Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park (, , ) is a marine national park in Kui Buri District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand. of which 13,050 rai ~ are marine areas. The park was established in 1966, and was the first coastal national park of Thailand. The park includes Thailand's largest freshwater marsh.

thumb|looking south at sam roi yot

Geography

The limestone hills are a sub-range of the Tenasserim Hills that arise at the shore of the Gulf of Thailand, with the highest elevation being Khao Krachom at . Between the hills are freshwater marshes. Several of these marshes were converted into shrimp farms, as only 22,000 rai ~ of the total 43,000 rai ~ of marshes are part of the national park. A portion, 11,000 rai ~ , of these marshes are scheduled to be declared a Ramsar site.

Two white sand beaches are in the park, Hat Laem Sala and Hat Sam Phraya. Hat Laem Sala is 17 km from park headquarters and can be reached from the village Ban Pu either by boat or by climbing up and down over a hill for nearly 30 minutes. Five uninhabited islands lie just offshore.

The park is approximately south of Hua Hin.

The origin of the name "Khao Sam Roi Yot" is undetermined. Local lore has it that it means 'mountain with 300 peaks', or the range had been an island where 300 survivors from a sinking Chinese junk sought refuge, or the range was named after a local plant called sam roi yot. Rare animals in the park include the mainland serow (Nemorhaedus sumatraensis), dusky langurs (Trachypithecus obscurus), fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) (; ),

History

Khao Sam Roi Yot was probably where King Mongkut hosted European guests on 18 August 1868 to observe a total solar eclipse. The king was interested in astronomy and had calculated the date and location of the eclipse himself. His calculations proved better—by about two seconds—than those of French astronomers, who acknowledged his accuracy. He contracted malaria, possibly during that event, and died on 1 October.

The national park was created on 28 June 1966,

with an original area of 38,300 rai ~ . It was enlarged with 23,000 rai ~ on 1 April 1982.

Archaeology

The discovery of 3,000 years old cave paintings was announced by archaeologists from the Fine Arts Office in May in 2020. Some of the depicted pictures are still visible and clear, while some paintings were damaged by limestone etching. According to archeologist Kannika Premjai, paintings describe humanlike figures with accessories on their bodies, hunting scenes with bow and arrow. Moreover, there is also an animal figure seems to be serow (a goat-like mammal found regionally) found among the drawings. In October 2020, more rock art was discovered in unmapped caves in Sam Roi Yot National Park, dating back to between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago.

Location

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|Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park in overview PARO 3 (Phetchaburi branch)

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{| class= "wikitable" style= "width:30%; display:inline-table;"

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| style="width:3%; background:#00FF00;"| 

| style="width:27%;"|National park

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|  1 ||Ao Siam

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|  2 ||Hat Wanakon

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|  3 ||Kaeng Krachan

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|  4 ||Khao Sam Roi Yot

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|  5 ||Kui Buri

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|  6 ||Namtok Huai Yang

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{| class="wikitable" style="width:33%; display:inline-table;"

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| style="width:3%; background:#FFA400;"| 

| style="width:30%;"|Wildlife sanctuary

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|  7 ||Prince Chumphon North Park (upper)

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| style="width:3%; background:#FDE910;"| 

| style="width:30%;"|Non-hunting area

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|  8 ||Cha-am

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|  9 ||Khao Chaiyarat

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|10 ||Khao Krapuk–<br>Khao Tao Mo

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{| class="wikitable" style="width:30%; display:inline-table;"

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| style="width:3%; background:#C65900;"|&nbsp;

| style="width:27%;"|Forest park

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|11 ||Cha-am

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|12 ||Huai Nam Sap

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|13 ||Khao Nang Phanthurat

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|14 ||Khao Ta Mong Lai

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|15 ||Klang Ao

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|16 ||Mae Ramphueng

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|17 ||Pran Buri

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|18 ||Thao Kosa

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See also

  • List of national parks of Thailand
  • DNP - Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park
  • List of Protected Areas Regional Offices of Thailand

References

Further reading

  • Denis Gray, Collin Piprell, Mark Graham: National Parks of Thailand. Communications Resources Ltd., Bangkok 1991,
  • ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation
  • Bangkok Post article in the land use controversies
  • thaibirding.com on Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park
  • Visit Phraya Nakhon Cave (Thai)
  • Phraya Nakhon Cave – Prachuaptown (Thai)