Nong Kut Thing

Nong Kut Thing is a large freshwater wetland on the edge of Bueng Kan town, recognised in June 2009 as Thailand’s 11th Ramsar site — a Wetland of International Importance, officially site number 1,926. It spans roughly 13,750 rai across the Non Sombun, Bung Kan, and Khok Kong subdistricts of Mueang Bueng Kan district.

The wetland supports around 80 recorded fish species, a dozen of them on the IUCN threatened list, plus several found nowhere else, alongside more than 40 bird species ranging from herons to the ferruginous duck. King cobras and softshell and leaf turtles turn up in the surrounding wetland forest. For the villages on its shoreline, though, the lake is a working resource before it’s a wildlife-watching spot — government wetland-restoration reporting puts more than 2,500 households around it fishing, farming, and raising livestock off its waters, generating over 100 million THB a year in combined value.

Watch out: this isn’t a manicured nature reserve. The wetland has been dealing with an invasive giant salvinia weed problem in recent years, worsened by nutrient runoff from surrounding farmland, and is currently the subject of a government and university rehabilitation project. Parts of the shoreline can look weed-choked depending on the season and where you access it.

There’s no formal visitor centre or entrance fee — access is informal, via local roads down to the shoreline near Non Sombun, and fishing boats provide the best vantage point for spotting waterbirds. Early morning during the cool season, November through February, gives the calmest water and the best light before the day’s fishing activity picks up.

Insider Tip: ask at a shoreline village for a boat rather than expecting a fixed dock — most of the fishing boats here are private, and a small tip usually buys an hour on the water with a local fisherman.

The wetland’s adjoining southern stretch appears on some maps as Kut Thing Yai — it is all part of the same Ramsar site. Keng A Hong on the Mekong is another nearby Mueang Bueng Kan landmark worth combining into a day out.