Bangkok’s Reptiles and Amphibians
The city of Bangkok is a fantastic place to find reptiles and amphibians, or “herps”. Bangkok’s herps include the tiny Ornate Narrowmouth Frogs and Brahminy Blind Snakes that you can find in your garden up to the giant Water Monitors and Reticulated Pythons that roam the canals. This website should help you identify the herps you find and learn more about their habits and contribution to our ecosystem.
The menu on the right has keys to identifying the reptiles and amphibians that live in Bangkok. If you’re trying to identify an animal and aren’t sure what species it might be, just click on the correct group and you’ll be able to see them categorized by appearance. If you prefer to search through the species accounts by family instead, just move your mouse button over the menu on the top of the page and click on the appropriate family group.
You can also look at the following categories of reptiles and amphibians:
Snakes
Lizards
Turtles
Frogs
Caecilians
Full Checklist of Reptiles and Amphibians in Bangkok
This website covers Bangkok and the surrounding area. For information on reptiles in the rest of Thailand, check out A Field Guide to the Reptiles of South-East Asia and A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand at any English-language Bangkok bookstore.
An article on my experiences herping in Asia’s cities can be found in the July 2012 issue of Herp Nation Magazine.
Take time to explore the site, leave comments on anything that interests you, and happy herping!
Jeff Stirling
March 28, 2011 at 3:55 am
awesome site, keep the herp dream alive!
Thailand
April 30, 2011 at 7:22 am
I remember visiting the park in Bangkok Thailand and thinking that I had spotted some rare giant Lizard. I scrambled to get a photo of this elusive Thailand monster. I later discovered these monsters “Water Monitors” are quite common in Lumpani park and not that elusive. I still think they are some really cool reptiles.
Ash
September 26, 2011 at 5:58 am
Great blog! I intend to go herping some day in Thailand and Southeast Asia and actually already bought that book that you mention A Field-Guide to the Reptiles & Amphibians of Southeast Asia. I LOVE your photo of the monitor too. Isn’t it cool just to be able to see such amazing species in the wild? My herping has been limited to the USA and Caribbean thus far.
Jonathan Hakim
September 27, 2011 at 6:09 am
Thank you very much for the positive comments. You are correct – those who are lucky enough to live in Bangkok get to see many fascinating species that make lots of wildlife enthusiasts envious.
Angela
October 12, 2011 at 9:30 am
Coming to Bangkok in November to shoot a TV show for National Geographic Wild. Looking for Herpers….may I have a number to call you. Cheers, Angela (Toronto)
jordan
November 13, 2011 at 3:26 pm
So happy to find this site! Great job!!!! Back in the states keeping and breeding snakes was a big part of my life, but not so much here. Anyone know of a herper group in Bangkok? I would love to meet up with fellow reptile enthusiasts.
Also I’ve been coming across a lot of very tiny frogs on Silom (mush smaller then a 25 satang coin.) In front of the main Bangkok Bank Branch there is a garden full of them as well as several places on Sathorn. Anyone know what they are?
JOrdan on Silom
Jonathan Hakim
November 14, 2011 at 2:22 am
I’m not aware of any herper groups in Bangkok. The only place I know of to find people involved in herping is at the National History Museum or at the universities.
The tiny frogs you are seeing could be recently transformed froglets of any species, but I would bet on one of the microhylids. I should be able to finish the frog portion of this site in the next few months, and then you’ll be able to make a better comparison.
Annie Irving
March 4, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Excellent website! I was able to identify a couple of frogs I photographed recently in Siem Reap from your photos. Thanks!