Introduction
I have always wanted to visit Huay Kha Kaeng wildlife sanctuary in the province of Uthai Thani. This sanctuary is part of the large forest complex of Western Thailand and is situated around 300 km from Bangkok.

As it was, I needed to do a trip to visit a needy school for Burmese refugees at Mae Sot. On my return I decided on a short visit to Huay Kha Kaeng.

I arrived at the turn off with a big sign to the sanctuary around 4 pm. Here, stands of deciduous broadleaf forest started to line the road. I heard some shrilling shrieks and stopped the car. It didn’t take long to identify a pair of Black Baza’s. These birds are resident in the area and always a bird to be enjoyed. Several Yellow-footed Pigeons were stirred up by their antics. These Green Pigeons are hard to see well as they blend so well with the lush trees during the wet season. The Pigeons are normally found on low elevations and are rather uncommon birds.

As I drove on, the forest changed into a very healthy looking dry dipterocarp forest, much looking like the one in Mae Ping National Park in the North. This type of forest is more open, with relatively short trees and often hold good numbers of medium sized birds. It didn’t take long before I heard the characteristic laughter of Black-headed Woodpeckers. These birds are most often seen by visiting birders at the lower levels of Doi Inthanon but by no means a guarantee. The best place I have found is at Mae Ping. I tried real hard to stalk the birds for some images but they always seemed to stay one step ahead of me. They move about in small parties and make a lot of noise as they go. Their red rumps flashed brilliantly as they flew from tree to tree.

I got within arms reach of a Collared Falconet which was just as startled of the encounter as I was. Unfortunately the camera settings were wrong so I missed out on a picture.

The entrance fee is 200 Baht for foreigners and is paid 9 kilometers before headquarters. I kept driving till I got to the headquarters. I was impressed how well kept the huge lawn and adjacent buildings were. Many a ranger seemed to be about. The sanctuary holds an impressive number of mammals and lots of research and various projects are being conducted.

Accommodation
Lodging available has to be negotiated from Bangkok in advance unless one is happy with a tent. Tents have to be brought by one self. I ended up staying at a little home stay right outside where I had paid the entrance fee. The bungalow was clean, had air-con and was relatively cheap at 500Baht.

Homestay: Rimbeung Resort 09-8180658, 02-9702966 or 081-9622232