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Kaeng Krachan NP, Khao Yai NP, Bangkok


9.8: Munich -> Bangkok
10.8: Bangkok -> Kaeng Krachan national park
11.8: Kaeng Krachan national park
12.8: Kaeng Krachan national park
13.8: Kaeng Krachan national park
14.8: Kaeng Krachan -> Pak Chong
15.8: Khao Yai national park
16.8: Khao Yai national park
17.8: Pak Chong -> Bangkok
18.8: Bangkok

Planning and overall impression

     provided accomodation and tour guides.
Guides are essential in a national park, because these people are able to find animals in the densest forests and know the places to visit.
The Kaeng Krachan national park looked more promising due to its more remote location at the border to Myanmar. Khao Yai instead looked like a less promising place, due to the high number of tourists visiting the place.
In the end I was able to see and photograph a lot of interesting wildlife both in Kaeng Krachan and Khao Yai. Khao Yai turned out to be much nicer than I had originally thought.
I had an extra day in Bangkok at the end of the trip because the morning flight to Changdu was sold out on August 18th.

Costs

The costs were quite reasonable, for instance a taxi trip of 213km for 2372 THB (62 Euro), or 2800 TBH for a full day trip to the forest with car and guide. The Baan Maka lodge charged a fee of 2800 THB for a full day trip with  car and driver to the national park.In Khao Yai a day trip to the national park in a small group cost 1600 THB, which included the transportation, the guide, meals and drinks and the THB 400 entrance fee.

Food

In Kaeng Krachan I relied on the restaurant of the Baan Maka nature lodge (no other restaurants nearby), which provided good and inexpensive Thai food. In Pak Chong I ate in the restaurant of a nearby hotel. Both places were a bit remote, so there wasnt a big choice of restaurants. Bangkok had countless restaurants and places where to eat.

Accommodation

There are many accomodation options near the national parks I visited. The places I chose were recommended in a travel forum and offered tours and transportation into the national park. Baan Maka is quite a good place where to stay in order to visit the Kaeng Krachan national park. Regarding Khao Yai, in theory it is possible to stay inside the park, but the problem is that there is no way to book a room in advance (apparently it's only possible in a national parks office in Bangkok), and in addition you need transportation inside the national park (the NP doesn't provide it). So it's best to choose a place which also offers tours into the national park.

Money  / Exchange rate (August 2024)

1 Euro = 38 Baht

Mobile phones and prepaid cards

At the airport in Bangkok I bought an 8-day SIM card from AIS with 15GB of data for 299 Baht (5 days/ 30 GB is 599 THB).This  8-day SIM card continued to be usable on the 9th day.

Internet access

Most hotels offer WLAN access in their rooms, with variable speed. When too slow I used the smartphone as a mobile hotspot.

Weather

Despite the (almost) rainy season, the weather was surprisingly stable. I was expecting rainy days, but actually it rained very little

Health / Vaccinations

For this trip I didn't bother refreshing vaccinations, and relied on previous immunisations. But generally speaking, for a trip to Thailand you need the usual set of vaccinations.

VISA / Entry requirements

60 days visa-free stay for EU nationals and nationals of other developed countries.

Security

No security issues whatsoever.

Getting around

For this trip I mainly used taxis to get from one place to the next (Bangkok to Kaeng Krachan and Kaeng Krachan to Khao Yai, because both national parks are about three hours by car from Bangkok and using buses would have taken too much time. From Pak Chong (Khao Yai) I took a bus to Bangkok, because I had plenty of time and there was a direct bus.




9.8: Munich -> Bangkok
Night spent on the plane
Weather: around 23°C in Munich when I leave, no rain.

We leave home around 6:20pm, then take a bus and a train to the airport. The S8 train is cancelled today, so we take the (longer) S1 train. We reach the airport around 7:40pm, then proceed to the check-in.

The Lufthansa check-in is fully automated. It rejects my luggage, because it weighs 24.4 Kg (max 23 allowed, I have to take out the tripod, then it's 23.8kg and it accepts it). I'm boarding group 6 (the last to board the plane), even if I paid quite a lot for this ticket.

I have some food in a McDonalds restaurant, then proceed to the gate. A350-900 plane of Lufthansa, small delay of 23 minutes (it takes off at 22:43 instead of 22:20).

The Russian airspace is blocked for Lufthansa, so the route is a bit more to the south than the ideal one (we cross the Caspian sea south of the Caucasus mountain range).




10.8: Bangkok -> Kaeng Krachan national park
Baan Maka Nature lodge, south of the NP. 1600 Baht for a chalet with bathroom+shower, A/C, hard beds, table + chair, but not much furniture. This place has a restaurant and offers trips into the NP. Only cold showers. Inexpensive food in the restaurant - I spend only 775 THB over four days for eating and drinks.
Weather: hot and relatively dry in Bangkok (31°C when I leave the airport terminal). Some short rain burst along the way to the hotel. Not so hot in the evening near the Kaeng Krachan national park.

We land around 2pm local time in Bangkok airport. Getting through passport control doesn't take much time, but then the luggage takes a lot of time.

While waiting for the luggage I get some cash from an ATM (200 THB fee for a 10000 THB withdrawal, if you don't accept the worse exchange rate suggested by the ATM). I also buy an 8-day SIM card from AIS with 15GB of data for 299 Baht (5 days/ 30 GB is 599 THB).

Then I get out of the terminal and call a Grab car to the hotel in Kaeng Krachan. The cost is 2372 THB + toll fees for 213km. It takes a few minutes of waiting until somebody accepts, but then this person needs 40 minutes to arrive due to the traffic jam. We finally leave the airport shortly after 4pm.

it's 213km, but the trip (inclusive of a short stop along the way) takes almost four hours. We arrive in the hotel shortly before 8pm.

There I check in, have a dinner and check the NP visit options. Looks like I'll take a full day trip (10am-5pm) with a guide for 2800 THB.




11.8: Kaeng Krachan national park
Baan Maka Nature lodge. Today they tell me that I should pay the bill in cash. Credit card might be possible by email(?).
Weather: sunny, blue sky with some clouds, tropically hot, no rain the whole day. 31°C according to the forecast.

I oversleep and wake up at 10:30am. I rush to get ready, take a shower and have an early lunch after 11am. By about 11:30am I'm in the car with the driver.

We first drive to the Ban Krang campsite (park entrance ticket 330 THB) arriving around 12:20pm. Then the driver drives a bit further and parks the car somewhere along the road in the forest.

Lots of cars today and lots of people here, perhaps because today is Sunday. I'm initially not terribly impressed by the place, because there is not so much primary rainforest and I don't see so much wildlife. It's not an area deep in the forest with tall, majestic trees - it's a busy place with many people and cars.

Essentially we'll spend the day walking up and down that road until a dam. In principle there are also some trails into the forest, but they are relatively short.

However, there is quite some biodiversity here. Not so many birds (I only manage to get good pictures of a yellow bird and a hornbill), and I don't see amphibians, reptiles and no large mammals such as elephants, gaur, leopards etc. But we end up seeing giant squirrels, lots of gibbons and some other type of monkey.

It could be that today because it is Sunday and there are many people the wildlife is a bit hiding.

By the way, lots of butterflies on the street. They are in large groups, often on the ground, as if they were drinking the water. Very colourful and photogenic.

We are back to the Baan Maka lodge after 6pm. I have a quick dinner and then do the night walk from 7pm to 9pm. Initially we just see insects and some small frog, but then we see lots of tarantulas, an owl, a giant squirrel and some other large mammal in the trees.





12.8: Kaeng Krachan national park
Baan Maka Nature lodge.
Weather: a mix of sunny and slightly overcast; hot around noon when the sun is shining, more fresh in the afternoon when the sky is overcast. No rain.

I'm woken up at 8:38am by the cleaning lady who knocks at the door and then comes in. Should have used the 'Do not disturb' sign.

At 9:20am I get up and take a shower. Around 10:30am I take a car to Phetchaburi town, where I get more cash and buy some food and drinks at a 7/11 convenience store.

The scenery with the forest and the lake is actually quite nice. Besides the wildlife spotting, this looks like a good place where to relax for a few days.

At 12pm I'm back at the hotel and have some lunch.

At 12:50pm I start the trip of today, with the same car and driver I had yesterday. We go again to the same places we visited yesterday, but today we see different wildlife.

It starts with a muntjac deer (of which I take many pictures), then we see another one, which runs away before I can take a picture. Then we see a monitor lizard in a tree, a big turtle in a forest stream, two different species of birds, a large group of langur monkeys circling on the trees of the camping place, some insects and butterflies, and finally a number of different birds around 6pm.

Today there are far fewer people and cars than yesterday, but the forest is surprisingly quiet (not so many animals).

We are back in the hotel around 7pm. I book another day trip to the park for tomorrow and the car transfer to Pak Chong for the day after tomorrow (4100 THB).

In the evening I spend quite some time figuring out what to do because the Thai Airways flight to Chengdu on the 18th at 10:25am is no longer available. I try out different options (none of them really good) until I finally realise that the Thai Airways flight is available on the 19th, one day later. So I book that and also another flight from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou on the same day.




13.8: Kaeng Krachan national park
Baan Maka Nature lodge.
Weather: a mix of sunny blue sky with clouds and overcast. It rains a bit around 1pm and later again for a short time. Less hot than yesterday, but after the rain the sun is incredibly hot.
 
I get up at 9:30am, then book hotels for the first three nights in China. I see a group of giant squirrels outside the toilet. Around 12pm I go to the restaurant and have lunch. At 12:50pm I start the trip to the national park.

Today is not as good as the other days, but I manage to get series of good images of a hornbill and a group of gibbons (had seen them on day 1, but couldn't manage to get good shots then). I also get (finally) some good shots of a woodpecker and shoot some more birds.

Today (Tuesday) the national park is quite empty.




14.8: Kaeng Krachan national park -> Pak Chong
Chomklong Experience, Pak Chong (about one hour by car north of the Khao Yai NP visitor centre). The equivalent of 24 Euro/night for a small chalet with A/C, attached bathroom with shower. Hot water, but the heater either gives too hot water or cold water. Hard bed and no small cupboard where to put your things at night. On the positive side the place is along a small river, quiet at night and has a veranda. No restaurant (you have to walk to the next hotel and eat there).
Weather: sunny, blue sky with some clouds, no rain the whole day. Quite hot - 34°C according to the forecast, 37°C according to the thermometer of the car.

At 10:50am I start the trip to Pak Chong (4100 THB fixed price). It proceeds quite smoothly, i.e. there are no traffic jams. It takes 5:20 hours to do the 350km. We only stop a couple of times for refueling the car, otherwise we drive through.

Some discussion upon arrival at the hotel. A group tour to the NP is 1600 THB, a private trip is 5000 THB, 5500 THB with the night walk. The private trip is only 2500 THB if two people join.

Not exactly cheap, and way more expensive than the trips I did in Kaeng Krachan NP. The other thing is that from the hotel it's about a one hour drive to the NP headquarter.

I book the group tour (apparently it's just two additional people), leave at 7:30am, come back at 7:20pm, hoping that the tour doesn't include the stupid stop at the water pool for swimming.

In the evening I check out Pak Chong. This small city (i.e. the area around the hotel, I see there is a KFC 1.5km from the hotel) is dead after 7-8pm. There is no open restaurant, no open shops. The only open thing is a 7/11 convenience store (with ATMs). I have a dinner in the hotel near the Chomklong Experience.




15.8: Khao Yai national park
Chomklong Experience, Pak Chong.
Weather: sunny, blue sky with some clouds, no rain the whole day. Overcast around 4-5pm, then blue again. A bit more fresh in the NP (27°C) due to the altitude (700m).

At 7am I have breakfast, then at 7:30am the tour car comes and picks me up. Seems the company is Bobby's jungle tours. Turns out that the price of 1600 THB includes the 400 THB park entrance fee and a meal, snacks and drinks.

Today the tour group consists of three people - besides me there is a couple of German tourists. We initially drive to the office of the tour company, where we pay the tour. Then we drive to park. We are on benches on the cargo bay of a pickup truck.

Getting to the park (the northern border) takes about 30 minutes. Then the road starts to climb, until it reaches an altitude of 600-700m. We'll spend most of the day at this altitude.

The Khao Yai national park extends over a beautifully forested mountainous area. Lots of primary forest, actually a mix of primary and secondary rainforest. Seems lots of forest here has never been logged.

We'll see quite some wildlife. It starts with a monitor lizard on a tree, followed by hornbill birds on a tree, a green viper on a tree, a brown chameleon, giant squirrels on a tree, a bird species, some type of deer which runs away before I can take a picture, macaques, spiders, insects, gibbons a tree, elephants in the jungle (behind the foliage, I can't manage to get a picture of them), more hornbills, macaques, sambar deer and a scorpion.

Around 11:30am we start a junge walk which lasts until about 2pm. Luckily today there are no leeches in this forest (but we are all wearing leech socks just in case).

We have lunch at 2pm, then drive to a waterfall.

After 4pm we still drive around a bit, but don't spot any more wildlife. I'm back in the hotel after 6pm, then have a dinner.




16.8: Khao Yai national park
Chomklong Experience, Pak Chong.
Weather: again a mix of sunny, blue sky and overcast/ partially overcast sky. No rain the whole day, but I hear it rained at night in the national park.

I do again the same tour as yesterday with Anon, the guide, who picks me up at 7:30am. The difference is that today there are an additional four guests (a family from Spain) and we'll see far fewer animals than yesterday.

It starts that we rush to the camping ground in the national park, without making stops for animal spotting along the way, like we did yesterday. It's because Anon promised to pick up the German couple who spent the night in the national park at 9am, and if we take it easy like we did yesterday, we would probably only be at the camping ground by 10:30am-11am.

So we arrive at 8:52am at the camping ground and stop there for about half an hour. Then we start the expedition.

We drive back to the park HQ, stop there for about 30 minutes (the German couple needs to have breakfast). Then we continue.

Along the way we see a deer, two snakes and a frog. Then Anon receives a call that there is a bear on a tree, so we drive there. Shortly before arriving we run into a tree with black gibbons (those we have seen so far are white ones).

We only stop a minute at this tree, then get back on the car because Anon suggests to go watch the bear. So we reach the place where the bear is. Turns out this bear is sleeping on a tree and the tree is very far away. With my extreme tele lens the bear only makes up a tiny spot in the middle of the picture. And you can't see the whole bear, only some parts of it (the rest is behind leaves). By the way, there are three hornbills on the tree.

After a while at the bear tree we get back to the tree with the gibbons, but these have already left. So we start the jungle trek. In the jungle this time we see no animals, except for some butterflies and spiders. It's a different trail than the one of yesterday and here apparently there are no animals.

After 2pm we have a lunch, then continue looking for animals. We'll also stop at the Heo Narok waterfall. All in all we don't see so many animals.

We are back at the hotel around 6.30pm.




17.8: Pak Chong -> Bangkok
Hotel Lilac Relax Residence, Bangkok. 1017 THB for a decent room with attached bathroom with shower (usable electric water heater), A/C, fridge, TV, cupboard for the clothes, small table + chair. Near the Suvarnabhumi airport (50 or 100 THB shuttle service).
Weather: sunny, blue sky with some clouds, no rain the whole day, hot (35°C).

I get up (late) at 9am, have breakfast, then at 11am check out. The owner of the hotel brings me to a place where there is a minibus to Bangkok (160 THB, 3 hours). We are there at 11:25m and the next minibus leaves at 12pm.

Along the way we do a short 5 minute stop at a petrol station. Around 2:35pm the minibus driver drops me off at a point where I take a taxi to the hotel (260 THB + 75 THB of motorway tolls). I reach the hotel after 3pm.

I check in and get settled in the room. Then I go out and check the surroundings. Busy area with shops and a 7/11 nearby. Also a laundry with washing machines (will probably use it tomorrow). The train station is about 1.3km from the hotel.

Back in the hotel I ask the receptionist how to get to the train station. The hotel staff brings me to the train station on his motorbike for 30 THB. Not a huge distance, but I prefer not to walk these 1.3km in the heat.

There I take the train towards Siam square. 40 THB ticket to get until Phaya Thai. Decent and fast metro service.

Once there I realise that I could have got closer to Siam square by taking an additional train. Never mind, I walk the remaining 1.7km, arriving at 5:17pm.

I'll spend the rest of the day around Siam square, having a look at the local activity which is quite interesting. Lots of people come to take pictures, even some young girls.

I have a dinner in the food court of the MBK mall (6th floor), then take a train back to the hotel (actually to Lat Krabang station, then walk the remaining 1km to the hotel.




18.8: Bangkok
Hotel Lilac Relax Residence, Bangkok.
Weather: sunny, blue sky with some clouds, hot, no rain the whole day. Top temperature of 35°C according to the smartphone app.

I get up late, then bring the clothes to the laundry (actually some coin operated machines next to the 7/11). Around 12:30pm the clothes are ready and halfway dry.

Around 1pm I take a motorbike to the train station, then take the train to Phaya Thai, from there a taxi to Wat Saket / Golden Mount. I'm there around 2:30pm.

Wat Saket is a temple which I haven't visited yet. It's on a small hill and from the top there is a nice view of Bangkok. Actually a very nice view, because on this sunny day Bangkok is gorgeous. Nice combination of Thai temples and modern architecture.

I spend about an hour at the temple, then at 3:30pm start walking towards Khaosan road. With some stops along the way I reach Khaosan road at 4pm.

Khaosan road still more or less looks the same as 25 years ago. It's amazing things haven't changed over such a long time.

From Khaosan road I walk to Ratchadamnoen Klang road. From there I take a bus (20 THB ticket; a Grab car would have cost 335 TB) to the Emsphere shopping mall in Sukhumvit road. Because of the traffic jam it takes for ever to get there and I arrive at 5:40pm.

The Emsphere shopping mall was opened last year and looks inside a bit like a factory hall. There is a food court in the ground floor and I have a dinner there. After that I have a look at the mall and the area around it.

After 7pm I take a Grab car back to the hotel (445 THB + 75 THB of motorway tolls).