Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park (, , ) is a marine national park in Kui Buri District,

Prachuap Khiri Khan Province Prachuap Khiri Khan (, ) is one of the western Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It is in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, some south of Bangkok. Neighboring provinces include Phetchaburi province, Phetchabu ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. It covers 61,300 rai ~ 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.

Geography

The

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

hills are a sub-range of the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...

that arise at the shore of the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

, 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 Hua Hin (, ) is one of eight districts (''amphoe'') of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula in Thailand. Its seat of government, also named Hua Hin, is a beach resort town. The district's population was estim ...

. 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''.

Phraya Nakhon Cave

Phraya Nakhon Cave () is about from Laem Sala Beach, approximately north of park headquarters. Visitors can go to the cave by renting a boat or by walking across Tian Mountain. After that, there is a climb up the mountain about to reach Phraya Nakhon Cave. Its most famous early visitor was King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

. There is a water well at the foot of the mountain known as Phraya Nakhon Well. It is made of baked clay bricks in a trapezoidal shape. Phraya Nakhon is a large cave which has a hole in the ceiling allowing sunlight to penetrate. At the top of the hole, there is a stone bridge known as "death bridge" because many wild animals have fallen to their deaths from it. Khuha Kharuehat Pavilion () is a historic site built for King

's visit to the region in 1890. At certain times during certain months, the sun will shine directly on it. The pavilion has since become the symbol of the

. Later kings also visited the cave, including King

Vajiravudh Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and pro ...

and King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 192713 October 2016), titled Rama IX, was King of Thailand from 1946 until Death and funeral of Bhumibol Adulyadej, his death in 2016. His reign of 70 years and 126 days is the longest of any List of Thai mo ...

Klong Khao Daeng

Klong Khao Daeng is a stream running deep into mangrove forests at one end and at its mouth freshwater and seawater collide. The mangroves consist of the ''samae thalay'' (grey mangrove), ''kongkang bai lek'' (true mangrove), ''kongkang bai yai'' (red mangrove), and ''chakhram'' ( herbaceous seepweed).

Climate

The temperature in winter (between October - February) ranges from 18˚C to 25˚C. The temperature in summer (between March - May) ranges from 23˚C to 32˚C. The temperature in the monsoon season (between June - September) ranges from 20˚C to 30˚C.

Fauna

The park is home to a variety of birds, including the common kingfisher, the black-capped kingfisher, the collared kingfisher, the little heron, the little egret, and the Javan pond-heron. Wildlife found in the mangroves includes ''pla teen'' ( mudskippers), ''pu kam dab'' (fiddler crabs), ''ling samae'' (the crab-eating macaque), collared kingfisher (''nok kin pieo''), snapping shrimp (''kung deed khan''), mud creeper (''hoi khika''), and oysters (''hoi nangrom''). Rare animals in the park include the mainland serow (''Nemorhaedus sumatraensis''), dusky langurs (''Trachypithecus obscurus''), fishing cats (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') (; ), as well as many bird species. At sea,

Irrawaddy dolphin The Irrawaddy dolphin (''Orcaella brevirostris'') is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in scattered subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. It closely resembles the ...

s (''Orcaella brevirostris'') are sometimes seen.

History

Khao Sam Roi Yot was probably where King

Mongkut Mongkut (18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868. The reign of Mongkut was marked by significant modernization ini ...

hosted European guests on 18 August 1868 to observe a total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

. 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 Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, 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 The serow (, or ), is any of four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals in the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were, until recently, classified under ''Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals. Exta ...

(a goat-like mammal found regionally) found among the drawings. In October 2020, more

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

was discovered in unmapped caves in Sam Roi Yot National Park, dating back to between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago.

References

External links

ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation

Phraya Nakhon Cave – Prachuaptown (Thai)
{{authority control National parks of Thailand Ramsar sites in Thailand Protected areas established in 1966 Tenasserim Hills Geography of Prachuap Khiri Khan province Tourist attractions in Prachuap Khiri Khan province 1966 establishments in Thailand