Background statement from Prof. Dr. Pilai Poonswad
The Thailand Hornbill Project was initiated after I spent a brief spell in 1978 acting as a guide to a BBC film crew in Khao Yai National Park where they were making documentary film entitled “Fig Feast at Khao Yai”.
The film was based on a scientific article by my early mentor, Dr. H. Elliott McClure and was featured as one part in the BBC series “Safari to Thailand. The producer, Jeffery Boswall, asked me to find a hornbill roost, a fruiting fig tree and, if possible, a hornbill’s nest.
I spent about a week searching for a roost without success. At that time I was very ignorant about hornbills and did not know that in January, the time of year that it was, hornbills would have already dispersed from flocking.