Why this ride
It goes by way of Thap Lan National Park, Pang Sida National Park, Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary and Ta Phraya National Park. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex and Ta Phraya National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 297 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 07
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex
Thailand's first national park lies just a couple of hours from Bangkok, and it still has wild elephants walking down its roads. Khao Yai, established in 1962, covers a large area of forested hills on the southern edge of the Khorat plateau, and together with neighbouring protected areas, it forms the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, listed by UNESCO in 2005. The forests here are a mix of evergreen and deciduous, grasslands and streams, home to elephants, gibbons, hornbills, deer, and a small number of tigers.
Read the complete Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex is where the day begins. Next is Thap Lan National Park.
2. Thap Lan National Park
If Thailand has a forest that deserves the word primeval, it may well be around Thap Lan. The park lies in the south-east of the Khorat plateau, between the Sankamphaeng range and the lowlands, and it is one of the pieces of the Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai forest complex that UNESCO listed in 2005. The name is said to come from a type of palm that grows in the area, and the park is known for its rich lowland rainforest, rare in a country where so much has been cleared for farming.
Read the complete Thap Lan National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Thap Lan National Park comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pang Sida National Park.
3. Pang Sida National Park
Pang Sida is the eastern end of the great forest belt that stretches across north-eastern Thailand from Khao Yai to the Cambodian border, a block of jungle, waterfalls and rolling hills in Sa Kaeo province. Together with Khao Yai, Thap Lan, Ta Phraya and a wildlife sanctuary, it makes up the Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai Forest Complex, a World Heritage site that protects some of the best remaining monsoon forest in mainland South-east Asia.
Read the complete Pang Sida National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Pang Sida National Park. Next is Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary.
4. Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary
Near the Cambodian border, the forests of eastern Thailand are some of the wildest in the country, and Dong Yai is part of a great chain of them. The Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai forest complex, which UNESCO listed in 2005, covers about six thousand square kilometres of hills and valleys stretching from Khao Yai National Park to the Cambodian frontier. Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the five protected areas in the complex, together with Ta Phraya, Thap Lan and Pang Sida National Parks, and it forms a corridor for animals that need space.
Read the complete Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary, about halfway. Next is Ta Phraya National Park.
5. Ta Phraya National Park
Ta Phraya is a protected forest on the Thai side of the Cambodian border, and it forms part of one of the great wildlife refuges of Southeast Asia, the Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai Forest Complex, which UNESCO listed in 2005. The complex stretches over hills and plains in several provinces, and it holds one of the largest remaining populations of Asian elephants in the country, as well as gaur, sambar, tigers in small numbers, gibbons and four species of hornbill. At dusk the great hornbills fly across the clearings with a rushing, wing-beating sound that carries a long way.
Read the complete Ta Phraya National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ta Phraya National Park sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary.
6. back through Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary comes up about 193 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Pang Sida National Park.
7. back through Pang Sida National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pang Sida National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 256 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Pang Sida National Park. Next is back through Thap Lan National Park.
8. back through Thap Lan National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thap Lan National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Thap Lan National Park, late in the day. Next is Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex.
9. Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 297 km.
Leg by leg
Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex to Thap Lan National Park
Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex → Thap Lan National Park is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thap Lan National Park to Pang Sida National Park
Thap Lan National Park → Pang Sida National Park is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pang Sida National Park to Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary
Pang Sida National Park → Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary to Ta Phraya National Park
Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary → Ta Phraya National Park is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ta Phraya National Park to back through Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary
Ta Phraya National Park → back through Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary to back through Pang Sida National Park
back through Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary → back through Pang Sida National Park is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pang Sida National Park to back through Thap Lan National Park
back through Pang Sida National Park → back through Thap Lan National Park is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Thap Lan National Park to Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex
back through Thap Lan National Park → Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.