Best National Parks in Thailand
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Best National Parks in Thailand, Ranked
Here is the list of 17 Best National Parks in Thailand
1. Khao Yai National Park
Known For : Trekking/Hiking Wildlife Wineries
Thailand's first national park, gazetted in 1962 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage forest, and the most reliable place near Bangkok to see large wild animals. Grassland and salt licks bring out elephants, gaur, sambar and gibbons, and bats pour out of Khao Luk Chang cave at dusk. Haew Narok, the park's tallest waterfall, is a short walk from the road. A guided night drive is where most sightings happen. How to Reach: About 3 hours by road from Bangkok, or the train to Pak Chong. Best Time to Visit: November to February
Best Time: November to April
2. Doi Inthanon National Park
Doi Inthanon holds the highest point in Thailand at 2,565 metres, and the summit is cloud forest: moss, tree ferns and cold enough for a jacket year round. The Ang Ka boardwalk loops through sphagnum bog at the top, and the twin chedis built for the King and Queen sit just below, with gardens looking down the range. Kew Mae Pan, a ridge trail walked with a Karen guide, is open November to May. How to Reach: 70 km southwest of Chiang Mai, about 90 minutes via Chom Thong. Best Time to Visit: November to February, with cherry blossom in January
3. Khao Sok National Park
Khao Sok is rainforest over limestone in Surat Thani, gazetted in 1980, and most people come for Cheow Lan Lake rather than the trails. The lake was flooded behind the Ratchaprapha Dam in 1982, leaving limestone towers standing in open water, and the raft houses moored along the shore are the reason to stay overnight. On land there are river trails, caves and the Rafflesia kerrii, one of the world's largest flowers, in bloom from January to March. How to Reach: About 2 hours by road from Surat Thani. Best Time to Visit: December to April
4. Mu Ko Similan National Park
Eleven granite islands in the Andaman Sea, gazetted in 1982, and the best known diving in Thailand. The west sides drop into boulder fields with swim-throughs; the east sides shelve into shallow hard-coral gardens better suited to snorkelling. Manta rays and whale sharks pass through, most often February to April. There is no hotel development, so visitors come on day boats or sleep aboard a liveaboard. How to Reach: Speedboats leave Thap Lamu pier near Khao Lak, about 90 minutes each way. Best Time to Visit: Mid-October to mid-May, when the park is open
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4 Nights / 5 Days Thailand Getaway with flights
Krabi (2N) → Phuket (2N)
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5. Erawan National Park
Erawan Falls climbs seven tiers through limestone forest, each ending in a green pool, and a marked trail follows the whole run. The first two levels are paved and easy; the top three need scrambling over wet rock. Away from the water the park is deciduous forest and caves, Phra That and Ta Duang among them, with stalactites and prehistoric rock paintings. Go early, because coaches from Kanchanaburi arrive mid-morning. How to Reach: 65 km northwest of Kanchanaburi, about 90 minutes, with buses to the gate. Best Time to Visit: November to February
6. Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park
Forty-two limestone islands scattered across the Gulf between Samui and the mainland, gazetted in 1980 and visited almost entirely on day trips. Two stops carry the day: Talay Nai on Ko Mae Ko, a green saltwater lagoon inside a collapsed crater reached by a staircase cut into the rock, and the viewpoint climb on Ko Wua Talap. The rest is snorkelling and kayaking between the stacks. How to Reach: Day boats run from Na Thon and Bophut on Koh Samui, about 90 minutes. Best Time to Visit: February to April
7. Mu Ko Lanta National Park
The park takes in the southern tip of Ko Lanta Yai plus Ko Lanta Noi and smaller islands off Krabi, gazetted in 1990. Its headquarters at Laem Tanod has a lighthouse on the cape, a beach either side and a short forest loop where the macaques are a nuisance rather than a novelty. The reef worth travelling for lies further out at Ko Rok and Ko Haa, both closed through the monsoon. How to Reach: Ko Lanta Yai is 2 hours from Krabi by road and car ferry. Best Time to Visit: November to April
8. Ao Phang Nga National Park
Ao Phang Nga protects the mangrove forest and limestone karst of Phang Nga Bay, and the mangroves are what make it unusual: one of Thailand's largest remaining stands, threaded by tidal channels you can paddle at high water. Rangers run boat trips from the headquarters at Tha Dan, and the stilted Muslim village of Ko Panyi out in the bay is a working settlement. How to Reach: The headquarters is 8 km south of Phang Nga town, about 1 hour 45 minutes from Phuket. Best Time to Visit: November to April
9. Kaeng Krachan National Park
Kaeng Krachan is the largest national park in Thailand, running along the Tenasserim range on the Myanmar border, and it is first of all a birding destination: more than 400 recorded species, with Ban Krang campsite and the ridge road to Panoen Thung as the two bases. That road is one-way, timed, and climbs into cloud most mornings. You need your own vehicle, as there is no transport inside the park. How to Reach: The gate is 60 km southwest of Phetchaburi, about 90 minutes from Hua Hin. Best Time to Visit: November to April
10. Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park
The name means three hundred peaks, and the park is a run of limestone hills dropping straight to the Gulf south of Hua Hin. Its set piece is Phraya Nakhon cave, where the roof has collapsed and late-morning light falls on a royal pavilion built for King Chulalongkorn in 1890. Behind the hills lies the largest freshwater marsh in Thailand, with boardwalks for waterbirds. How to Reach: 40 km south of Hua Hin; the cave is a boat ride from Bang Pu or a steep 20-minute climb. Best Time to Visit: November to March
11. Doi Suthep-Pui National Park
The park covers the mountain immediately west of Chiang Mai, which makes it one of the most visited in Thailand. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep sits on the ridge at the top of a 300-step naga staircase, and most visitors go no further. Above it are the Bhubing Palace gardens, the Hmong village at Doi Pui and the Monthathon waterfall, and old logging tracks have become some of the best mountain biking in the north. How to Reach: 15 km from the old city, 30 minutes by road. Best Time to Visit: November to February
12. Kui Buri National Park
Kui Buri is the most dependable place in Thailand to see wild elephants, and that is essentially why people come. Rangers run truck trips in the late afternoon from the Huai Luek watching area, where old pineapple clearings draw herds out of the forest to feed. Gaur are seen regularly too, and sightings of both are common though never guaranteed. Trips are booked at the checkpoint, so arrive by early afternoon. How to Reach: The Huai Luek checkpoint is 60 km west of Prachuap Khiri Khan town. Best Time to Visit: November to April
13. Tarutao National Marine Park
Tarutao was the first marine national park in Thailand, gazetted in 1974, and covers 51 islands off Satun near the Malaysian border. Ko Tarutao itself is jungle and empty beach with park bungalows and a hard history, having held a penal colony in the 1930s and 40s whose ruins still stand. Ko Adang and Ko Rawi have the reef, while Ko Lipe, inside the park but privately developed, has the guesthouses. How to Reach: Ferries run from Pak Bara pier in Satun, 2 hours by road from Hat Yai. Best Time to Visit: Mid-October to mid-May
14. Mae Wong National Park
Mae Wong sits in the Western Forest Complex on the Dawna range, and birdwatchers make up most of who goes. The draw is the Chong Yen ridge, reached by 28 km of steep road above the headquarters, where mixed flocks move through at dawn and rufous-necked hornbill is the species people travel for. Below that the park is dense forest holding tigers and elephants that almost nobody sees. How to Reach: The headquarters is 60 km west of Kamphaeng Phet town; Chong Yen needs a high-clearance vehicle. Best Time to Visit: November to February
15. Huai Yang Waterfall National Park
A small park in the Tenasserim foothills behind Thap Sakae, close enough to the Myanmar border that the ridge above it is the frontier. The Huai Yang waterfall drops in seven tiers through evergreen forest, with a short paved trail to the lower pools and a rougher path to the upper ones. Serow, gibbons and wild boar live in the forest, though the falls are the reason to come. How to Reach: 30 km northwest of Thap Sakae off Highway 4, about an hour from Prachuap Khiri Khan. Best Time to Visit: August to November
16. Chet Sao Noi Waterfall National Park
A small park in Saraburi built around a waterfall that steps down the Muak Lek stream in seven low tiers, each dropping into a pool shallow enough to sit in. It is a Thai weekend picnic spot rather than a tourist sight: food stalls at the entrance, families in the water, very few foreign visitors. Small enough to see in two hours, which is why most people fold it into a Khao Yai trip. How to Reach: About 2.5 hours from Bangkok on the Mittraphap highway. Best Time to Visit: July to November, when the falls run full
17. Phang Nga Bay
The bay that Ao Phang Nga National Park protects, and the reason most people come to this coast: limestone towers standing straight out of shallow green water between the mainland and Phuket. Ko Tapu and Khao Phing Kan draw the sightseeing boats, but the hongs are the better experience, cave lagoons open to the sky that can be entered only by kayak and only at the right tide. Ask about tide times before booking. How to Reach: Longtail tours leave Tha Dan pier in Phang Nga town. Best Time to Visit: November to April
Thailand has more than 100 national parks, and they divide into two groups that run on opposite calendars. The inland parks of the north and west, Doi Inthanon and Khao Yai among them, are mountain and forest country, best walked from November to February when the air is dry and cool. The marine parks of the Andaman coast, Mu Ko Similan and Tarutao included, shut for the southwest monsoon and open from mid-October to mid-May. For the coast itself see beaches in Thailand, and for the falls inside these parks see waterfalls in Thailand.
This post was published by Vrinda Movva
