Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [416]
Nam Nao National Park
One of Thailand’s most beautiful and valuable nature preserves, Nam Nao National Park (0 5681 0724; admission 400B) covers nearly 1000 sq km at an average elevation of 800m, across the border of Chaiyaphum and Phetchabun Provinces, just beyond Khon Kaen Province. Although it covers remote territory (this remained a People’s Liberation Army of Thailand stronghold until the early 1980s) Hwy 12 makes access easy. Temperatures are fairly cool year-round, especially nights and mornings, and frost occasionally occurs in December and January.
Marked by the sandstone hills of the Phetchabun mountains, the park also features dense, mixed evergreen and deciduous forest on mountains and hills, open dipterocarp pine-oak forest on plateaus and hills and dense bamboo mountain forest with wild banana stands in river valleys, plus scattered savannah on the plains. Three rivers are sourced here: the Chi, Saphung and Phrom. A fair system of trails branches out from the visitor centre to several scenic viewpoints, and the park also features waterfalls and caves, some of which are easily reached by car along the highway. Nam Nao’s highest peak, Phu Pha Jit, reaches a height of 1271m. You used to be able to camp on the summit, but the trail is temporarily closed.
The 1560-sq-km Phu Khiaw Wildlife Sanctuary lies adjacent to the park, so wildlife is abundant. However, the animals here are more timid than at nearby Phu Kradung National Park, and so are spotted less often. Elephants and tigers are rarely seen but still reside here, as do Malayan sun bears, banteng (wild cattle), Asian jackals, barking deer, gibbons, pangolins and flying squirrels. Over 200 species of bird, including parrots and hornbills, fly through the forest.
There’s a variety of bungalows (0 2562 0760; www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve; bungalows 1000-5000B) that hold up to 30 people, plus a campsite (per person with own tent 30B, 2-6 person tent hire 100-300B) and some simple restaurants next to the visitor centre.
Buses between Khon Kaen (90B, 2½ hours, hourly) and Phitsanulok travel through the park. The visitor centre is a 1.5km walk from the highway.
Ban Khok Sa-Nga Cobra Village
The self-styled ‘King Cobra Village’ of Ban Khok Sa-Nga has a thing about snakes. Locals rear hundreds of the reptiles, and most families have some in boxes under their houses. The strange custom began in 1951 when a travelling herb farmer, Ken Yongla, began putting on snake shows to attract customers. His plan was a success, and the art of breeding and training snakes has been nurtured ever since. Today two groups, each calling themselves the King Cobra Club of Thailand, put on snake shows (donations expected; 8am-5pm) where handlers taunt snakes and tempt fate; they often lose, as the many missing fingers show. One group is set up at Wat Si Thamma and the other is just before it along the main road. Medicinal herbs are still sold and other animals are on display in pitiful cages.
The village is 50km northeast of Khon Kaen via Hwy 2 and Rte 2039. Take a Kra Nuan bus from Khon Kaen’s ordinary bus terminal to the turn-off for Ban Khok Sa-Nga (ordinary/2nd class 28/35B, one hour, every half-hour) and then a túk-túk (20B per person) for the remaining 2km. If you’re driving from Khon Kaen, you can’t miss it as there are many signs.
UDON THANI PROVINCE
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UDON THANI
pop 227,200
Udon Thani has one foot on the highway and the other off the beaten track. The city boomed on the back of the Vietnam War as US air bases were established nearby. Today it’s become the region’s primary transport hub and commercial centre, and you have to dig deep behind its prosperous concrete veneer to find any flashes of its past. Because it lacks the urban chutzpah of Khon Kaen and the touristy appeal of Nong Khai, which is an equally convenient base for visiting the wonderful surrounding attractions, Udon sees relatively few foreign travellers other than a large number of sex tourists.
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