May 26th, 2010
Butterfly Festival in Thailand
If you’re a butterfly enthusiast, you may want to travel to Thailand during the month of June for the 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.
Located about two 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 Laluk, 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. Sanuck is the Thai word for FUN. 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 vacation package to this ‘off the beaten track’ destination in Eastern Thailand
Bus Goldberg is a seasoned world traveler and the director of Calypso Island Tours, a travel company that specializes in botanical adventures and nature tours to such diverse destinations as Costa Rica, Thailand and the Caribbean. He also maintains his own travel blog, Calypso Island Chronicles which features insightful commentary on traveling in the tropics and ecotourism as well as destination tips, travel anecdotes and humor.
