Location: Kanchanaburi Province, 100 km (62 mi) Northwest of Kanchanaburi
Tel. 0-3451-6163-4
Info: TAT, Kanchanaburi Tel. 0-3451-1200
Sai Yok National Park is situated 100 km (62 mi) Northwest of Kanchanaburi in Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand. Sai Yok National Park entrance is surrounded by limestone caves that serve as nesting place for hundreds of bats. Sai Yok National Park is home to the smallest bat in the World Craseonycteris Thonglongyai. It weights only 1.5- 2 grams with a wingspan of 130- 145 mm from tip to tip. Additionally you can find remains of the infamous Road of Death. During World War II Allied prisoners of war were marched by their Japanese captor into concentration camps. Most of them didn't survive and died along the way. Sai Yok National Park contains some of the remains of Japanese furnaces from the time period.
Typically a visit to Sai Yok National Park begins at Nam Tok Sai Yok Yai (or simply Sai Yok Yai) water fall (pictured above). It flows into the Kwai Noi Mae river near the suspension bridge. There is a small Buddhist temple near the falls and two caves Davadung and Krase full of spectacular stalactites and stalagmites. Forest of Sai Yok National Park carries a wide variety of mammal species that include deer, gibbon monkey, serval, loris, tiger, Malayan porcupine, hornbills and many others. Occasionally tourists can spot an Asian elephant that ventures in the area.
King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) visited this area very often and enjoyed its secluded and quiet location. Sai Yok National Park was established on October 27, 1980 and was then the eleventh national park in the country.
The Sai Yok National Park is located on the Burmese-Thai state border
in the districts (amphoe) of Thong Pha Phum and Sai Yok, the park
administration is 98 kilometers from Kanchanaburi. The park is around
500 km² in size.
Sai Yok National Park, Mu 7, Tambon Sai Yok
Sub-district, Amphoe Sai Yok, Kanchanaburi 71150
The terrain of Sai Yok National Park is hilly to mountainous, mostly covered with sandstone. The mountain ranges are arranged in a north-south direction. The height difference of the park is between 100 and 1327 meters.
The climate is tropical-monsoonal. Due to the altitude, the temperatures are slightly lower than in the other parts of the country. They are between 15 °C and 30 °C.
The Sai Yok National Park is home to tropical rainforests (including dipterocarp forests) and mixed monsoon forests. It is the habitat of many different plant and animal species.
The proportion of mixed forests is approx. 84%, these are at an altitude of 100 to 600 meters. The most important plants include Homalium tomentosum from the willow family. The dry dipterocarp forests make up only 2.5% and thrive at an altitude of up to 400 meters. Here you can find Shorea obtusa, among others. The tropical jungle can be found at altitudes from sea level to approx. 600 meters and accounts for almost 3%.
The animal world includes, for example, tigers, the Asiatic black bear, the sambar deer of the subspecies Rusa unicolor cambojensis, wood partridges of the genus Arborophila chloropus, bearded macaque (Macaca arctoides), Chinese serau (Capricornis milneedwardsii), Bengal cat and many species of birds and reptiles. Particularly interesting is the species of bat discovered here by Kitti Thonglongya in 1973, the hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongya); With a body length of 3 centimeters and a body weight of 1.5 to 2 grams, it is the smallest mammal species in the world; The adult specimens have a wingspan of around 10 centimeters.
Sai Yok Waterfall (น้ำตกไทรโยค) plunges directly into the Mae Nam Khwae Noi (Khwae Noi River) and is not far from the park office. There are also caves to see, such as the Dao Dueng Cave (ถ้ำดาวดึงส์) with eight chambers and very beautiful stalactites.