If you’re a butterfly enthusiast, you may want to head to Thailand during the month of June for the 4th Annual Butterfly Sighting Festival at Pang Sida National Park. Located in the eastern province of Sakaeo, Pang Sida is host to over 350 species of butterflies including many exotic swallowtail and birdwing species. The best time to observe butterflies is in the early morning, about an hour or two after sunrise. For a sample of Thai butterflies, see our Thai butterfly gallery . Also check our Butterflies in Thailand video.

Located about 2 hours from Bangkok by car, Sakaeo has a variety of attractions to keep you busy for at least 3-4 days - in addition to Pang Sida, there are the bizarre earth pillars and dunes at Lalu, affectionately called “The Miniature Grand Canyon of Thailand” and some rather small but remarkable Khmer ruins near the city of Aranyaprathet. In close proximity to the Cambodian border, Aranyaprathet has the largest border market in eastern Thailand. Pang Sida Park is about 20 minutes from downtown Sakaeo while Laluk is about 80 minutes northeast and Aranyaprathet is about 1 hour to the east.

Like many cities in Thailand, Sakaeo seems to be relatively nondescript but once you are there for a while, it kind of grows on you. Actually, I find Sakaeo to be a rather pleasant place and despite it’s boring reputation, there is sanuck to be found. You just have to know “where to go”.

Want to visit Sakaeo Province? Calypso Island Tours offers Explore Sakaeo, an introductory 4 day/3 night tour package to this ‘off the beaten track’ destination in Thailand

Thailand is one of my favorite places to watch butterflies. Butterflies can easily be observed in a controlled environment such as an enclosed butterfly garden. In Thailand, there are number of these gardens near Chiang Mai and in the resort areas of Ko Samui and Phuket. While I enjoy visiting butterfly gardens, it’s a lot more fun and rewarding to watch butterflies in the wild or in an open-air garden. One of the best places to observe a variety of butterflies and the phenomenon known as puddling is near streams, ponds and waterfalls. Highly recommended butterfly venues are Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Refuge, Pangsida National Park and Chiang Dao. In Chiang Dao, Khun Lek has a wonderful wildlife garden with a variety of colorful flowering plants that attract many butterflies. The musical travelogue “Butterflies of Thailand” features over 25 species of butterflies interspersed with scenes from the Thai countryside. Check it out!
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Speaking of butterflies…while perusing the internet yesterday, I came across this interesting news story how biologists are trying to save one of the largest butterflies in the Western hemisphere from extinction.

ScienceDaily (2007-08-15) — The Homerus swallowtail is the Western Hemisphere’s largest butterfly, but researchers say its numbers are so small that conservation and captive breeding efforts are needed to save the insect, found only in two parts of Jamaica. Full story …..

The story hits home as I have been a frequent visitor to JAMAICA over the years. While I have traveled into the mountains - Blue Mountains and the Cockpit Country - where this rare butterfly currently lives, unfortunately I have never encountered one of these beauties. In my opinion, the establishment of a national park or biological refuge in the Cockpit region as well as private butterfly gardens in Jamaica will go a long way towards ensuring the survival of this swallowtail species

I have been always been fascinated with butterflies. When I was a little boy growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I would often venture out during the spring and summer months to a nearby orchard or field armed with my trusty butterfly net (and my special collecting jars) trying to chase down the prized monarch butterfly or some fast moving swallowtails. At a nearby cabbage field about 1 block from my house, there would always be a plentiful supply of cabbage whites and sulfurs, but I was always interested in the bigger and more glamorous game. At one time, I had quite a collection of mounted butterflies as well as other insects in my cigar boxes.

Many years later as an adult, I traveled numerous times to the tropics - Thailand, Costa Rica, South America and the Caribbean - where I encountered so many exotic four winged beauties. Not too long ago, I traded in my butterfly net for a digital camera. Just as I did as a little boy some 50 years ago, I tried to chase down and “capture” my constantly moving prey albeit with a camera. In the last couple of years, I have built up a quite a collection of pictures.

Back on the home front, in order to attract a variety of butterflies to my backyard, I developed a butterfly garden in my backyard by planting a variety of nectar and species-specific host plants for my four winged friends.