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Visiting a national park in Thailand is not free. The rates is 200 Baht for
tourists adults, 100 Baht for tourist kids. Thais adult 20 Baht and Thai kid 10
Baht.
Khao Phra Thaeo National Park
Phuket's last significant virgin rain forest is a designated national
park located in the northern part of the island. Spend a morning taking
a leisurely walk up by the Tonsai waterfall, or, if you want to spend the
day walking in the quiet majesty of a tropical forest, there's an eight-kilometre
trek right through the park from Bang Pae waterfall to Ton Sai. Guides
are available at the park, and for 8 kilometres definitely advisable! Much of
the forest's wildlife tends to stay out of sight, but stay still for a while and
your guide will point out the telltale sounds of all sorts of animals. If you're
lucky, you may even see some of the forest's unusual creatures. A small museum
and information centre is located near the bottom of the waterfall. To get
there, take Route 4027 east from the Heroines' Monument for about 7 km. The entrance
is clearly marked at the left. Note that all national parks in Thailand charge
foreigners a 400-Baht entrance fee.
Gibbons are among humankind's nearest relatives, and when young make
adorable pets. When mature however, they outgrow their cuteness and can become
aggressive and even inflict injury. Thailand's wild gibbon population suffers
from the poaching of baby gibbons for illegal sale as pets. This often involves
killing the fiercely protective mother gibbons, and the abandonment or killing
of matured aggressive pets.
The Gibbon
Rehabilitation project, located in the Khao Phra Thaeo National Park,
near Bang Pae Waterfall, tries to rehabilitate abandoned pet gibbons to the wild.
You'll find it fascinating, and your donation and T-shirt purchases will help
keep the project, the only one of its kind in the world, going. (Read
a review here...)
Inland Phuket
Get a glimpse of the other side of Phuket. The real people from farmers
to local business people, who live and work in the forest and on the land. The
guides at Siam
Safari Nature Tours will introduce you to the island's environment, culture
and lifestyle.
Tours are aimed at small groups or individuals, and offer
forest walking, Land Rover touring, river canoeing or rafting and elephant trekking,
with visits to rubber plantations, schools and temples.
Sirinath National
Park
Sirinath National Park covers an area of 90 square kilometres,
from an area west of Phuket International Airport all the way to the island's
northern tip, and encompassing Nai Yang,
Nai Thon and Mai
Khao beaches. The park offers basic, government-run bungalows and tents for
rent, or you can stay
in a hotel nearby.
At the northern end of the park, situated near Tah
Chatchai, is a mangrove forest with saltwater swamps supporting unique
eco-systems. A nature trail and 800m wooden walkway have been built, along with
signs indicating and explaining the various species of plants and animals. Entrance
at the northern tip of the island, near the bridge to Phang Nga.
Phuket City Parks
Khao Rang
Hill
Rang
Hill fitness park, at the top of Khao Rang off Mae Luan Rd, is a nice shady
area to go for a brisk walk or jog, or to simply sit and relax under the large,
old-growth trees. The hilltop features a bronze statue of Phraya Ratsada Nupradit
- the first Governor of Phuket.
Saphan Hin
At the south end of Phuket Rd is Saphan Hin, is a large, multi-purpose
park with fitness centres, a stadium, jogging trails, a software development centre,
restaurants and food stalls, and a mangrove walkway. A popular site for festivals
and fairs throughout the year. Muay Thai kickboxing matches in the stadium every
Friday evening. Drive to the end and see picnicking families on the pebbled shore
of Phuket Bay.
Suan Luang
King Rama IX Park, better known as Suan Luang,
on Chao Fa Rd, is a lovely green park with large trees, lotus ponds and walking
paths. Popular in the early morning with joggers and Tai Chi practitioners, and
also in the late afternoons with strolling couples and takraw players (a
game of agility where the feet are used to keep a rattan ball aloft).
Patong Parks
Loma Park
Along the beach at the north end of Patong is Loma Park, a
refreshingly quiet spot to relax in the shade. Many festival events are held here
during the year, and it's a popular park for local families to enjoy a nice afternoon.
Phuket has views that would make
a landscape painter rush out and buy an easel and brushes and the great thing
is that you don't have to trek halfway across the country to appreciate them.
Whether it's a sunset-watching spot, a 360-degree panorama of the south of the
island, a vista from the top of Phuket Town or a
glimpse of swathes of tropical lushness it's all within your grasp in minutes.
All you need is wheels. (Read more...)
It's rare to see a Thai family spend a day out on a
west coast beach if the sun is shining, so where do
they go? The answer is to Phuket's shadier east coast
beaches, the parks and the waterfalls. This is where
to really cool off and socialize, Thai-style. The three
best-known waterfalls in Phuket are Bang Pae, Ton Sai
and Kathu Waterfall. A lesser-known one is just by Ao
Yon Noi Beach, near Cape Panwa. Read
more... |