Global and Green was a key message in the 2008 graduation speech delivered by ML Tri. Through it, he urged the Traidhos Community to be global in all its future thoughts and actions, commenting that this was the only way to bring peace and cooperation to the world.

PTIS, from its conception, has been committed to making global and green core values, expressed through a commitment to operating in a sustainable and socially responsible way.

At campus planning, policy level and in practice, The Traidhos Community seeks to keep our campus, our thinking and our behaviour sustainable, thereby ensuring social responsibility to

• our students and their parents
• our employees
• the communities of which we are part
• the wider environment

Inspired by the AtKisson Compass of Sustainability*, the compass tool is used at different levels throughout the PTIS campus to encourage students, staff and policy to focus not just on green, but also on global.

Encouraging a holistic view, the compass tool allows us to become aware of the interactions of each of the following dimensions:

Nature: Taking action to address climate change and conserve the natural environment
Economy: Ensuring Traidhos operates in an economically sustainable way
Society: The importance of valuing culture and understanding and supporting the immediate and wider community
Well-Being: Our responsibility to care for each individual’s rights and needs



*The AtKisson Compass of Sustainability is one of a series of tools designed to accelerate sustainability. The tool promotes sustainability by identifying where change in a system will have the greatest impact. This is based upon instances of multi-linkages between issues concerning Nature, Economy, Society and Well-being.

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How can we help out? Let’s have a look at the kinds of houses we all live in.

Here in Thailand most people live in concrete brick houses. The concrete comes from limestone which is mined from nearby mountains. Most often in limestone mining whole mountains are removed, blasted to pieces and then ground-up and made into cement. The results are staggering: the loss of an entire mountain is quite remarkable to see. To help combat this we decided to help celebrate the International Year of Forests, and to protect mountains, by building a small sala in the middle of the PTIS library using only completely sustainable materials.

We cut bamboo from our campus and used the traditional style of notching it so the pieces could slide together with minimal use of wire to hold the bamboo together. We collected teak leaf roof thatch from the local villagers who gather the leaves as they fall in this season and then weave them together into wind- and water-proof panels which are attached to the roof framework using bamboo string.

Then came the fun part! We made the walls of the sala from mud, rice straw and hard work! This technique, called wattle and daub, was enjoyed by students from EY1 all the way up to Grade 7, and found them in a tub filled with mud and a little water. This mud was mixed with their feet and then smothered over rice straw woven through a bamboo frame to make the walls. When the walls were dry we covered them with beautiful natural paint.

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As part of PTIS’s commitment to "living the compass", every department on campus has been identifying ways to make changes to their operational procedures, looking at sustainability through the lens of Nature, Economy, Society and Well-being. The kitchen and catering departments have identified the following actions.

Nature

• Monitoring of how much farm produce goes into the cafeteria, considering what else should be planted
• Maximizing the organic farm produce goes into our cafeteria
• Male toilet fitted with six urinal bowls reducing water use
• Counter tops are cleaned with biodegradable shampoo and chlorine

Economy

• Supplies are bought from credible logistic suppliers or vendors who also supply various big food hall and hotels
• Only buy necessary stock: not having money tied up in stock, getting better fresh products
• Separating different foods in different fridges with different temperatures to save energy
• Each fridge is temperature checked daily. Cleaning the fridge happens weekly

Society

• Alcohol gel dispensers for hand cleaning are available in cafeteria
• Food serving changed from buffet line to four hot serving pods in front of the kitchen
• Proper staff uniform with hair net, gloves while on duty
• Healthy food is served. Drive to reduce oil and sugar in food. Some cakes replaced by tropical desserts and traditional icy Thai desserts
• Several new dishes recommended from food committee and students
• Staff and management visit to observe a frozen food export factory focusing on hygiene management and procedures
• Accrediting visit by local Thai Health Ministry office to issue annual cleaning certificate

Well-being

• Getting rid of MSG
• Seasoning, sauces and kitchen supplies are good quality products, the same as those widely used in other food businesses
• Brown bread replaces white bread
• Getting away from palm Oil and moving to other oil
• Meat, pork, fish, chicken are bought from ISO producers
• Building and equipping of a butcher room with air-conditioning for proper room temperature for fresh meat
• Building separate areas to correctly separate kitchen waste and food during preparation and serving
• Providing secure, locked area for gas tank collection and storage
• Kitchen floor cleaned with proper floor cleaner and chlorine
• Annual health check for any contagious disease, preventative strategy, cure, job rotation
• Sick staff scheduled to work in other reasonable area. If suspected with H1N1 or other flu staff will not be allowed to come into the kitchen
• 100% fruit juice is served in breakfast

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At PTIS International School, Senior School students have many great ideas for ways to improve the environment of their school and community. Many of these ideas have been shared and implemented within the school curriculum, and through both co-curricular and extra-curricular activities using the Compass Model for Sustainability.


Within the School Curriculum
After completing a workshop on Alan AtKisson’s Sustainability Models, some of the teaching staff have begun to use a "Compass Model for Sustainability" lens on our curriculum.

Example 1: Students in Grade 8 MYP Science are required to use the compass model when approaching the issue of how to build a Sustainable Farm on a 10 rai (3.95 acres) plot. All areas of the compass model must be presented when discussing how this sustainable farm can be created.

Example 2: In an activity called Farmers and Bankers, students in Grade 9 MYP Maths use the compass model to help decide what products are needed in purchasing farm equipment, how loans are distributed and what gives the most sustainable outcome regarding simple interest rates and compound interest rates.

Example 3: IB Diploma Biology students are given the classic compass model problem on how to sustain proper fish population levels and maintain viable fishing seasons for up to ten years in a row. Using a sustainable fishing game model, students decide, in "fishing groups", how many fish will be taken each season and why that number is required regarding society needs, profit needs, impact on the environment of the fish and well-being of the fisherman’s families.

Co-curricular and Extra-curricular

Several students have now begun to implement their own take on sustainability and the Compass Model through their co-curricular activities.

In one after-school club, Roots and Shoots for a Sustainable Future, the students wanted to improve the paper recycling within our school and the surrounding community. Using the Compass Model, students devised a plan to build a paper recycling center on campus.

The primary focus of the compass model was on Nature and the impact on waste disposal sites and tree cutting, but then the other three points on the compass model were considered. The students thought of Economy and how the recycle center might employ local people near the school to work with the paper recycling center.

In guided discussions, the students thought about creating paper products, such as gift cards and boxes that would display local area artwork from Northern Thailand and displaced persons from Myanmar.

The students considered the community’s Well-being and the employment such a paper recycling center might bring to the area as well as income derived from the sales of the gift cards and boxes. In Society, the students were able to think about the impact such an operation might have on local governments and laws regarding waste removal in the community. This project is still being worked on at the planning stages.

Many important works have been completed through another club, the Environmental Club. This year Roots and Shoots for a Sustainable Future will combine with Environmental Club to have an even greater impact on global issues and the challenges of a sustainable future.

Using the Pyramid Model for decision making, the students developed a name for their new organization by collaboratively voting on various titles and what each title meant to Sustainability.

Prospective titles were presented, analyzed and discussed. In the end, the whole club decided on ‘Eco-Revolution’ as the name that best defined the philosophy of what students hope to achieve with sustainability.

On Earth-Day, 2009, Grades 8 to 12 were put into mixed groups to use the Compass Model for Sustainability to consider issues related to a real school problem: "How to reduce Energy Consumption at PTIS International School?"

After using the Compass Model and creating banks of ideas about problems that contribute to energy consumption, the students used the Pyramid Model for decision making to arrive at a group agreed solution for the problems. It was a tremendous challenge to boil 180 ideas down to one solution, but within two hours and forty-five minutes, it was achieved.

Using the Compass Model for Sustainability and the Pyramid Model for decision making allowed every voice to be heard and every idea to be recorded and discussed. Eventually, a decision was reached by the student body. As a consequence of this exercise, all students from Grade 8 to Grade 12 had a say in the decision.

Chris Watson

MYP Science and IB Biology Teacher
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The Traidhos Barge Program introduces the AtKisson Compass to students carrying out community investigations and river observations.

• It allows student groups to focus research on one compass area, and reflect on whether the indicators they come up with are an asset or a concern
• It is a valuable tool to help students make links and consider the consequences of each point
• It promotes critical thinking as students consider how each compass point interacts in real life

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Far away from the creature comforts of home, Qatar Academy Grade 10 students stayed in a Karen hill tribe village and discussed the impacts of tourism and globalization with the village members.

Learning that the village just got electricity a year ago was a shock to the students and they all wondered what changes it will bring in the coming years.

After a week of studying development issues in Northern Thailand, the students with guidance from the Visiting Schools Program staff used the Compass Model to look at the main assets and concerns in the village.

They then discussed how those assets and concerns are often interconnected upon all four compass points, allowing them to create a sustainable development strategy for the village that incorporated wellbeing, society, nature, and economy.

Presenting their ideas, the students found that by using the compass model they were able to look at the overwhelming issue of globalization in bite-sized pieces.

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Hand-to-Paw is a student-run community outreach program to look after the welfare and population of Temple dogs at Wat Nong Pla Mon. This is a joint effort with the Care for Dogs dog welfare organization who is providing free consultation, education visits, and will assist with all initial spaying, and vaccine costs for the eight female and three male dogs presently residing there.

NATURE

A small community such a Nong Pla Mon can only sustain the well-being of street dogs on a very small scale. Village pet owners need to be made aware that sterilization of their female dogs will help prevent pregnancies that would further increase the animal population in their village. Neglect, abuse, malnutrition, pregnancy and disease are but a few of the negative impacts on nature if over-breeding is allowed to continue unabated.

ECONOMY

To promote a sustainable, healthy dog population, students from PTIS worked together in fundraising projects and worked with the dogs on a weekly or monthly basis. Students saw directly what their efforts are achieving. A hands-on commitment to a handful of dogs will raise not only community awareness, but a personal awareness that we hope will spread to other encounters in their lives with animal welfare. Immunizations, neutering or spaying and supplies will be paid through by the efforts of students’ fund-raising and donations from the public.

SOCIETY

The concept of the program has been favourably accepted by the Luang Por and other monks from the temple, along with Loong Noi, employee of PTIS and village elder of Nong Pla Mon, and the gathering interest from PTIS students. This community effort is sure to benefit relationships with the local village and PTIS. A long-term goal is to educate the village of Nong Pla Mon about dog sterilization and pet health care, the beneficial and sustainable effects that this will have on their community. The students will have a commitment to be personally responsible for maintaining the health and well-being of Wat Nong Pla Mon’s dogs.

WELL-BEING

The neuter-return project can save lives and reduce over-population of dogs in this small community. Whether it is for food, medical care, or simple basic love and attention, the temple is unable to look after a continuing increase of its dog population. The sterilization program is effective on grounds of animal welfare, but if carried out on a large-enough scale in the entire community it will have environmental and social impact too. Parents can feel secure that their children will not be bothered by many dogs and will have a cleaner place to play.

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This PTIS Sustainability club follows Jane Goodall's International organization called Roots and Shoots whose projects and ideas seem to follow the compass model.

We recently secured our membership in the international organization and have been posting our ideas for sustainable projects at PTIS on their global blog/website.

Our big project – one that we have been working on for more than a year - has to do with building a paper recycling center for PTIS and the surrounding communities.

After brainstorming we came up with the following ideas:

• Our Nature idea of the compass model is the obvious recycling of paper
• Our Society idea is to hopefully get laws changed about recycling in the area and to educate people both at PTIS and in the area
• Our Economy idea is to take the recycled paper from the center and make products from the paper recycled that can be sold on-line and locally with artwork from the region. We would hope some of the people in the village could work at the recycle center and eventually be paid by the proceeds from the sale of paper products. This is very similar to the elephant dung paper projects seen in other parts of Thailand
• Well-being would of course come in the form of accomplishing the other three points on the compass

We have made a lot of progress. There has been agreement from the Head of School and the Business Manager to build the recycling center, and the President Emeritus has agreed to help in meeting with village elders in presenting the idea and finding those villagers who would be willing work at the recycling center.

A potential sponsor liked the idea when it was presented to some of their representatives at a conference, and after the people working at the center have been paid, excess proceeds would go to displaced or economically challenged persons for the cost of education.

The Traidhos Sustainability Committee seeks to provide opportunities for all students to learn about local and global environmental issues, to take action toward meaningful solutions, to enjoy working collaboratively and to exercise their right to an education toward a sustainable future.

The school’s mission statement and philosophy is aligned with that of the Traidhos Sustainability Committee.

Student initiatives consider the balance that must be maintained in order for action to be sustainable: the Alan AtKisson compass model is often selected as the toolkit by which to frame, define, assess and measure progress of new initiatives and programs.

An adaptation of the Alan AtKisson Compass Model is presented below.

Extracted originally from: The Asia-Pacific Program of Educational Innovation for Development Annual Conference Bangkok, Thailand, 6-8 December 2006: An Introduction to the AtKisson Accelerator Suite of Multi-stakeholder Sustainable Development Learning, Training, Planning and Assessment Tools

Nature refers to the ecological systems and natural resources Economy is the process by which resources are put to work to produce the things and services that humans want and need
Society is the collective and institutional dimension of human civilization, incorporating everything from governments to school systems to social norms regarding equity and opportunity
Well-Being refers to satisfaction and happiness of individual people -- their health, their primary relationships, and the opportunities they have to develop their full potential.

The challenge to minimise our ecological footprint has been well-documented. While this challenge is a global one, within our local community and school this same challenge creates unprecedented demands for learning, thinking, planning and decision-making in our students.

We are committed to building relationships, trust, discipline and a mutual understanding in working together towards the sustainability ideal.

Students gain a first-hand understanding of the essential "systems approach" of the Compass Model by working with all departments within our school, as well as with various community groups.

Please take the time to look at the various initiatives highlighted on our website in their different stages of completion highlighted on our website and we would be pleased to receive any comments or suggestions you may have.

Traidhos Sustainability Committee

PTIS is an amazing a campus for observing wildlife, with ponds and reeds, flowing rivers, native and ornamental tree species, farmland, neighbouring rice paddies and cultivated gardens and fields.

As the seasons change, students and visitors cannot fail to notice migratory winter birds nesting, chicks from year-round residents and the presence of different butterflies, snakes and beetles.

These links introduce you to some of the creatures which make PTIS International School their home.

Golden Tree Snake	Atlas Moth	Cicada
Huntsman Spider	Common Myna Bird	Tokay Gecko
Brown Stream Terrapin	Giant Katydid	Rhinoceros Beetle
Oriental Magpie Robin	Giant Land Snail

The Golden Tree Snake is one of the most beautiful snakes in Thailand. They are also known as Flying Snakes due to their exceptional gliding abilities! The Golden Tree Snake is unmistakable and are generally a bright green color with a black chequered pattern on it.

Although this snake is said by most to be non-venomous, the truth is it actually is a venomous snake and has rear fangs in the back of their mouth - not like most venomous snakes with front fangs. However, while there is nothing to be worried about with this snake as the venom is not strong enough to do any serious harm to humans, it should be left alone if spotted. Active only during the daytime, you do not have to worry about one of these snakes crawling up into your bed with you in the middle of the night.

Fun Facts:

• This snake can leap from tree to tree just like gliding squirrels or lizards
• The favorite food of this snake is the Tokay Gecko
• At full maturity the Golden Tree Snake can reach 5 feet (150cm) in length
• The Golden Tree Snake will make a home anywhere it deems suitable, including inside your apartment
• This snake is most commonly seen sunning itself on the side of the road on a bright sunny day

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Yikes! What is that?! The Huntsman spider is one of the largest true spiders in the world (this does not include tarantulas) and can be found world-wide. This particular species of Huntsman is the Giant Huntsman Spider and it is the largest Huntsman Spider species in the world - it can get close to thirty centimetres in length.

The Huntsman Spider favours brown shaded areas such as wood and sand so they can easily blend into their surroundings. Although this spider looks absolutely terrifying, it is quite harmless to humans and is much more beneficial than problematic when it comes to them living inside your house! Fun Facts:

• The Huntsman spider does not build webs to catch its prey; it waits patiently for something to walk by and ambushes it
• Huntsman spiders love to eat your household pests, especially cockroaches
• Huntsman spiders have been known to eat things the same size or sometimes bigger than themselves, including mice
• The Huntsman spider comes in many shapes and sizes and has roughly 1009 separate species making up their family, the Sparassidae Family

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Peek-a-boo I see you!

The Brown Stream Terrapin is also commonly referred to as the Asian Leaf Turtle. This turtle can be identified by its rounded carapace or shell and can grow to be about 25cm in length.

The Brown Stream Terrapin can be found in almost any pond or river around Thailand, but tend to avoid anything that moves too quickly as this species of turtle is not a very strong swimmer. It would much rather walk freely along the bottom of a body of water than have to swim through it. Adults tend to spend most of their time at night on land and move to the water during the day when it is much hotter outside.

Fun Facts:

• The Brown Stream Terrapin is a true omnivore, eating both meat such as frogs or fish as well as eating fruit and vegetation
• The shell of this turtle has jagged edges on the back to help defend itself from becoming a tasty snack to a predator
• Part of the turtle’s generic name is "Cyclemys" which means circle turtle
• The Vietnamese Leaf Turtle is a close relative of the Asian Leaf Turtle and both are often mistaken for one another

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The Oriental Magpie Robin is a fascinating bird that can be spotted all over the Chiang Mai area, as well as throughout the rest of Thailand. This bird is most common during the morning hours of the day and can be easily spotted on the roadside sitting on a post singing for your enjoyment.

The Oriental Magpie Robin is a fairly small bird, similar in size to a European Blackbird and occupies a similar niche to its estranged relative. The Oriental Magpie Robin can be found in parks, gardens, open land, grasslands and along the forest edge but best of all can be found on your lawn, hopping around flipping its tail around while it forages for invertebrates to snack on.

Fun Facts:

• The Magpie Robin is highly territorial and is not scared to put up a fight with any other bird species, including its own
• The Magpie Robin breeds between January and June in Thailand and can be found nesting in tree hollows or small holes in the side of a building
• This bird is the national bird of Bangladesh
• The Magpie Robin is particularly well known for its songs and was once popular as cage birds

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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s an Atlas Moth

The Atlas Moth is the largest moth in the world growing up to 30cm in length! The Atlas Moth is generally maroon in color with white triangular "eye" shaped marks on the wings to help keep predators away.

The female Atlas Moth releases powerful pheromones into the air which the males can detect from several kilometres away with their giant feathery antennae. This moth lays her eggs underneath the leaves of only a select few citrus trees and other evergreens that can be found all over Thailand. The Atlas Moth eggs take about two weeks to hatch and it takes them about four weeks to emerge into the Atlas Moth after it has wrapped itself up nice and snug inside its cocoon.

Fun Facts:

• The cocoons of the Atlas Moth larvae are sold as purses in Taiwan
• Atlas Moths are said to be named after either the Titan of Greek Mythology, or their map-like wing patterns
• The Atlas Moth is also known as the Snake Head Moth because the tips of its wings look like the head of a snake
• The Atlas Moth does not possess fully formed mouthparts and throughout their full adult life, do not feed: they survive entirely on larval fat reserves that they build up while they are caterpillars

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Croak, squeak, chirp, squawk, click, and whistle!!

These are just some of the various noises that you may hear coming from one of these funny birds, the Common Myna Bird!

The Common Myna Bird is one of the most successful bird species on the planet and can be found almost all over the world. Despite these birds’ goofy antics, most people see it as a pest. If you leave food on your plate un-attended at the canteen, a group of these guys are sure to try and steal all the good stuff off of your plate.

The Common Myna loves to spend its time foraging through the grass for grasshoppers, so much in fact that its generic name "Acridotheres" means "Grasshopper Hunter."

Fun Facts

• Common Mynas are believed to pair for life and stay with the same mate forever
• The Myna spends more time singing than it does eating every day
• The Myna will make its nest out of almost anything it can get its talons on including grass, weeds, roots, twigs, garbage, tinfoil, tissue paper and even snake skin
• The Myna lays between four to six eggs and it only takes about two weeks for them to hatch
• Before the Myna goes to sleep all of the Mynas in communion sing in unison which is known as "Communal Noise!"

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BZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTT!!!!

If it is not a cicada that you hear at night making this deafening buzzing noise, it is most defiantly one of these giant grasshopper-looking bugs, a Katydid!

The Giant Katydid looks a bit scary, but they are very gentle bugs that stay motionless during the day to hide from trouble. By night time they become very active either hunting for food or trying to attract a mate. Katydids are related to grasshoppers so they look similar, but the long antennae and leaf-like appearance of the wings are the characteristics that distinguish them from their look-a-like relatives.

Where can I find one?

Finding one during the day can prove to be quite a challenge, but if you go out at night to look for one of these creatures it will not be hard at all! Just follow your ears. More than likely you will find them inside a bush or sitting on top amongst the leaves, so get your flashlight and go looking.

Fun Facts

• The Katydid family contains over 6,400 species
• The male Giant Katydid has sound-producing organs on the hind of their wings which they use to create sound by rubbing them together
• It is believed to be one of the loudest insects on the planet
• The female is equipped with a long sword-like egg-laying organ which they use to lay their eggs inside rotting wood

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CRUNCH!

There’s nothing worse than hearing the sound of a snail crunching as you take a step, along with the instant guilt you feel knowing you’ve just, accidentally, destroyed that snail’s future. But take a look at this month’s Creature Feature animal and you’ll really hope you never experience stepping on one of these giant creatures during your stay at Traidhos.

The Giant Land Snail, often seen peacefully sliding across the pathway, looks quite used to this lifestyle but actually they originate from Africa. So did the Giant Land Snail slither all the way to Thailand, or just how did it get here?

First introduced to Thailand in the hope of breeding and eating this big beast, entrepreneurs didn’t quite realise just how well these snails would breed. With the additional ability of adapting to their new environment rapidly, Giant Land Snails have quickly populated various areas and habitats within Thailand and are now known across the world as one of the top 100 invasive species.

Fun Facts

• Adults can reach up to 20 cms long and 7 cms tall
• Their lifespan is around six years but some snails are been recorded living up to the age of ten
• In the USA it is illegal to be found in possession of a Giant Land Snail
• Native to East Africa - Kenya and Tanzania
• Diet includes plant matter, fruits and vegetables
• Across the world people keep Giant Land Snails as pets
• Every snail has the ability to be both male or female
• In parts of Brazil, Giant Land Snails are given as an offering to the Obatala God
• Each snail can reproduce up to 200 eggs in one clutch, usually laying five or six clutches a year. That’s up to 1,200 babies from just one snail every year, or 7,200 baby snails produced within one adult’s lifespan! Now that’s a lot of snails!

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Some people call them the fire engines of the forest; others just find their loud calling irritating.

Whether you know it or not, you have surely heard one of these insects, or more likely many of them calling at once, if you spent any time at PTIS in the last few weeks. They make a high-pitched noise, starting with one insect until all of their friends join in for a cacophony of sound.

How do they make that noise? And why?

• The sound is made by vibrating a pair of ribbed plates in amplifying cavities at the base of the abdomen
• The males of each species make their distinctive noise to attract a mate. Of all the bugs on the planet, cicadas are the loudest, with sound able to travel a mile
• Of all the species of cicada, each makes its own noise. Females are able to distinguish between the sounds, even though they are very similar
• Different species can be heard at different times of the day. While some prefer mating during the day, others prefer the evening hours

Fun Facts

• Cicadas spend most of their lives as nymphs underground. This may be as long as seventeen years. After morphing into adults, some cicadas live two to three weeks while others live only for a less than a day or two
• The female cicada can lay four hundred to six hundred eggs
• After the adults have mated both will die

 Cicada Photos

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"To-Kay! To-Kay!"

Have you heard this noise coming from your backyard? Chances are you’ve got one of these creatures hiding in the trees, or maybe even clinging to your house, waiting for night to fall and feeding time to begin.

Their favourite foods include cockroaches, crickets, and small vertebrates such as mice.

Where can you find a Tokay?

As a nocturnal lizard, your best chances of spotting one of these are at night when they are active. It is native to rainforest trees and cliffs; however, they have adapted to an urban lifestyle where they occupy ceilings, walls, and lamp posts.

Fun Facts

• Lifespan: seven to ten years in the wild, up to twenty years in captivity
• They do not have eyelids and they use their long tongue to clean their eyes
• Their tail is used to store fat, and it will break off the gecko is threatened.  The wiggling of the discarded tail distracts the enemy, allowing the gecko to escape.  A new tail grows back in several months, but it is always smaller than the original tail
• Males are very territorial, and will fight other males to keep their home area guarded for food and rights to females

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Have you ever seen a big black beetle tied to a piece of sugar cane?

If you haven't yet, keep your eyes peeled because beetle fighting season is on its way!

Many local Thai boys will find a big rhinoceros beetle and keep it as their "pet." Then, after school, they will ride around the village with their prize bug and have battle of the beetles to see who picked the strongest creature.

What are they?

The rhinoceros beetle is the common name that encompasses a wide array of species. In Northern Thailand, there are several species crawling through the forest, the rice paddies, or just cruising along the sidewalks here at PTIS. They come in different shapes and sizes and all have a tough outer shell to keep them safe from predators and other rhino beetles.

Fun Facts

• Super-strength: these beetles can carry up to 850 times their own body weight! This makes them the strongest animal on land, proportional to their size. That's like a 60 kg person carrying 51,000 kg!
• Their common name refers to the giant horn that emerges from the beetles head. These horns are used to battle for territory and, for males, mating rights with female beetles. The size and number of horns varies greatly between species, ranging from one to five horns.
• They are an important part of the ecosystem as they help recycle decaying plant material back into the soil by eating away at fallen leaves and rotting trees.

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Bird Links	Bug & Butterfly Links	Traidhos Environment Data
Bird watching in Thailand at Doi Inthanon National Park	Photo galleries of Thai insects	Endangered Trees Thailand
Birds in Thailand (Thai Language)	Chiang Mai butterfly species	PTIS Flora (with GPS)
Nature Trails' bird leaders	How to make a butterfly net
Trip reports from bird tours in Thailand	How to make a collection net
Oriental Bird Club
Birding in Southern Thailand's most beautiful parks
Amazing Thailand and its amazing birds
Princess Bird
TKT Bird Club (Thai Language)
Thailand bird watching hotspots