I am fascinated by dinosaurs. Even as a child, I was the dino kid in my class (every elementary class has one). That interest waned as I got older, but then was reignited with repeat viewings of the Jurassic Park movies. Then, come to find out, Thailand has had a fair number of fossil discoveries, including an entirely new species of dinosaur.
Geology Conducive for Fossils
The region where I live, Isaan, in the northeast sits atop the geographic formation known as the Korat Plateau and is the oldest geological formation in Thailand and where the vast majority of dinosaur bones have been found.
Most fossils date back to the Cretaceous Period, which lasted from 145 to 65 million years ago, making the fossils found here to be some of the last dinosaurs that roamed the earth.
However, there have also been discoveries of fossils dating to the Triassic Period, the first period of the Mesozoic Era (when the dinosaurs lived) around 250 to 200 million years ago, so there is evidence to support the idea that as long as dinosaurs lived, the lived on a part of the earth that now makes up part of modern day Thailand.
Cretaceous Period Dinosaurs
The first dinosaur discovered here was the Phuwiangosaurus Sirindhornae, named first for the village in Khon Kaen province where it was discovered and then for H.M. Princess Sirindhorn. This is one of the largest dinosaurs found in Thailand yet; it’s a large, long-necked sauropod similar to the more famous apatosaurus (also incorrectly known as a brontosaurus).
The Phuwiangosaurus’s contemporaries, and likely predators, would have been the Siamotyannus Isanesis and the Siamosaurus Suteethorni. The Siamotyannus is considered a cousin to the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was shorter, standing at about 25 feet tall, yet was the most common carnivore in the area at the time.
The Siamosaurus was similar to the spinosaurus with a long jaw allowing it to eat the fish that inhabited the swamps that covered the area at the time. Scientists speculate as to whether it had a sail or not, but they do know it was taller than the Siamotyannus, standing about 30 feet tall.
Other Cretaceous Period dinosaurs include the ceratopsian Psittacosaurus Sattayaiki, which was a little more than 6 feet tall and had a beak. This dino has also been found in Mongolia and China, making its discovery in Thailand a great expansion on its territory.
The Ginnareemimus was an ostrich-like dinosaur, standing about 17 feet tall and whose bones and footprints have been found in multiple provinces. Iguanodon, hadrosaur and pterosaur fossils have also been found, giving Thailand a wide range of Cretaceous Period species.
Triassic Period Dinosaurs
Outside of the Cretaceous Period, in the Triassic Period, fossils for the Isanosaurua Attavipachi have been found. This dinosaur is technically a sauropod and checks in at 40 feet tall, but had claws on its front feet and had the ability to stand on its two hind legs. It’s the oldest sauropod to have been found in Thailand.
From the famous Jurassic Period, allosaurus fossils were discovered in Nakhon Ratchasima in 2007.
Dinosaur Discoveries in Thailand
Dinosaur discoveries happen pretty frequently in Thailand, though not nearly as frequently as other Asian countries.
This could be contributed to the lack of trained specialists in the country (the New York Times reported that there were 10 in 2010). However, villagers have been finding bones and fossils for decades as the yearly rains wear away at river beds and rice field plowing has become more mechanized.
Public awareness has grown as well around the fact that these are important artifacts and to the existence of dinosaurs, which has allowed younger generations to notice dinosaur evidence more than previous generations.
Best Places to Learn About Dinosaurs in Thailand
If you are visiting Thailand and would like to check out some of the dinosaur stuff Isaan has to offer, there is the Korat Fossil Museum in Nakhon Ratchasima, the Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum in Khon Kaen, a dinosaur park and museum in Kalasin and a number of national parks in the region that have protected dig sites and preserved footprints.