Khao Luang National Park is situated in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand, and housed within this national park is southern Thailand’s tallest mountain, Khao Luang, with an elevation of around 1800 metres above sea level. In February 2019 I traveled down to the area with the ambition of climbing to the summit – which also holds an endemic barbet – but bad weather scuppered my hike. This trip can be read about on this blogpost –> February 2019 – Khao Luang National Park.

Aside from hikers trying to conquer southern Thailand’s tallest mountain, Khao Luang National Park is also well-known as one of southern Thailand’s best birding destinations because of the park’s quality lowland forest, which is now nearly non-existent in much of the southern Thailand. The best location to actually get into this quality forest is the Krung Ching substation of Khao Luang NP, situated around 80 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital. The substation is named after Krung Ching Waterfall, which can be accessed by a well worn trail that leads about 4 km from the parks visitors centre through pristine forest. The site itself has a nice campsite surrounded by a cool stream, as well as a few bungalows, at which I’ve stayed a few times. It should be noted that trekking up Khao Luang itself begins at Khiriwong Village, about 23 km due west of the provincial capital, and the climbing season is from about January to June I believe. Organizing a hike can be quite tricky, but contacting someone from Khiriwong is usually the starting point.

Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat

Nakhon Si Thammarat to Khirwong Village, the starting point for Khao Luang summit treks,

Birding at Krung Ching is really separated into a couple of areas, with the most frequently birded being the 4 km waterfall trail, the campsite area, and the access road which includes a helipad where good views over the forest can be had. There is also a another small trail that leads off from the helipad, but on the occasions I’ve tried to walk this trail it’s been very overgrown.

One of the bungalows at Krung Ching

The bedroom of the bunglow

The entrance/living area of the bunglow

Over my visits so far, I’ve only actually made it all the way to the waterfall once – and I’ve met birders who’ve never made it the whole way – and this owes mostly to the quality of the forest one must walk through; it’s easy to get stuck along the way waiting at likely points for birds. The trail starts out quite flat, but quickly ascends a steep, slippery and potentially dangerous concrete path – before my 2019 visit, the rangers had added some concrete fold holds to the path to prevent some of the slipping. After this hill, however, the trail is more or less flat for all but the final couple of hundred metres where you descend stairs to get good views of the waterfall. At several times along the trail, a stream is very close on the right-hand side, and closer to the waterfall a larger, sandy-banked river becomes visible. Aside from the amazing bird life at Krung Ching, there is still decent populations of mammals, including a supposedly small but stable population of Malayan Tapir, though seeing one would be extraordinarily lucky.

The sign at the beginning of the waterfall trail

The initial steep slope with newly added (2019) footholds

The trail, no long after cresting the initial rise

The trail to the waterfall

A small bridge along the trail, about 2.2 km away from the waterfall

Only another 1 km to the waterfall

One of the very few muddy sections of the trail, not far from the waterfall.

Peering into the canopy along the trail

The mighty Namtok Krung Ching – pictures don’t really do it justice.

As mentioned above, one of the other major areas to find birds is the access road that includes the helipad a few hundred metres up the road from the visitor’s centre. I enjoy walking along the road here both in the morning and afternoon, because even though the more skulking forest dwellers can’t be seen here with ease, the views into the canopy – and above from the helipad – means a lot of good birds can be more easily viewed in the trees than from the dense and dark trail.

Looking up part of the access road on a wet afternoon

The road leading past the visitor’s centre (unseen on the right

The view over the canopy from the helipad

The helipad itself

Krung Ching is one of my favourite locations in Thailand, with its amazing birdlife, the tranquil setting of the campsite and bungalows, and the long trail that allows you to explore great forest. Additionally, it never seems to be busy, and in fact, on the occasions I’ve stayed there, there have been no other overnight guests, only day trippers, and usually they are birdwatchers as well.

From my two visits – which entails 6 nights, 8 days – I’ve so far encountered 116 species at Krung Ching, but the overall species list for this site is around 300 species.

My 2018 visit can be read about on this blogpost – Krung Ching 2018, while my 2019 visit can be read about on the blogpost linked in the first paragraph of this page.

BIRD LIST (116 identified species)

1. Asian Emerald Dove
2. Thick-billed Green-pigeon
3. Greater Coucal
4. Raffles’s Malkoha
5. Chestnut-breasted Malkoha
6. Black-bellied Malkoha
7. Violet Cuckoo
8. Banded Bay Cuckoo
9. Plaintive Cuckoo
10. Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo
11. Moustached Hawk-cuckoo
12. Indian Cuckoo
13. Silver-rumped Needletail
14. Germain’s Swiftlet
15. Asian Palm-swift
16. Whiskered Treeswift
17. Striated Heron
18. Malayan Night-heron
19. Oriental Honey-buzzard
20. Crested Serpent-eagle
21. Wallace’s Hawk-eagle
22. Buffy Fish-owl
23. Scarlet-rumped Trogon
24. Orange-breasted Trogon
25. Black Hornbill
26. Black-backed Kingfisher
27. Banded Kingfisher
28. Rufous-collared Kingfisher’
29. Red-bearded Bee-eater
30. Dollarbird
31. Brown Barbet
32. Blue-eared Barbet
33. Red-throated Barbet
34. Lineated Barbet
35. Gold-whiskered Barbet
36. Maroon Woodpecker
37. Rufous Woodpecker
38. Buff-rumped Woodpecker
39. Bamboo Woodpecker
40. Crimson-winged Woodpecker
41. Banded Woodpecker
42. Vernal Hanging-parrot
43. Green Broadbill
44. Banded Broadbill
45. Black-and-yellow Broadbill
46. Dusky Broadbill
47. Fiery Minivet
48. Scarlet Minivet
49. Ashy Minivet
50. Lesser Cuckooshrike
51. White-bellied Erpornis
52. Dark-throated Oriole
53. Large Woodshrike
54. Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
55. Rufous-winged Philentoma
56. Green Iora
57. Great Iora
58. Crow-billed Drongo
59. Bronzed Drongo
60. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
61. Black-naped Monarch
62. Amur Paradise-flycatcher
63. Blyth’s Paradise-flycatcher
64. Crested Shrikejay
65. Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher
66. Common Tailorbird
67. Dark-necked Tailorbird
68. Black-headed Bulbul
69. Spectacled Bulbul
70. Scaly-breasted Bulbul
71. Black-crested Bulbul
72. Stripe-throated Bulbul
73. Red-eyed Bulbul
74. Hairy-backed Bulbul
75. Ochraceous Bulbul
76. Grey-cheeked Bulbul
77. Yellow-bellied Bulbul
78. Buff-vented Bulbul
79. Olive Bulbul
80. Streaked Bulbul
81. Yellow-browed Warbler
82. Eastern Crowned Warbler
83. Yellow-bellied Warbler
84. Pin-striped Tit-babbler
85. Chestnut-winged Babbler
86. Grey-headed Babbler
87. Moustached Babbler
88. Black-capped Babbler
89. Short-tailed Babbler
90. Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
91. Dark-sided Flycatcher
92. Asian Brown Flycatcher
93. Oriental Magpie-robin
94. White-rumped Shama
95. Fulvous-chested Jungle-flycatcher
96. Siberian Blue Robin
97. Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
98. Green-backed Flycatcher
99. Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker
100. Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker
101. Thick-billed Flowerpecker
102. Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker
103. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
104. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird
105. Plain Sunbird
106. Brown-throated Sunbird
107. Crimson Sunbird
108. Purple-naped Spiderhunter
109. Little Spiderhunter
110. Yellow-eared Spiderhunter
111. Spectacled Spiderhunter
112. Grey-breasted Spiderhunter
113. Asian Fairy Bluebird
114. Greater Green Leafbird
115. Lesser Green Leafbird
116. Blue-winged Leafbird