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TonyT's 10th Thailand blog:
6 weeks in and around the country:
July - August 2026.
Page 12
KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK & MUAK LEK, SARABURI.
TUESDAY 18th:
Drove the 140km to the gates of the Khao Yai National Park. Here you have to pay to enter the park which is huge at 2206 sq/km and covering four provinces. Very mountainous in parts; Khao Rom is the highest mountain in Khao Yai National Park with an elevation of 1,351 m (4,432 ft).
Distinct signs of elephants along parts of the road in the evidence of their droppings and crushed vegetation at the sides of the road. It wasn't our day though as not a single pachyderm was seen.
Khao Yai National Park was the first national park in Thailand covering almost 2,206 square kilometers. The area is a key watershed for many rivers and has massive biodiversity. It is a habitat for over 350 important rare and endangered species.
Khao Yai National Park is home to the Asian elephant, gibbons, pig-tailed macaque, muntjacs and sambar deer.
Other large animals include barking deer, porcupine, and civet. Other species that can occasionally be seen include sun bear, Asian black bear, gaur, otter, dhole and golden jackal.
In early 2017, it was announced that 18 tigers, including five males, seven female and six cubs, were filmed by surveillance cameras. The last time that tigers were seen by them was in 2002
TUESDAY 18th (continued):
Very twisty road with some sharp bends and undulating too.
We stopped off at a track leading to the Heo Narok Waterfall. The track was quite long from the carpark with typical rainforest humidity; yes, I was sweating profusely... again!
We didn't bother walking down the very steep steps to the base of the waterfall; it seemed that bit too far in the heat.
carying on we ended up at the highest viewpoint and stayed a while. Sadly, visibility wasn't great so no decent photos to offer.
It appears to be a bit of a tradition (no idea why) to eat a Thai omelette at the viewpoint at 4233 ft. So we orderd and ate one each with rice... tasty.
There's a road barrier at this point and only vehicles with places to stay are normally allowed through. The road's a dead-end a few miles beyond anyway so we u-turned and descended back around the hair-pins driving through lush forest with great views.
Eventually, we came out of the far entrance/exit and on to our next accommodation at the Mela Garden Cottage Retreat situated at Lam Phraya Klang, Muaklek, Saraburi
Arrived at the resort mid afternoon and we were surprised how remote, quiet and serene the place was. In fact we were the only guests in the 22-villa complex. Out of high season and the onset of the monsoon season had a lot to do with that.
The resort was in a lovely setting surrounded by lush green wooded hills. Absolutely spacious and well designed in an almost Italian way with a large swimming pool.
The rooms are spacious with very high ceilings and well appointed.
The resort's restaurant's menu was very limited but what we ate was delicious.
WEDNESDAY 19th:
I woke up and on looking out of the window I thought I was back in North Wales, UK. The lush wooded hills were shrouded in mist and the sky overcast in grey; the temperature too was a comfortable 23°C. This is down to being over 3000km up.
After breakfast we drove back into Pak Chong where there was a Go-kart circuit at Speedkarting Nong Nam Daeng,
and we thought we'd give young Jack a treat.
The circuit was quiet and I bought tickets for a number of circuits for both Jack and Aom.
Jack, after a bit of practice was surprisingly good. Aom, however, who I thought would be into this crashed on her second circuit. No damage to her but one of her good trainers was holed... amateur ;-)
THURSDAY 20th:
A dossing day. Heavy rain at times but clearer later. Only significant thing of the day was driving 20 minutes to a noodle restaurant. A restaurant in this remote area was not easy to find.
Checking out time in the morning. Next stop back in our house in Surin
TOP LEFT: Typical landscape in the Khao Yai park.
TOP RIGHT: The author and his wife at 4000mts.
BOTTOM LEFT: The Thai omelettes & rice served at the top.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Elephants; a herd of them. (note I did not take this photo)
Khao Yai National Park is home to the Asian elephant, gibbons, pig-tailed macaque, muntjacs and sambar deer.
Other large animals include barking deer, porcupine, and civet. Other species that can occasionally be seen include sun bear, Asian black bear, gaur, otter, dhole and golden jackal.
In early 2017, it was announced that 18 tigers, including five males, seven female and six cubs, were filmed by surveillance cameras. The last time that tigers were seen by them was in 2002
Very twisty road with some sharp bends and undulating too.
We stopped off at a track leading to the Heo Narok Waterfall. The track was quite long from the carpark with typical rainforest humidity; yes, I was sweating profusely... again!
We didn't bother walking down the very steep steps to the base of the waterfall; it seemed that bit too far in the heat.
carying on we ended up at the highest viewpoint and stayed a while. Sadly, visibility wasn't great so no decent photos to offer.
It appears to be a bit of a tradition (no idea why) to eat a Thai omelette at the viewpoint at 4233 ft. So we orderd and ate one each with rice... tasty.
There's a road barrier at this point and only vehicles with places to stay are normally allowed through. The road's a dead-end a few miles beyond anyway so we u-turned and descended back around the hair-pins driving through lush forest with great views.
Eventually, we came out of the far entrance/exit and on to our next accommodation at the Mela Garden Cottage Retreat situated at Lam Phraya Klang, Muaklek, Saraburi
Arrived at the resort mid afternoon and we were surprised how remote, quiet and serene the place was. In fact we were the only guests in the 22-villa complex. Out of high season and the onset of the monsoon season had a lot to do with that.
The resort was in a lovely setting surrounded by lush green wooded hills. Absolutely spacious and well designed in an almost Italian way with a large swimming pool.
The rooms are spacious with very high ceilings and well appointed.
The resort's restaurant's menu was very limited but what we ate was delicious.
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WEDNESDAY 19th:
I woke up and on looking out of the window I thought I was back in North Wales, UK. The lush wooded hills were shrouded in mist and the sky overcast in grey; the temperature too was a comfortable 23°C. This is down to being over 3000km up.
After breakfast we drove back into Pak Chong where there was a Go-kart circuit at Speedkarting Nong Nam Daeng,
and we thought we'd give young Jack a treat.
The circuit was quiet and I bought tickets for a number of circuits for both Jack and Aom.
Jack, after a bit of practice was surprisingly good. Aom, however, who I thought would be into this crashed on her second circuit. No damage to her but one of her good trainers was holed... amateur ;-)
THURSDAY 20th:
A dossing day. Heavy rain at times but clearer later. Only significant thing of the day was driving 20 minutes to a noodle restaurant. A restaurant in this remote area was not easy to find.
Checking out time in the morning. Next stop back in our house in Surin
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TOP LEFT: Typical landscape in the Khao Yai park.
TOP RIGHT: The author and his wife at 4000mts.
BOTTOM LEFT: The Thai omelettes & rice served at the top.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Elephants; a herd of them. (note I did not take this photo)