Khao Yai National Park

Khao Yai National Park is one of the hidden gems of Thailand! This is one of the best national parks to see wildlife – including wild elephants! – in all of Southeast Asia! Although it’s popular among locals, not as many foreigners visit this amazing national park.

Located just 2.5 hours from Bangkok (less than 200 km), it’s easy to visit on a day trip from the city. There are also so many camping options close by – from glamping in bubble tents to sleeping in the national park surrounded by wild deer!

Khao Yai National Park opened in 1962, making it the first national park in Thailand! It is now an UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s also the third biggest national park in Thailand by area at just over 2,000 square kilometers.

Not only will you see tons of wildlife (deer, monkeys, gibbons, birds, and possibly wild elephants!), the park has gorgeous waterfalls, amazing viewpoints, and wild jungle treks.

About Khao Yai National Park

The park is open from 6am-6pm everyday. You’re allowed to drive out of the park after 6pm if you’re already inside, however you aren’t allowed to drive around alone at night.

As of this year, the entrance price has been cut in half! It’s currently 200 baht ($5.50 usd) for foreign adults and 100 baht ($2.75 usd) for foreign children.

You also need to pay an additional 20 baht ($0.50 usd) for a motorbike and 30 baht ($0.80 usd) for a car.

There are various restaurants/stores inside the park, however make sure you check when they close! The restaurant at our campsite closed at 8pm.

There is no alcohol sold inside national parks in Thailand.

How to Get to Khao Yai National Park

The first question you’ll have about Khao Yai National Park is how to get there.

At over 2,000 square kilometers, the national park is huge. While you can get to the national park using public transportation, unfortunately there is no public transportation inside the park.

You either need to be on a guided tour, have your own transportation, or…..I have heard of people trying to hitchhike. There are also some hotels (which you can get to on public transit) that offer tours of the park.

Drive to Khao Yai

The easiest way to get to Khao Yai would be to drive yourself there. There are two entrances to the park: the Pak Chong Entrance to the north and the Noen Hom Entrance to the south.

The North Pak Chong Entrance is considered the main entrance. Both of these entrances are on opposite ends of the main road that goes through Khao Yai national park. It’s also possible to enter through one entrance and leave through the other.

Bus to Khao Yai (Pak Chong)

This is the option that we chose! We took a minibus from Mochit Minibus Station to Pak Chong. The bus took longer than driving – it was a little over 3 hours and cost 270 baht each ($7.40 usd).

Once you arrive in Pak Chong by minibus, you must find your own transportation to Khao Yai National Park. Red below:

Train to Khao Yai (Pak Chong)

Instead of taking a minibus to Pak Chong, you can also take the train. It takes a little more than 10 minutes to walk between the train station and bus station in Pak Chong. They are both very central.

Most trains leave from Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok. They can take from 3-4 hours to get to Pak Chong. The price also varies greatly from the cheapest tickets being around 130 baht ($3.50 usd) up to 900 baht ($25 usd) per ticket!

Once you arrive in Pak Chong on a train, you must find your own transportation to Khao Yai national park. Read below:

Pak Chong to Khao Yai

We expected there to be many places to rent motorbikes in Pak Chong….however there was only one place!! Possibly the others closed due to covid? We rented from Khaoyai Motorcycle on the main road. As the drive from Pak Chong to Khao Yai is close to an hour, we rented a slightly more powerful bike for 500 baht/day ($13.75 usd). It worked very well to drive to the park and throughout the park all weekend!

There are also public buses that you can take from Pak Chong to Khao Yai National Park. However, they leave you at the park entrance and you are then on your own to explore the 2,000 square km park!

Tour to Khao Yai

There are many day trips, and even some overnight trips, that you can do from Bangkok to Khao Yai National Park!

Many can be booked ahead of time, and some can also be booked through your accommodation in Pak Chong if you decide to stay nearby but outside of the park.

There are many differences in what each tour includes, so be sure to read carefully and choose the one that fits your needs!

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Where to Stay at Khao Yai National Park

The area around Khao Yai is well known for it’s amazing concept hotels and glamping locations! Some cool ones that we saw were:

Lala Mukha Tented Resort

Lala Mukha is a luxury glamping resort very close to the entrance of Khao Yai National Park! They have both glamping tents as well as treehouses that you can stay in! There is a gorgeous infinity pool with mountain views. It’s the perfect place to stay close to the park without missing out on comfort.

Mont Blanc Glamping

Mont Blanc Glamping is another highly rated glamping location close to Khao Yai National Park. It offers tents, treehouses, and also rooms. While it isn’t as luxurious as Lala Mukha, it is also more affordable!

Recall Isaan Concept Hotel

While Recall Isaan isn’t glamping in tents, the entire hotel has the most amazing, unique design! It makes you feel like you’re camping even though you’re still in a hotel room. This is also one of the closest hotels to the Khao Yai National Park entrance!

Casa De Montana

Casa de Montana has the famous bubble igloo tents. It’s also close to the entrance to Khao Yai. It’s a very popular location so you must book it ahead of time on their website. You can find their website here!

Other Hotels by Khao Yai

Keep in mind these are just some of the options by Khao Yai National Park! There are so many amazing hotels in the area to check out!

Camping Inside Khao Yai National Park

Instead of glamping, we decided we wanted the true camping experience. We decided to rent a tent inside of the national park. Not only was it extremely easy to do, it was also very cheap! It was 30 baht each ($0.80 usd) to stay in the campsite, 150 baht/night ($4 usd) for a 2 person tent, and also extremely cheap to rent sleeping bags/mats/pillows/etc.

There are two campgrounds inside Khao Yai National Park. Lam Ta Khong Campground is closer to the main road (where we stayed and where these pictures are from). The second campground is Pha Kluai Mai Campground. This one is along the side road that leads to the Haew Suwat Waterfall.

We didn’t go to the Pha Kluai Mai Campground, however we have since read that it has better facilities than the Lam Ta Khong Campground (better toilets/showers/restaurant).

We asked about renting a tent when we arrived at the visitor center. They told us we could go directly to the Lam Ta Khong Campground and rent a tent there. When we arrived at the campground there was an office that had all the camping equipment listed in both English and Thai as well as prices. We were able to choose what we wanted, paid (in cash), and left my passport as a deposit.

We then had to set up the tent ourselves. The campground is complete with toilets, showers (which aren’t the warmest), a charging station, a cafe, and a restaurant. We were also amazed at all the deer at the Lam Ta Khong Campground!! It was such a cool experience to step out of your tent and see deer! Although you must be careful and avoid keeping food in your tent as we witnessed a monkey steel someone’s bag from right next to their tent!

What to Do at Khao Yai National Park

There is so much to do at Khao Yai National Park!! If you are driving in the park, you should be able to make it to all the main sites in a couple hours (depending how long you spend at each). If you want to do some of the longer jungle treks, you may need a few days to complete everything!

Visitor Center

The visitor center actually has a lot of really great information! There is a little museum-like area set up that shows you the different animals in the national park. There is also lots of information about the different hiking trails (more on those below).

We were able to sign up for the night safari here!

There is also a great little coffee shop with seating above the river. There are two little hiking trails behind the visitor center which are quite easy. You don’t need a guide to do them and they also include two hanging bridges for great photo ops!

Night Safari

Speaking of the night safari, it is a must do at Khao Yai National Park!

We were amazed that you could book the night safari the day of! You actually can’t make reservations in advance.

It was 600 baht ($16.50 usd) per car which can hold up to 10 people.

We paid at the visitor center, told them which campground we would be staying in, and confirmed that they would pick us up from the campground at 8pm.

Unfortunately our guide didn’t speak much English, however she was able to point out lots of animals and google translated some facts for us! It was such a neat experience to travel through the park on the back of a pickup truck trying to spot animals! The whole safari lasts 45 minutes – 1 hour.

Observation Tower

The Nong Phak Chi Observation Tower is located 2.5km northwest of the visitor center. There is parking on the side of the main road and a small 900 meter trail leading to the tower.

The views from the tower are amazing! You can see out all 4 sides of the tower leading to 360 degree views of the surrounding grasslands, including a pond and a salt lick which attracts animals.

You’re most likely to see animals here early in the morning or around dusk. However I would definitely recommend stopping by whenever you get the chance! Even if you don’t see any animals, the views from the tower are gorgeous.

30 Km Viewpoint

If you enter Khao Yai National Park from the north Pak Chong entrance, the first point of interest you will come to is the 30 Km Viewpoint. This is an amazing viewpoint that is definitely worth a stop! You can see into the distance over the mountains and the green forest. The 30 Km Viewpoint also has a little cafes and toilets. It’s located directly on the main road, so even if you don’t stop you will still drive by it.

Yod Khao Khieaw Mountain Viewpoints

The Khao Khieaw Mountain road is home to three viewpoints in Khao Yai National Park. Unfortunately the entire road (and viewpoints) are closed from June 1st to September 30th every year. While this might be partly due to the weather and it being low season for tourism, it is kept closed to let the forest regenerate.

The viewpoints along this road are ‘Viewpoint 3’, the Pha Diaw Dai Cliff Viewpoint, the Pha Trom Jai Viewpoint (the highest in all of central Thailand).

Viewpoint 3

There isn’t much information on Viewpoint 3, however it’s the first viewpopint you’ll come to when driving up the Khao Khieaw Mountain road.

Pha Diaw Dai Cliff Viewpoint

The next viewpoint on the road is the Pha Diaw Dai Cliff Viewpoint. It’s said to be the most beautiful viewpoint in all of Khao Yai! You need to wlak along a 450 meter long trail to get to the viewpoint, however most of the trail is a boardwalk.

Be careful at this viewpoint as it is on the edge of a cliff! This viewpoint is known to be an especially good place to watch the sunrise!

Pha Trom Jai Viewpoint

If you continue up the road a little further, you will come to the Pha Trom Jai Viewpoint. This is the top of the mountain and also the highest viewpoint in all of central Thailand! It is 1,290 meters or 4,233 feet above sea level. (Read about the highest spot in Thailand here!)

This viewpoint also has toilets as well as a cafe/restaurant. It’s a great place for birdwatching.

Waterfalls at Khao Yai National Park

Haew Narok Waterfall

The Haew Narok Waterfall is by far the most impressive waterfall at Khao Yai National Park! It’s also the biggest waterfall at Khao Yai. The 3 tiers of the waterfall total 150 meters high, however the main waterfall that you can see is 80 meters high.

There is a 600 meter trail to get to the waterfall from the parking lot. The beginning of the trail is very nice with wooden paths through the trees and a bridge over the river. However the stairs at the end of the trail are extremely steep! Be careful climbing both up and down here!

The Haew Narok Waterfall is known locally as ‘Hell’s Fall’. As impressive as the waterfall is, it also has a dark side. In 2019 11 elephants died at the waterfall. There have been other instances of elephants dying here in the past. For this reason you will see many scary looking pillars covered in barbed wire along the trail to try to keep the elephants away from the waterfall where they will be safe.

Haew Su Wat Waterfall

A must see waterfall at Khao Yai! The Haew Su Wat Watefall is 20 meters tall. It was actually the waterfall that Leonardo DiCaprio jumped off of in the movie The Beach! Unfortunately you can’t jump off the waterfall as Leo did because swimming is not allowed. However it’s still a great waterfall to see! There is a cave behind the waterfall, however it is only visible during the dry season.

It’s very easy to reach the upper waterfall viewpoint, however there are quite a few stairs that you need to go down to reach the base of the waterfall. It is worth it though!

It’s also good to note that the parking lot of the Haew Su Wat Waterfall is at the end of the road. After visiting the waterfall you’ll have to drive back the way you came to the main road.

Pha Kluai Mai Waterfall

The Pha Kluai Mai Waterfall is along the same road as the Haew Su Wat Waterfall. However, it is not as easy to get to. It’s located about halfway along the 3km hiking trail between the Pha Kluai Mai campground and the Haew Su Wat Waterfall.

This waterfall isn’t as popular as the other two, however it is nice if you also want to hike. It used to be home to the park’s only crocodile, however the crocodile hasn’t been seen since 2018 and is presumed to be dead.

Other Waterfalls

There are some other waterfalls at Khao Yai National Park, however most of them are far away on treks that you need a guide to get to.

Trekking at Khao Yai National Park

Another activity that is very popular at Khao Yai is jungle trekking. There are 7 trails that you can choose from, however many require a guide. It’s important not to try the long hike without a guide as there could be many dangerous things on the trails such as poisonous snakes and many, MANY leeches!

Some of the short treks only take 45 minutes, however the longer ones can be over 6 hours! You can get more information and request a guide at the visitors center. You can find detailed information on all of the treks here on the Khao Yai National Park website.

If you want an easy trek that you don’t need a guide for, try the short treks that loop behind the vistor center or the trek from Pha Kluai Mai Campground to Haew Su Wat Waterfall which passes by Pha Kluai Mai Waterfall.

Khao Luk Chang Bat Cave

Located outside of the National Park, but close to the North Entrance, is the Khao Luk Chang Bat Cave. Apparently it is difficult to drive to as the road isn’t in good condition. It’s best reached on a motorbike or by walking.

Every night when the sun goes down all of the bats fly out at the same time to go find food. There are millions of bats! While we didn’t get to witness this, it is high on our list for next time!

Check Out Our YouTube Video From Khao Yai National Park!

Want some other ideas of day trips from Bangkok?! Check out our articles on the gorgeous Erawan Falls or escape the city without leaving it by heading to Bang Krachao – an island in Bangkok!