Baan Maka Nature Lodge
Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Another great lodge in Thailand...

the lodge

The lodge grounds are nice and big, with the chalets, a dam, grassy areas, and the edge of the forest at the restaurant. The latter is probably the best place for birding and wildlife. 

The rooms are nice and very good value. The food is good, and there is always plunger coffee available for free!

The restaurant is is where a lot of the action is. The fruit feeding stations start attracting great birds from early on in the morning (when the light is not so great for photography), till late in the morning.

The restaurant staff also put out worms for some of the other birds. This attracts Laughing Thrush. And the main attraction, the Blue-winged Pitta (in summer). During the summer season the Blue-winged Pitta can easily be seen from the restaurant. When it gets quiet, it even comes quite close and gets in behind the kitchen. Even the lodge's cat (with a bell) doesn't bother the Pitta.

and mammals such a tree shrews also visit the worm bowl.

If you can tear yourself away from the restaurant, you might see other things around the property.

If you go spotlighting at night, you might see an owl (I didn't), but of course there is the same problem that plagues all over the local area, dogs that start barking and carrying on, which scares everything away and really mucks up the ambience. That is 'muck' with an F.

It might also be worth visiting the fruit feeder station; fruit-piercing moths visit at night.