Khao Yai National Park, National park in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand
Khao Yai is a nature reserve in Nakhon Ratchasima Province and three other provinces of Thailand, covering rainforest and open grassland across different altitudes. The landscape ranges from dense forest with high canopies to meadows spreading across gentle hills, cut through by rivers and several waterfalls.
The zone was established in 1962 as the country's first protected area after the government decided to end earlier agricultural uses. Villages had farmed the land since the 1920s before the state chose to return it to natural vegetation.
The park is named after the former tambon Khao Yai, a sub-district abolished in the 1930s. A shrine to the guardian spirit of Chao Pho Khao Yai, a local official who died of malaria after suppressing bandits, stands in the park and is still revered by visitors.
Thanarat Road, built on the order of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, was the only road into Khao Yai before 1982; the Prachinburi–Khao Yai road opened that year and is shorter and less steep from Bangkok. The cool season from November to February brings clear skies, daytime averages of 22 °C and nights near 10 °C, making it the best time for hiking. In the rainy season from May to October streams run at peak flow.
The reserve holds the largest population of hornbills in all of Thailand, often seen flying in groups through the treetops. More than 3000 plant species grow here, from low ferns on the forest floor to tall trees forming the canopy.
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