Flora and Fauna

Thailand is unique in that it's such a long country, it's about 1800 kilometres in length and extends from mainland to peninsular South East Asia and provides habitats for an astounding variety of flora and fauna.

Flora

As in the rest of tropical Asia most of the vegetation in Thailand is either monsoon forest (with a distinct dry season of 3 months or more) or rainforest (where rain falls more than 9 months per year).

Northern, eastern, northeastern and central Thailand contain mainly monsoon forests, while southern Thailand is mostly a rainforest area. There is however much overlap of the two, some forest areas support a mix of rainforest and monsoon forest vegetation.The remaining of the country's forest cover consists of fresh water swamps forests in delta regions, forested crags amid the karst topography of both the North and the South, mangroves in the south and pine forests at higher altitudes in the north.

The country's most famous flora includes an incredible array of fruit trees, bamboo (more species than any country outside China), tropical hardwoods and over 27000 flowering species, including Thailand's national floral symbol the orchid. 

Fauna

Thailand is paticularly rich in bird life, with over 1000 recorded species; approximately 10% of the world's bird species. Coastal and inland waterways are especially important habitats for South East Asian waterfowl.

Indigenous mammals, mostly found in dwindling numbers within Thailand's national parks or wildlife sanctuaries, include tigers, leopards, elephants, Asiatic black bears, Malayan sun bears, gaur (Indian bison), serow (an Asiatic goat/antelope), sambar deer, barking deer, mouse deer, pangolin, gibbons, macaques, tapir, dolphins, dugongs (sea cows).

Species of herpetofauna in Thailand number around 313 reptiles and 107 amphibians, and include four sea turtle species along with numerous snake varieties, of which 6 are venomous: the common cobra, king cobra, banded krait, Malayan viper and Russel's pit viper. Although the relatively rare king cobra can reach up to 6 metres in length, the nation's largest snake is the reticulated python, which can reach up to 10 metres in length.