siberian Rubythroat, Burmese Shrike, Thick-billed
Warbler, Oriental Reed Warbler and Eastern Marsh Harrier in
the "winter" months.
Yonok
Wetlands: This area of wetlands also has patches
of grassland and woodland making it an excellent place to
find a large number of species although there seems to be
constant degrading of the habitat and nobbling away at the
edges so ultimately its days are probably numbered. At least
one pair of Grass Owls persist in this area but the real highlight
is Thailand's largest harrier roost, with between 200-300
birds (Eastern Marsh Harrier & Pied Harrier) at the peak.
Mick Davies and Dowroong Danlammajak have done a great job
in persuading the monks at Wat Pa Mak No to protect the harrier
roost while battling the local authorities and poachers, also
without the cooperation of local conservation bodies.
Standing next to the water in front of Wat Pa Mak No is a
good place to wait as the light fades in order to see the
harriers arrive. Small numbers come in at first and many birds
will land before taking off again and they create a most amazing
sight when hundreds of them are airborn all at the same time
before descending into the boggy grass where they roost.
Of course there are lots of other birds to see here too, most
noticeably large numbers of Grey-headed Swamphens and by scanning
the bushes you are likely to spot resident Pied Buschat, Long-tailed
Shrike and Greater Coucal as well as migratory Brown Shrike
and Stejneger's Stonechat. There are small numbers of Striated
Grassbird here too which are easily seen when they are singing
from the tops of bushes while in the surrounding trees Lineated
Barbet, Laced Woodpecker and Coppersmith Barbet are found.
Some rare and skulking migrant birds can be found here with
some luck including Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler although
it is more often heard than seen. Baikal Bush Warbler is frequent
here too as is Black-browed Reed Warbler, Thick-billed Warbler
and Eurasian Wryneck while rarer species such as Paddyfield
Warbler have been recorded too. Flocks of Barn Swallow can
always be seen while waiting for the harriers and if you take
the time to look a few rufous-bellied birds of the subspecies
tytleri and/or saturata can usually be spotted.
Facilities
At Chiang Saen Lake there is a resort to stay
at, on the northern bank of the lake, close to headquarters:
Viang
Yonok Hotel. Chiang Saen itself has a growing number of
hotels and Siam
Triangle Hotel is a very comfortable place to
stay with a good breakfast buffet from 6.30am. The Pak
Ping Rim Kong Bed & Breakfast is very comfortable
to stay in too and rather cheaper. There are a large number
of hotels a little further up river at the Golden Triangle,
but this area is very commercialized and best avoided in my
opinion.
It is worth having dinner in Chiang Saen at the river front
where there are food stalls serving great barbecued food:
fish, chicken, pork, steak and som tam with sticky rice for
stupidly low prices. It's a nice place to sit in the evening
eating and drinking. There are a number of other decent eating
places in Chiang Saen and a couple of minimarts which sell
most things that are required. Chiang Saen also has a small
fresh market, a post office, cash machines, banks and a small
hospital although the closest large hospital is at Chiang
Rai.
Much further down the river is the small town of Chiang Kong
where there are a number of places to stay; Fortune
River View Hotel is a very comfortable location.
Chiang Khong is quite a drive but I mention it because the
most likely stretches to find some of the Mekong's formerly
common birds is along the Chiang Saen - Chiang Kong road so
this small town could also be a good place to stay.
Chiang Rai is close enough to be a realistic option for accommodation
and then drive to the lake and then along the Mekong: Chiang
Rai Hotel Reservations, it takes about 45 minutes
to 1 hour.
Chiang Saen Lake is not a National Park and there is no fee
to go birdwatching in most of the area. However, at the non-nunting
area headquarters they started charging visitors for entry
only to that immediate area with foreigners being charged
200 baht per person; the only reason you will need to go to
this area is if you want a boat trip.
Books I Recommend
Reed
and Bush Warblers If you want to get to grips with this extremely
difficult and skulking group of birds then you need
this book. This is one of the very best ornithological
books with extended accounts on each species, superb
plates and a wealth of photographs. One of my favourite
books.
Birds
of Thailand This field guide has set new standards in identifying
birds in the wild in Thailand. With the most up-to-date
taxonomy of any publication this is the book you need
if you are birdwatching in Thailand. Forget all of the
older guides and buy this one.
Bird
Watching Trips:
Chiang Saen
is an excellent place to add to any Northern Thailand
birding tour itienraries between the months of November
to April and there are a high number of wetland skulkers
and waterfowl that can be found which are unlikely to
be seen at any other location.
Download
a full 
