Discover
Discover
The forest complex runs about 230 kilometres from Khao Yai National Park in the west to Ta Phraya National Park on the Cambodian border in the east. UNESCO records more than 800 animal species here, including 112 mammals, 392 birds and two species of gibbon.
History
History
Khao Yai was Thailand's first national park, established in 1962. Dong Phayayen was once called Dong Phaya Fai, a forest so dense and dangerous that travellers struggled to cross it, before it was renamed. It has always been both a natural frontier and a place people had to learn to live alongside.
People & Culture
People & Culture
The forest feeds the rivers that farms and communities depend on, while facing pressure from roads, resorts and the illegal logging of Siamese rosewood, which UNESCO has followed closely. For us, it is natural heritage close enough to cities that it negotiates with development every day.
Living Heritage
Living Heritage
Today Khao Yai is an outdoor classroom for city dwellers: birdwatching, wildlife spotting, learning about wild elephants that cross the road. Building safe wildlife corridors across the landscape is one of the key tasks for people and forest to share the land.
Explore Further