Threatened Thailand Reptiles and Amphibians

Here is a list pulled from the “IUCN Red List of Threatened Species” showing the threatened reptiles and amphibians species in Thailand. There are a couple of snakes, turtles, frogs, and other interesting species.

Especially of note is the declining population of king cobras – Ophiophagus hannah. Each king cobra show in Thailand catches and buys dozens of these amazing snakes and many die in captivity or are sold off – ending up on a dinner plate in China, or even Bangkok.

All credit for the list goes to the IUCN Red List folks! Go visit and see what all their database has about species you’re interested in. It’s pretty extensive.

Threatened Thailand Species (Snakes in pink):

Amyda cartilaginea (Southeast Asian Softshell Turtle)
Status: Vulnerable

Ansonia siamensis
Status: Vulnerable

Batagur baska (Four-toed Terrapin)
Status: Critically Endangered

Batagur borneoensis (Three-striped Batagur)
Status: Critically Endangered

Boiga saengsomi (Banded Green Cat Snake)
Status: Endangered

Chelonia mydas (Green Turtle)
Status: Endangered

Chitra chitra (Southeast Asian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle)
Status: Critically Endangered

Crocodylus siamensis (Siamese Crocodile)
Status: Critically Endangered

Cryptelytrops kanburiensis (Kanburi Pit Viper)
Status: Endangered

Cuora amboinensis (Southeast Asian Box Turtle)
Status: Vulnerable

Cyclemys dentata (Brown Stream Terrapin)
Status: Lower Risk/near threatened

Dermochelys coriacea (Leatherback)
Status: Vulnerable

Eretmochelys imbricata (Hawksbill Turtle)
Status: Critically Endangered

Glyphoglossus molossus (Blunt-headed Burrowing Frog)
Status: Near Threatened

Heosemys annandalii (Yellow-headed Temple Turtle)
Status: Endangered

Heosemys grandis (Giant Asian Pond Turtle)
Status: Vulnerable

Heosemys spinosa (Sunburst Turtle)
Status: Endangered

Hylarana banjarana
Status: Near Threatened

Hylarana mortenseni
Status: Near Threatened

Indotestudo elongata (Yellow-headed Tortoise)
Status: Endangered

Ingerana tasanae
Status: Vulnerable

Kaloula mediolineata (Middle Back-stripe Bullfrog)
Status: Near Threatened

Lepidochelys olivacea (Olive Ridley)
Status: Vulnerable

Limnonectes blythii (Giant Asian River Frog)
Status: Near Threatened ver 3.1
Pop. trend: decreasing

Limnonectes malesianus (Malaysia River Frog)
Status: Near Threatened

Limnonectes paramacrodon (Lesser Swamp Frog)
Status: Near Threatened

Malayemys subtrijuga
Status: Vulnerable

Manouria emys (Burmese Mountain Tortoise)
Status: Endangered

Manouria impressa (Impressed Tortoise)
Status: Vulnerable

Naja siamensis (Black And White Spitting Cobra)
Status: Vulnerable

Notochelys platynota (Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle)
Status: Vulnerable

Nyctixalus pictus (Cinnamon Frog)
Status: Near Threatened

Ophiophagus hannah (King Cobra)
Status: Vulnerable

Pelochelys cantorii (Frog-faced Softshell Turtle)
Status: Endangered

Platysternon megacephalum (Big-headed Turtle)
Status: Endangered

Python bivittatus (Burmese Python)
Status: Vulnerable

Quasipaa fasciculispina
Status: Vulnerable

Rhacophorus kio
Status: Vulnerable

Rhacophorus reinwardtii (Reinwardti’s Frog)
Status: Near Threatened

Sibynophis triangularis (Triangled Black-headed Snake)
Status: Near Threatened

Siebenrockiella crassicollis
Status: Vulnerable

Theloderma stellatum
Status: Near Threatened

Tomistoma schlegelii (False Gharial)
Status: Vulnerable

Xenophrys longipes
Status: Near Threatened

4 Comments

  1. Yes the Thai, like people in other third world countries, are harvesting wildlife like there’s no tomorrow. Not only wildlife but more trees are being cut done for charcoal or to clear land for farming. In my experience there is little being done to conserve nature. Even in so called parks people are still not considerate of nature. The nature reserves are always under constant threat from poachers and illegal development. The average Thai, I believe, looks at life through rose colored glasses and/or ignorant of what is going on or can’t comprehend how they are impacting the environment. Of course there is a population that is poor and often depend on harvesting things for nature to make money. It is often the wealthy who provide the market for such goods. It is my prediction that Thailand in thirty years will be very sterile unless people along with their government turn things around but it’s going to take much effort to overcome indifference, ignorance, corruption and ineptitude.

    1. Thanks Larry, for your comment. I enjoyed that. I think it’s sad, but they’re in a stage of development of the country where they’re just not worried about wildlife. They have too many other things to think about (themselves).

  2. I don’t know if this is true in Thailand, but in many countries a very common cause of snakebite is people trying to kill or capture snakes, so education is an important way to reduce the risk of snakebite: people should know if they see a snake that is venomous (or if they are not sure if it is) they shouldn’t try to kill it or pick it up, but just leave it alone and stay a meter away or so, and warn any others around to do the same. Where I live, in the USA, this is probably the single most common cause of snakebites: very few are truly accidents, where the person didn’t intentionally provoke the snake, but just didn’t see it. Habitat destruction and fragmentation, and populations of snakes being killed by things like pesticides, are taking their toll too.

    Encouraging people to wear long trousers and shoes that cover their feet when they will be outdoors in places where a snake might be trying to relax and enjoy the sun (and perhaps taking a little nap), to look where they step (taking especial care in places with tall grass, low light levels, etc.), and to avoid reaching anywhere without checking first, would also be good. Humans have good colour vision, so even though many of them have amazing camouflage, we are more likely to we them….if we look!

    In Thailand there is one other particular risk, the spitting cobra. People need to learn to identify them, and as with any snake, avoid doing anything that could make the snake feel threatened. From what I have read, spitting cobras aim for your eyes and can shoot their venom with remarkable accuracy. For safety it’s best to stay more like 2m away if the snake is a spitting cobra, as they can shoot it pretty far too, farther than the striking range even of a very large viper.
    To keep snakes from coming indoors, you need to avoid having rats and mice (or “yummy snacks” as they are known to many snakes 🙂), which will attract them, but rodents are *really* hard to control. One way I can think of would to encourage modest-sized nonvenomous snakes like rat snakes (just not the big pythons!) to come visit, as they are skilled rodent-control experts. I know a lady who found what she described as an indigo snake in her basement; since she knew it to be harmless and recognised it as a sign that she probably had mice or rats, she did her best to make it feel welcome, bringing it water and things like that every now and then. They seem to have struck up a good relationship.

    The other aspect of cutting down the morbidity & mortality from snakebite is the healthcare side:
    making sure healthcare is available for anyone who gets bitten: that anyone can get, at the very least, emergency treatment, regardless of whether they can pay. Also, speedy treatment has to be accessible even in rural areas where there may not even be a hospital nearby.

    Both aspects of reducing the harms caused by snakebite are challenging. I wish I had some answers as to how we could solve this serious health problem in SE Asia and many other parts of the world.

    I hope to have a chance to visit Thailand and perhaps some other countries in Southeast and South Asia someday (my health won’t permit travelling right now). I have known a few people from Thailand, and it really sounds cool in a lot of ways. If I were to see one of the country’s many fascinating snake species, my first thought would be to try to take a photo! I think if more people knew how cool and fascinating snakes are, this sort of attitude toward them would be much more common, maybe even prevalent.

    1. Thank you for your excellent comment! It was so good, I added it to a page about Thailand Snake Cautions. One thing, spitting cobras can spray a fine mist around 2-3 meters. If the wind is blowing, well, you get the idea – even more. You’re right on, most snakebites happen when someone is attempting to kill or move the snake. I’ve also seen so many people send me photos of them holding a snake that is venomous – coral snakes especially. Be careful with all snakes. There are 35 dangerous snakes on land in Thailand, and by dangerous I mean with the potential to inflict lethal bites. Cheers Melusine!

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