I have been interested in this since I was a child as my parents taught me the names of plants, butterflies, fish, birds and trees as I was growing up. To then see, years later, that so many people were completely unaware as to so many common things around them shocked me. Phuket has so much to offer anyone who enjoys the natural world. Just walk around slowly with your eyes open – even in the busiest of cities there is plenty to see.
I arrived in Phuket back in 2005 for a holiday and, like so many others, I loved it. The following year I visited for four months, then five months the year after. When you are here for longer periods you have time to start to explore and discover the sights away from the main tourist trails. Finally, in 2011, I made the permanent move to call Phuket home.
What puzzled me was the fact that I could take photos of areas in and around Patong yet people who lived there had no idea where the photos were from. This showed me not only how little people walked about but generally how unobservant they actually were when doing so. Some people may have encountered various birds, insects, lizards, snakes and plants yet few seemed to know their names and many had not even seen them at all.
Reassuring
I always walk everywhere, mostly with a camera, and so I often snapped photos of new things I encountered. After the COVID era I decided to start to learn more about the birds and butterflies I saw, as well as snakes, gekkos and other things I saw as I ventured around the island. After posting these discoveries on my social media for a while I was asked to do likewise on various Phuket specific tourist pages. I was then asked whether I would share photos for the Island View feature in the Life section of The Phuket News. I was happy to do so as it was reassuring to know there were others here that liked the natural beauty of Phuket. One thing led to another and shortly after I was asked to contribute a monthly article on the natural world in Phuket for the island’s leading newspaper. So I did.
I am not a bird expert, snake specialist, lepidopterist, botanist or marine biologist. I am just a bloke walking around with a camera and my cat Leo who enjoys the natural world. I am not rewriting any natural world encyclopedia. I take photos and try to find out more about what I see. My articles and photos aim to make a nice change from the ubiquitous beach, bar and general tourism scenes that tend to flood the media. My contributions were just to show there is so much more to Phuket if people care to slow down and take a look around them.
Bird song
As the seasons change so does the wildlife. Birds migrate, plants and trees bloom when the rains come and the island becomes really green. Grassy areas are laden with butterflies and the air full with bird song. The trees and plants bloom with flowers that attract insects for the birds to feed on and then the flowers bear fruit. Phuket has different seasons other than just wet and hot or dry and hot. I started to record the different seasons and what you saw during them to share so others can see it too.
The idea was to get people out of the tourist traps and discover more than the beach bars, to venture into dense jungle areas, grasslands, hills, cliffs, farmlands, beaches, lagoons, mangroves, all of which are packed with wildlife. Yes, you can go to various national parks and wildlife parks which offer a great day out as a break from the beach, but there are also many areas just a short walk from the busy resorts too. Here in Phuket we are also lucky to have fantastic marine life that is in easy reach of everyone. Sure, there are the super popular tours that we all know about but similarly fantastic beaches and bays to explore both snorkeling and scuba diving that have frequently stayed under the radar.
This year I aim to cover much more variation than just birds, as that was the plan all along. I want to show all the natural beauty that Phuket has to offer on land, in the air and in the water. Hopefully it might encourage some people to just slow down and take a look at the stunning world around them. Watch this space!