Khao Yai National Park

Khao Yai was declared Thailand's first national park on 18 September 1962, with the naturalist Boonsong Lekagul playing a leading role in its creation. It was named an ASEAN Heritage Park in 1984.

In 2005 UNESCO inscribed the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex as a World Heritage Site. The complex links Khao Yai with Thap Lan, Pang Sida and Ta Phraya national parks and Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary across about 230 kilometres towards the Cambodian border, and is home to more than 800 animal species, including 112 mammals and 392 birds. Tigers were recorded on camera traps in the park in 2016 and 2017 for the first time since 2002. With more than a million visitors a year, the park now faces congestion at weekends, and in 2020 it made headlines by posting litter back to visitors who had left it behind.

The area around Pak Chong, outside the northern gate, has become a weekend escape for Bangkok residents, with resorts, cafés, dairy farms and vineyards spread across the hills. Pak Chong town has busy markets and a night market where visitors can eat north-eastern Thai dishes such as som tam (papaya salad), grilled chicken and sticky rice. Inside the park, rangers and local guides, many from surrounding villages, play a key role in protecting the forest and its elephants.