Thread: National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

To start things off :

Huai Kah Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary.

What an amazing place with 3 species of deer wandering the camping ground. Food security is very important there as were raided by monkeys during the day and wild pigs at night. Just on twilight one evening a large wild boar trotted past within 50 meters of our tent and when it saw me reaching for a camera gave a snort and departed at speed. A Hog Deer stag would visit me at breakfast time and try to get its nose into my plate, no way this is mine go eat grass.

We took our tent and all our food and water and had planned to go and stay at the sanctuary for 3 or 4 nights and ended up staying 9, we would have stayed longer but had run out of some essential supplies. The weather was good for the whole trip with some rain when we arrived that cleared quickly and some light rain in the early morning of the day we left. The lady boss wants to turn round and go back for a month but there are some things that must be done this month so we will wait to see what the weather brings after that.

The staff there are very conscientious with strict rules as they don’t want to lose any ‘tourists’ (that was us) either in the forest or to wild animals. One of the rules is that nobody must go farther than 50 meters from a road without a staff member as a guide. As the lady puts it I am very naughty and as I have hunted all my life I am confident in my abilities in the forest so ignored that one. What they didn’t know didn’t worry them.

The only real danger there from animals are the elephants which are completely unpredictable and just as likely to attempt to stomp you as they are to run away. Everything else will run from people and that includes tigers. Yes there are tigers not very far from the camp ground, we saw tracks in the river bed less than 200 meters from our camp and the staff told us one had taken a deer behind the toilets while we were there.

Elephants are also very close as we saw fresh sign of a large elephant in the river bed, it had been there only an hour or so before us, there is also ample older sign of their leavings everywhere we went. On several occasions I got a very strong smell of elephants, one of those was when we were returning in the evening from a lookout tower, a little farther down the track a large animal jumped out of a tree and ran off, very likely a leopard. Next a Sambar deer hind ran ahead of us. At this point the lady was getting very scared and almost climbing on my back.

There are many species of animals to be seen there, we saw herds of 15 to 18 Banteng on 3 occasions all from watch towers in forest clearings, whether they were the same herd or not we couldn’t tell although the last lot I saw was about 9KM from where we saw the first just a few days before. As well as the deer in the camp ground I saw Sambar deer on 3 occasions, Eld’s deer, Feas Muntjac and a very small deer that was probably a Mouse deer.

There was a Golden Jackal that disappeared before I could get a photo, wild pigs were everywhere and were seen on most days sometimes in large groups. Two species of monkey, as well as the Macaque around the camp ground and elsewhere there was a species of Langur which was probably Pahyre’s Leaf Monkey as that has been recorded there before. Squirrels were also abundant with Giant Black Squirrel, Himayalan Striped Squirrel, Pallas’s Squirrel and several others I couldn’t get good enough photos to ID. Also a Shrew type thing on the ground and I saw rodents a couple of times.

There was a place where large cattle had been wallowing in a mud hole. They were probably Wild Water Buffalo as they are the only cattle species that would wallow.
Plenty of bird life about as well, I recorded over 40 species 8 of them new to me. They were sometimes in quite large mixed flocks with 3 or 4 species of woodpeckers, blue magpie, laughing thrush and drongo’s together. I was getting a bit picky towards the end “Ha just another Black Headed Woodpecker, Rufous Treepie or Golden Fronted Leaf bird” All birds I don’t see in many other places but common there.

Read more about the place with general and detailed information : https://www.thainationalparks.com/hu...life-sanctuary

Nice report. Thanks.

Good reading - thanks

Mae Wong National Park.

This park of about 900 square kilometers is part of the Western Forest complex and is easily accessible. Access is in two parts, in the north the most popular part for birdwatchers is from road 1117 from Klong Lan in Kamphaeng Phet province. This road goes to the park HQ where there is a camping ground and accommodation, then continues another 26 km to Chong Yen on top of the hill where there is another camping ground with basic toilets and showers but no lighting, there is solar power to the staff quarters and they will charge batteries if asked. There is also some accommodation there but it is usually booked out, a phone call to the park HQ would be needed to find out about it, I have never asked as we always take our own tent.

I prefer the other camping ground 4 km down the road from Chong Yen at Khun Nam Yen which has better toilets with lighting. Both these camping grounds can get crowded on weekends and holidays, they can also get cold at night as they are quite high up. These places are great for seeing birds that are rarely seen elsewhere and at times wild animals can be seen on the road.

The other access to the park is up the Mae Wong River which is part of the boundary between Kamphaeng Phet and Nakhon Sawan provinces, it is accessed from road 1072 and is signposted from Asia Road. I really like this part of the park as it has a good camping ground with good toilets and showers with mains power and power points, safe swimming if you have kids. There are also 2 very nice looking houses there for rent that accommodate 6 people, 2400b per night, even look to have sat TV.
This is the place where some want to build a dam and flood thousands of acres of this beautiful and valuable forest area, don’t let them do it!

There is a road running up the river for about 5 KM which is an unsealed forest road but drivable as long as nobody is coming the other way. The whole way up the river road has been logged in the past with high second growth which is easy to walk through. At the end of this road is a conservation area with several buildings, good toilets and plenty of space to camp if you want to get away from it all, we camped there and think it is a great place. There are several roads and tracks that go off the road and from this area which are easily walked. I saw fresh deer and wild pig sign along some of the tracks and many birds when I wandered around.

Cost, 30 B each to enter the park (one off, then come and go as we pleased) and 30 B for the car and 30 B per night to camp, I showed them the letter I have from immigration which I had to get for a Thai license and they accepted that as proof of residence in TL so did not get charged tourist (farang) price. If you go to both parts of the park you will have to pay entry and car price for each.

Note: For those who squealed and ranted in horror at Farang having to pay more that Thai. Of all the parks we have been to so far as long as we have shown the letter from immigration proving residence that I got for a driving license I have always paid the Thai price.

For more Info, bookings and directions see: National Park of Thailand, Online Reservation National Park of Thailand, Forest Park of Thailand, Thailand National Park, Thailand Forest Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Royal Forest Department

Good reading thanks.

Yes, good report. Did you seen any native Peacocks?

Originally Posted by palexxxx

Yes, good report. Did you seen any native Peacocks?

Yes we saw a male around the camping ground at the Mae Wong river and a female on the road up the river and another male up the river.

Also several in forest clearings at the Wildlife Sanctuary.

Refreshing to read this...

I've never been very impressed with Thai National Parks. I find most of them are highly over rated. I also resent the 2 price system for Thai's & Ferangs. I wouldn't mind if the Park was spectacular. I live in the Southwest Corner of Beautiful British Columbia, Canada. So I am surrounded by spectacular mountains, lakes & parks. I won't pay 400 ThB to view a mediocre Park.

Great thread mate..gotta google to find out how to get there...must we have a tent etc or is there other accommodation?


Oh and as for the cheap charlie canuck, he lives in a polluted environment in Trail BC .....land of heavy water for Manhattan project and smelters..Western Canada is certainly beautiful however..

Depends what you want from a national park I suppose, me I love forests birds and wildlife.

cdnski12 you have been reading far to much emotive rubbish. I know of no park that charges 400b the max I have seen anywhere is have been is 200b. As I posted I pay the Thai price of 30b when I show a copy of the letter I have from immigration to prove residence for a drivers license.

All the parks I have been to (will continue posting on others) have tents for hire as well as ground pads and sleeping bags. Also accommodation in most parks, some better than others and some more expensive than others.

Still finding my way round this site and have just found a thread on national parks in the garden section so I will continue posting on our experiences and visits to parks there.

See you there.