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Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
By Joe Samui
Khao Sok National Park, Thailand While Koh Samui may be famous for its beaches, luxury villas and nightlife, take a boat ride to the mainland Surat Thani province and you will find elephants, tigers, bears, panthers, leopards , a vast array of bird life and much more, all living inside the oldest evergreen rainforest on earth, in the boundaries of Khao Sok National Park.
Located in southern Thailand, Khao Sok National Park has the highest annual average rainfall in Thailand, due in part to the tall mountains that border the park and its proximity to both the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. In total, Khao Sok National Park encompasses 739 square kilometers, 40% of which is foothills rainforest and another 27% is classified as rainforest plains. These rainforests act as a home to an amazing array of wildlife. Scientists have recorded 48 species of mammals, well over 300 species of birds, 38 species of bats and an unknown quantity of reptiles and insects. Perhaps the most talked about species is the the Thai Tiger, It is estimated that between 200 and 250 Thai Tigers still exist, and all of them call Khao Sok National Park home, as it is the only known habitat in Thailand that is capable of supporting the Tiger. Rarely seen in the park, the Tigers can be spotted by their tracks and through their distinctive scent. Hunting alone at night, each Tiger covers an area up to 20 square kilometers in its search for food, most commonly feeding on the wild pigs and barking deer found throughout the park. Black panthers, clouded leopards and spotted leopards make up the rest of the large cats to be found inside the park boundaries. The Malaysian Sunbear can be found in the rainforests here, standing up to 1.5 meters tall it is the smallest bear in the world but makes up for its lack of size with remarkable aggressiveness if it feels threatened. They possess a distinctive white crescent across the chest, a short haired black coat, long tongues for reaching larvae and honey inside beehives, and long claws for digging and tearing. Very good climbers, the bear is able to tear open a beehive in a hardwood tree cavity and also use the trees for sleeping. Bear and human interaction in the park is very limited as the bears are mostly nocturnal creatures, coming out to feed at night when the human visitors to the park have taken up residence in the bungalows floating on the lake which was created upon the completion of the Rajjaprabha Dam which closed off the Pasaeng river, which ended up creating the 165 square kilometer lake inside Khao Sok National Park.
Many westerners will be surprised to find that the largest flower in the world, Rafflesia, can be found inside the park. With no green leaves, stalk or roots, rafflesia is a parasite who’s flower is shaped as a round open basin with five leaves. This flower is known to give off an incredibly distinctive odor that can best be described as rotten meat, which it uses to attract the insects which pollinate the plant.
Just a few hours drive from Koh Samui, Khao Sok National Park is an eco-adventure that will highlight any trip to South East Asia.
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