Thailand has a lot of water. Unfortunately a lot of it is in the wrong places. The northeast side of the country, the rice growing area, is seriously parched right now. But there seems to be no way to move the water from the mountainous areas, where, naturally, most of the dams have been constructed.

Well; I can’t solve that problem, but I can show you some of the rivers and lakes I found during the year. Let’s start in the north and work down.

This one is a small river just north of Mae Sot, on the Burmese border…

Next, one of my favorites, in Kanchanaburi, the River Kwai at sunrise…

Not far south of Bangkok, again on the Burmese border, but more than 700kms south of Mae Sot, is the Pranburi Reservoir. Some nice scenery with the surrounding hills, and yet only a short drive from the coast…

Perhaps some of the most spectacular water scenes can be found at the Ratchaprapa Dam, inland from Surat Thani…

And then, south of me, is the Songkhla Lake. Although there is an outlet to the sea at the southern end, the lake is mostly freshwater, and is a favorite haunt of bird watchers. This shot was taken near Phatthalung…

Last but not least, probably my favorite lakes, Kathun and Khlong Din Daeng, up in the hills to the west of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Somehow they don’t look tropical…