Michal Szkudlarek wrote:Is herpetofauna on islands (eg. Phangan) really less numerous than in mainland?
If you're looking for amphibians, you couldn't have picked a worse time as Feb is generally the driest month of the year in pretty must the whole of Thailand. Also note that it has recently been unusually cold in the northern half of the country, getting well below 10C even in Bangkok.
Islands: Places like Phangan are packed full of tourists in February, so the number of individual herps you'd come across on Phangan might well be low due to human density as well as the dry. Turtles are possible to see from a boat and even more so if you dive or at least snorkel. Please don't choose a tour/dive company that feeds them, though.
And dogs can be numerous and threatening. If bitten, get a rabies vaccine asap.
edit: I'll add I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news above about the weather, but got better news from local herpetologists. The temperatures seem to have gone up and "normalised", so not as bad as a week or two ago.
I've been to around Chiang Mai and Pai during the dry season and found some herps whilst not herping too actively (no night time road-cruising). I was especially surprised to see several DOR snakes. I thought the north had nice potential for herping and the environment is rather pretty.
As you'll know, in the dry season you just find a stream/river and follow the water. Less easy to get lost during the night, too.
Best of luck and keep us posted after your trip.