Koh Phangan's Noisy 'Banded Bullfrog'

Many readers, whether as a visitor or resident of Koh Phangan may have seen or more likely heard the Banded Bullfrog recently after the heavy rains.

These Amphibians are a round chubby frog that are prevalent in their thousands on this island. These creatures mainly are seen and heard after there are heavy rains as they gather in small pools and puddles after the rain, and make a very distinctive ‘loud groaning moan or honk’.

 
The noise this frog makes is when the male frogs’ have got together with their friends and are having a frog party after heavy rains and are calling the females.

This is the annoying loud noise that you hear as they inflate their bodies and make this very distinctive call.  

The females then join the party in the small pool and lay their eggs in the pool or puddle which the male frog then use for their reproductive purposes.

During periods of inactivity these frogs live in piles of leaves or human discarded garbage outside your house whilst they wait for the rain to come.

This is another reason to keep the outside of your house or bungalow clear as the frogs will not be able to find somewhere to rest and they will go elsewhere to have a sleep - until it rains again!

After heavy rains it is not possible to ignore these creatures due to their loud call, but you will find after a while the noise will go very quiet and completely stop.

They have been known to keep many people awake at night especially if you have a puddle under your wooden bungalow so have patience with this.

How to deal with this noise is to either put some headphones in or ear plugs. Otherwise, just enjoy the sounds as part of the jungle soundtrack.

It is not possible to remove all the frogs from around your little house as you would just look silly if you try due to the numbers of frogs involved, but please give this a try if you want to!

These frogs feed on ants and tadpoles and anything unlucky enough to be in the same pool as them and are completely harmless to humans apart from the noise which will test your patience a little. But as you are in Thailand and have made it to Koh Phangan then patience is a virtue that if you didn't have before you arrived in the Country you must have learnt the value of this by now.

So remember the next time you hear these frogs and get slightly annoyed, you are hearing the natural habitat of Koh Phangan and the evolution of a resident of the island.