ASEAN Protected Areas

Khao Yai National Park

ASEAN Heritage Park & World Heritage Site, Thailand

Location

Khao Yai National Park is Thailand’s second largest, covering 2,168 sq km, encompassing 11 districts and 4 provinces; Sara Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Prachin Buri, and Nakhon Nayok. It was Thailand’s first National Park, and was established on Sept 18, 1962.

Habitats

The park contains a wide range of tropical moist evergreen forest types, seven main vegetation habitats can be identified: dry evergreen forest (Hopea, Dipterocarpus and tall clumps of bamboo), dry deciduous forest (affected by regular fires, with grassy undercover and dominated by fire tolerant dipterocarp species, Lagerstroemia, Afzelia and Xylia), tropical moist evergreen forest (tallest and richest formation in the park with many genera and covering about 70% total area), forest on limestone (somewhat stunted and less diverse forests on limestone outcrops) and hill evergreen forest (above 1000 m and up to a maximum of 1,351 m, dominated by Lithocarpus and Castanopsis). There are also some artificially maintained (by burning) grasslands on formerly farmed and cleared lands, which are very important for several grazing mammals. Some secondary scrub is found at the park margins.

In addition, the caves and streams provide different habitat types of special importance to amphibia, some reptiles and a number of fish and other aquatic forms.

Wildlife

Tigers, elephants, sunbear, white-handed and pileated gibbons, wild boars, sambar deer, barking deer, lesser mousedeer and clouded leopards are just a few of the dozens of species of mammals inhabiting the lush tropical rainforests of Khao Yai. The calls of gibbons fill the early morning and many deer, pigs and pigtailed macaques are very tame and approachable by visitors. Elephants can be seen at the salt licks and are often met on the roads at night. A roost of over one million bats is one of the local features of the park.

More than 300 species of birds are recorded at Khao Yai. Four species of hornbill including large flocks of wreatherd hornbill, Siamese fireback pheasant, red jungle fowl, silver pheasant, blue pitta and eared pitta live on the forest floor. So many other species of barbets, bee-eaters, kingfishers, drongos, babblers, flycatchers and other typical tropical forest birds can be seen here.

High diversity also characterises the reptiles and amphibians of the park. 2000 to 3000 species of plants occur in the park.

Other interests

This park is the source of five important waterways: the Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, Lamtacong, Lamtaplung, and Hui Muak Lek Rivers.

Khao Yai is renowned for the height and profusion of its waterfalls, where the swollen tropical rivers surge over unexpected precipices; one of the most enthralling to watch is the 80 m cascade at Haew Narok. Golf resorts are available close to the national park.

Visiting

Very large numbers of visitors come to Khao Yai reaching 700,000 a year by 1990. The Khao Yai National Park is located roughly 200 km northeast of Bangkok and is easily accessible by bus, train, and automobile. By car, drive along the Friendship Highway 2, through Saraburi and Pak Chong, to the Thanarat Road. About 40 km down this road is the park entrance gate.

From airport, see train schedule north eastern route to Pak Chong or see bus schedule to Pak Chong. From Pak Chong, you can take minibus at the bus station to Park gate and resort along Thanarat road.

There are 3 types of accommodation for tourists who want to stay overnight at Khao Yai: Lodging houses, Tourist house (Youth Camp) near the Visitor Centre, or Orchid Camping site about 9 km from Tourists Center (Headquarters). This area is called Pa Kuay Mai waterfall.

There is an excellent visitor center at the park headquarters which explains much interesting information to tourists.

There are also many good places to stay in Pak Chong which is not far from the national park. Khao Yai is located 400 m and higher above sea level, making it cooler and more pleasant than the hot, humid lowlands in Central Thailand. The dry season that lasts from November to February, when most people tend to visit, has temperatures that can fall as low as 4°C to 6°C. The cool weather and clear skies make this the favourite season for hiking and birdwatching. But you are recommended to take some warm clothing with you when you go. The hot season in Khao Yai is between March and April, followed by the May to October rainy season. The park is open during the rainy season, but travelling on foot is rather difficult, and you should take heavy raingear and leech medicine.

Conservation Programmes

The National Parks Division maintains a programme of conservation, law enforcement, tourist management and research.

Long-term research on gibbons and a largescale botanical plot are undertaken by Mahidol University. A project of Wildlife Fund of Thailand has been working with villages along the northern park border, encouraging the establishment of small village forests to take pressure off collection and hunting inside the park.

Threats

The park faces constant pressure from the high density of surrounding human population, including illegal extraction of forest products, forest fire, hunting of wildlife and poisoning of tigers that are seen as a threat to domestic stock.

High levels of visitor use also pose some management problems and could become a threat if not kept within limits. The past encroachment into the park area of golf courses has been brought under control.