Herping in Khao Yai national park

Herping tours in Khao Yai

Herping tours in Khao Yai national park

Tour description in short

Location of Khao Yai national park on the map of Thailand

Our herping tours in Khao Yai national park are available as daytrips or multi-day tours.

During the day we will explore the national park by car, and go out on foot in areas where we hope to find snakes, lizards, frogs and other herps.

At night we will go on a night walk in an area outside the national park boundaries.


Why our herping tours?

Even though not the highest species count of any park in Thailand, Khao Yai national park is nonetheless a great location to visit. For several species this is the westernmost range, and yet it is easy to reach from Bangkok. This includes species like the Vogel's Pit Viper (Trimeresurus vogeli), Indochinese Water Dragon (Physignathus cocincinus), the Nganson's Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis ngansonensis), the Gibson's Wolf Snake (Lycodon gibsonae), and the Khao Yai Odorous Frog (Odorrana indeprensa). Also the stunning Oriental Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) is not the typical green in this region, but either silver-grey or yellow-orange in colour. On the night walk there is more chance for another viper, the Large-eyed Pit Viper (Trimeresurus macrops), and of course there is more.

Khao Yai has plenty of good hotels and other facilities. And besides the reptiles and amphibians, you may see some other interesting wildlife as a bonus.



Click the following button to contact us, or continue reading, below.

Tour package summary

Activities

  • Wildlife watching
  • Field herping
  • Jungle walk(s)
  • Night walk(s)

Tour details

  • 1- or multiday tour
  • Private tour
  • 2000 - 7200 Baht (per person)
  • Difficulty level: Easy to moderate

What's included?

  • Entrance fees
  • Expert herping guide (English)
  • Transport
  • Lunch & dinner
  • Drinking water
  • Leech protection socks
Orange morph of the Oriental Vine Snake
The harmless Oriental Vine Snakes are sometimes spotted in the roadside bushes by our skilled guides when driving through the park.
Indochinese Water Dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) in Khao Yai national park
The Indochinese Water Dragon, Physignathus cocincinus is one of the amazing animals you are more likely to see on a Khao Yai tour in the wet season.

Tour itinerary

Here follows the itinerary of our herping tours in .
Note: We can organize both daytrips and multi-day tours.

Day 1 (08:00 to ±23:00)

Our herping tours typically do not follow a standard itinerary. The guide will decide based on local conditions, recent sightings, and your preferences which spots to visit over the course of the trip.

Generally speaking, the field herping is not too physically demanding except for it being a longish day. Khao Yai is a large park. Therefore the tour will contain a fair bit of road cruising. The tour will start with a slow drive whilst looking for snakes in the road side bushes.

A new species of caecilian in Khao Yai
Besides reptiles, Khao Yai is home to a wide range of amphibians. On one of our herping tours in 2014 we discovered a species of Caecilian (Ichthyophis sp.) that is new to science. It still doesn't have a name :(

You will explore various locations on foot. Trails along the river and to waterfalls are hotspots for all kinds of reptiles and amphibians.

Lunch and dinner is included and will be at one of the park restaurants.

Reeves's Butterfly Lizards (Leiolepis rubritaeniata) fighting
Two Reeves's Butterfly Lizards (Leiolepis rubritaeniata) entangled in a bloody fight.

After dinner we will start night walking. Due to restrictions this will take place outside the park boundaries.

A King Cobra that climbed up into a bush to see if the coast was clear.
A King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) that climbed up into a bush to see if the coast was clear. These majestic snakes are unfortunately a rare sight.

Extra information about the national park

brown pricklenape in full display
Khao Yai has a great diversity of reptiles like this poorly named Brown Pricklenape.

Khao Yai national park lies at just 2.5 - 3 hours northeast of Bangkok and is easily accessible.

Our tours start from Pak Chong, a town to the north of the park. And we are able to organize transfers from Bangkok, and other places.

The park is open all year round, and our tours can take off every day of the year. But we only have one herping guide in the area, therefore booking in advance is recommended!

Generally speaking, the wet season is the best time to visit Khao Yai for herping. The wet season is roughly May to October. November may still benefit from the wet period before. It depends a bit on when the nights really start to cool down. December - January is pretty cold and therefore not great. It doesn't mean you can not find anything, but it will almost certainly be lower numbers. February - April is roughly the hot, dry season. Which is not too bad, but a bit hit and miss. If you do happen to get some days with proper rain showers in that season, the herp activity may increase.

For more of our tours in Khao Yai, click here.

Khao Yai odorous frog, Odorrana indeprensa
Khao Yai odorous frog (Odorrana indeprensa) is a species of frog only found in this part of the country.

How much does a tour cost?

These are the rates (per person, per day) for our herping tour package based on your group size. Followed by a list of what is included. And feel free to check out our other packages in Khao Yai, below.

Group size: Rate per person:
1 Person 7200 Baht
2 People 3800 Baht
3 People 3200 Baht
4 People 2700 Baht
5 People 2400 Baht
6 People 2250 Baht
7 People 2100 Baht
8 People 2000 Baht
Age: Reduction:
4 to 12 years -200 Baht
0 to 3 years free

What's included?

  • Entrance fees
  • Expert herping guide (English)
  • Transport
  • Lunch & dinner
  • Drinking water
  • Leech protection socks

Other tours in Khao Yai national park

We'd love to hear from you


For any enquiries or quotation requests, please, use this contact form.

* = Required
























Reviews of the Herping tours in Khao Yai

Our guests have rated us 5 out of 5 stars (4 reviews)!

  • 4.

    Name: , United States

    Tour: Herping tours in Khao Yai

    Tour date: 21 Feb 2023

    Rating:  

    Outstanding tour operator! Communication was excellent, logistics were clear, vehicles & equipment great, guides spoke fluent English & were knowledgeable & experienced. I have some amazing memories & amazing photos to bring home with me. Highly recommended!

  • 3.

    Name: , Nederland

    Tour: Herping tours in Khao Yai

    Tour date: 30 Jun 2016

    Rating:  

    Beste Ton & Tan,

    Ik heb genoten van de tour. Wat een oog hebben die jongens voor reptielen zeg. Met 35 soorten herpetofauna in 3 dagen kan ik de tour alleen maar als zeer geslaagd beschouwen. Als kers op de taart ook nog een aantal otters en een olifant gezien, om maar niet te spreken over de vele vogels, gibbons etc.

    Hartelijk dank voor alles, het was perfect geregeld. Ik zag dat jullie ook herping tours aanbieden voor Kaeng Krachan NP. Dat ga ik zeker in mijn achterhoofd houden voor later dit jaar.

    Met vriendelijke groet,

    Jordi

    Tontan Travel wrote:

    Goed te horen dat onze gidsen weer hun best hebben gedaan. Mooie score aan reptielen en amfibiën! En bovendien dus nog als bonus wat mooi ander wild.

    Inderdaad, wij bieden ook reptielen tours in Kaeng Krachan aan, dus je bent altijd welkom voor een volgende keer.

    Groetjes!
    Ton & Tan

  • 2.

    Name: , Nederland

    Tour: Herping tours in Khao Yai

    Tour date: 07 Jul 2014

    Rating:  

    We wilden graag een keer een verre reis maken en het spotten van dieren (m.n. Reptielen) was daarbij uitgangspunt nummer 1. Na wat zoeken kwamen we terecht bij TontanTravel. Al onze vragen werden snel en accuraat beantwoord en zo boekten we een 3-daagse tour door de jungle van Khao Yai met de nadruk op het vinden van reptielen.
    Dit was absoluut het hoogtepunt van onze vakantie!

    We vonden het super dat Ton en Tan zelf 3 dagen met ons op pad gingen. Alles wordt voor je geregeld en je komt echt niks tekort. De deskundigheid, enthousiasme en vastberadenheid van Ton maakt het een toffe trip! Mijn vriend houdt zelf al jaren slangen en reptielen dus het was een "dream come true" om ze nu zelf in de jungle te kunnen spotten. Het is natuurlijk geen dierentuin, maar des te gaver is het als je dan daadwerkelijk dieren aantreft!!
    Ik persoonlijk vond het ook leuk om van Tan verschillende dingen te leren over bijvoorbeeld de bloemen en planten en gebruiken van de Thai.

    We hebben veel geluk gehad en best veel reptielen gespot! Daarbij nog een soort pootloze salamander die nog niet eerder in het park was waargenomen en een soort das-achtige die nog maar een paar keer gespot was. Er was een dag dat we weinig gespot hadden, maar de omgeving waarin je je begeeft maakt dat helemaal goed, je bent tenslotte in de jungle! Het vinden van olifantensporen of dat je ruikt dat olifanten pas nog op de plek waren waar jij nu staat geeft toch ook een adrenaline kick!

    Dit was absoluut iets om nooit te vergeten en voor ons echt een dream come true. Ton en Tan willen we bij deze 1000 bedankjes sturen en we hopen echt nog eens terug te komen!

    Tontan Travel wrote:

    Beste Ruud & Singalita,

    Heel erg bedankt voor deze mooie bijdrage in ons gastenboek. Het was gezellig met jullie, en met de vondst van in totaal 16 slangen mogen we het toch zeker een geslaagde reptielentour noemen!

    Zou zeker leuk zijn als jullie ooit nog eens terugkomen, maar kan niet beloven dat we het aantal slangen gaan evenaren ;) .

    Bedankt!

  • 1.

    Name: , Canada

    Tour: Herping tours in Khao Yai

    Tour date: 02 Dec 2011

    Rating:  

    Tony and Tan.

    Thanks for an amazing weekend ( and TV shoot) in Khao Yai. We saw a lot of animals - and I loved camping next to y'all! Remember my 'Best dream ever'! I feel like it came true. I found you guys, The Python Hunters found you, you guys found a Burmese Python! What are the chances! Clearly, the Khao Yai Snake Spirits were with us! And I'll never forget that elephant I saw with Tan screaming in my ear!
    too funny!

    All the best with the tours, Tony - the footage of elephants and bats on your FB page is awesome - we'll be in touch if we need more for the show!

    Ciao for now,

    Kai
    Story Editor
    Python Hunters airing on
    National Geographic Wild

    National Geographic Wild
    Python Hunters in Khao Yai

    Tontan Travel wrote:

    Hi Kai,

    Thanks a lot for leaving a message in our guestbook. We can't wait to watch the python we found with you in Khao Yai on TV.
    It must have been an animal with ambitions to become an international star, haha.
    It was great fun to help the makers of a National Geographic TV-show.

    Thanks!

Read more reviews