Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
walking along the road at night.
Palm Garden Lodge
( 08 9989 4470)
is in Prachin-
buri Province, just 12km from the entrance, and for the most part, its day-long
park tours
(1300B per person with four people) are the same as those offered by Pak Chong-based
companies but with three key differences: tours visit Haew Narok waterfall (June to
November, when it has water), there's the option of a night safari before leaving the park,
and Klin is one of Khao Yai's few female guides.
Our favourite is the long-running
Palm Garden Lodge
( 08 9989 4470;
www.palmgalo.com
; r 400-650B, bungalows 1200B; )
, 10km east of the park gate
in Ban Khon Kwang. Set in a quiet garden and featuring homey fan and air-con rooms,
this is a very relaxing and welcoming place.
Sights & Activities
Khao Yai has plenty of waterfalls. The beauty award, however, goes to 25m
Nam
Tok Haew Suwat
, which scooped a starring role in Danny Boyle's film
The Beach
.
It has water year-round, and you can swim in the pool at the bottom.
Most of the hotels and resorts around Khao Yai arrange
park tours
and this is
really the ideal way to visit because a good guide will show you creatures you never
would have seen on your own. The typical day-long program includes some easy
walks looking for wildlife and a visit to Haew Suwat waterfall. Bird-watching, camp-
ing, trekking and other specialty tours are also available. Greenleaf Guesthouse
(
Click here
) has long earned enthusiastic praise for their trips and a new player,
appears to have good guides, plus its tours finish at night so there's a better chance
of encountering elephants along the park road.
Sleeping
There are at least one hundred places to stay along Th Thanarat (Rte 2090), the
road leading to the park, and plenty more in the not-so-pleasant gateway city of Pak
Chong.
The best setting for sleeping is, of course, in the park itself. There are
campsites
(per person with own tent 30B, 2-6-person tents 150-400B)
and a variety of
rooms
& bungalows
( 0 2562 0760;
www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve
;
2-8 people
800-3500B)
around the park, often quite far from the visitors centre.
