ENJOYING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

     The park is certainly one of Thailand’s best preserved habitats for tropical vegetation and wildlife, with evergreen virgin jungle, waterfalls, sparkling clear streams, and many kinds of protected wildlife. The hikes in the park range from easy to hard. While you are hiking, try to stop and appreciate the beauty and variety of the foliage.

     Now a reserve of 140,000 acres in a valley of scrub and rubber and palm oil plantations, the park is divided into two parts.

     First is the area round park headquarters, reachable by vehicle on a well paved road and passing a small village of shops, guest houses, and eating places. Hikes from the headquarters take you into bamboo forests as well as forests with big old timber trees. With a very annual rainfall of 3500 millimeters, the park abounds in tumbling streams, rapids, emerald pools, rocks, and waterfalls.

     The second is the fairy-tale lake, about one hour’s drive towards Surathani from the headquarters. On the Lake Trip you take the boat across the 28-kilometer long lake, one passes islands of green forest or rocky cliffs and many coves created by the flooding. Since the dam flooded much of the lowland forest, what remains are the steep, often forbidding, limestone mountains with narrow valleys in between. The park is at an altitude of 1,000 meters above sea level, and the tallest peak rises to almost another 1,000 meters. These spectacular limestone cliffs are at least 50 million years old and began their life as sea corals. They were uplifted en masse with the Earth’s crust to form the peaks we see today and were subsequently eroded by rain and the rise and fall of the oceans, leaving the sharp, varied shapes.

     This is the scenery depicted in old Chinese scroll paintings, which look so unbelievable to the Western eye. However, there are ranges of these limestone mountains stretching from the River Kwai area north of Bangkok down to the beach resort of Krabi and south through Malaysia. The same dramatic cliffs have brought massive tourism to Halong Bay near Hanoi, Vietnam.

     The park has rangers stationed at a few lonely places in the forest to combat poaching of valuable timber and wildlife. While poaching is a problem, tourism clearly has a positive effect on the wildlife. Many local people now depend on tourism for their livelihood and will make sure that poachers don’t destroy the habitat so attractive to the tourists.

     The river dammed to create the Chio Larn reservoir actually comes from Phang-nga province and the Andaman seacoast. Trekking for a day or two from Khao Sok, you emerge on the coast at Koh Phra Thong, where the remote and stunning Golden Buddha Beach Resort is located. Built by the same people as Our Jungle House, this resort is one of a kind. It is the only resort on a remote island with a pristine and varied eco-system and 18 kilometers of untouched beach.

WILDLIFE VIEWING IN THE PARK

     Most commonly seen, even at the bungalow resorts, are hornbills and monkeys. There are numerous species of hornbills, and you may get to see the Great Hornbill with its 1-1/2 meter wing span that makes a loud whoosh sound as it flies. More common are the medium-sized Indian Pied Hornbill. All have a characteristic ungainly look, with black and white body and curved yellow beak. Fish eagles, colorful yellow-beaked hornbills, and monkeys are commonly scene on the lake trip. Monkeys often seen in Thailand and Khao Sok are the macaque (most common), the languor and the gibbon.

     The authorities, starting in 1982, simultaneously destroyed part of the natural environment and created one of Thailand’s most spectacular natural attractions. They built a large hydro-electric dam on the Phra Saeng River to supply at the time 2% of the nation’s requirement. They also flooded the major remaining pristine lowland forest area in the district. What this means is that the remaining forest is mostly comprised of craggy limestone cliffs, mountainous terrain, and swift flowing streams. What became so spectacular was the lake they created with scores of steep limestone cliffs and hills jutting out of the clear emerald water.

     The national park people carried out a massive and dangerous rescue operation to move as many wild animals as they could from the islands in the lake, where they would have been trapped with inadequate space for forage, to the edge of the lake and other
places in Thailand. Sadly, only a small percentage of the animals could be rescued. However, the result is that the lake is one of the few places in the country where one has a chance to see large mammals. Between January and May each year, the water level in the dam recedes, and succulent fresh grass grows on the lake’s edge. On Our Jungle House special wildlife tour Wild gaur, boar, sambar deer, and other mammals come to graze on this grass and can be observed from a boat cruising slowly along the bank. Elephants are common in the interior, and though you may not meet the elephants, you can hike through the forest following their big footprints. A few tigers too, but these are almost never seen.

     The gaur (sometimes called Asian bison or seladang in Malaysia) is less well known in the west but is an impressive wild buffalo with thick curved horns. It weighs over a ton and with distinctive white feet and ankles looking just like socks. “Using its sharp pointed horns and the hard frontal ridge of its forehead, an adult Gaur can kill an assailant with one blow. Even leopards and tigers rarely tackle one of these enormous beasts. Generally, however, gaur will choose to avoid conflict rather than engage.” – from Belinda Stewart-Cox, Wild Thailand.

Danger in the jungle?

     Contrary to popular belief, the jungle is benign and probably a safer habitat for humans than city streets. This is primarily because animals, like ourselves, instinctively avoid danger and will avoid humans rather than attack them. Following are some of the potential predators found in Khao Sok and most tropical jungles of the world.

     Cobras and king cobras are present but rarely seen at Khao Sok, and the incidence of bites is extremely low. This is because snakes, like most animals, will avoid humans unless disturbed. As for the King Cobra, it can barely see and you can safely slowly back away.

     Scorpions like to dwell in rotting wood. Their sting is painful and may last for a day but not deadly. One unexpected predator is stinging nettles, of which there are several varieties. Simply touching one can bring sever pain and itching, which can last for a day and night. But these are not generally found on the trails, and guides can identify them easily.

     Khao Sok is a luxuriant garden. With its rich soil and high rainfall, is a place where tropical plants and fruit trees flourish. The farmers around the park grow coffee, rubber, oil palm, and exotic fruits such as rambutan, durian, and longong. Most farms are at least 10 acres (2 hectares) and some as large as 50 acres (9 hectares). The canoe trip down the Sok River takes you past some of these farms.

     And if you like tropical flowers, stick a twig or a sucker in the ground and after a few months come back and find a healthy colorful plant, especially in the rainy season. Wandering around the village, you will see many colorful flowering plants.

     Start with banana bushes with soft purple buds. Bananas, did you know, are members of the ginger family. Then there is the bright red ginger flower, with its highly inedible root. And a whole array of heliconia, commonly known as “bird of paradise.”

     The tropical lily is very hearty and apparently endemic, whereas the bougain- villeas which bloom in the hot dry weather are introduced. Typical of South Thailand and Indonesia are the colorful leaves of the croton plant.

     A much admired oddity is a large almost black flower known in Thai as “bat’s whiskers.” But the most famous of all, sometimes called the world’s largest flower, is the Raffleasia. This Raffleasia blooms occasionally for about 7 days in the dampness of the forest and cannot be grown by man.

     The Raffleasia is only one of the great variety of tropical plants thriving in the protected forest. Many varieties of bamboo, huge climbing vines (lianas), and rattan are also common. Rattan, commonly used the make cane furniture, grows to lengths of 100 feet, has very prickly thorns, and a sour red fruit which is refreshing to nibble on a hot rainforest trek. Walk slowly through the forest and appreciate the beauty of these plants. Notice too the various strange mushrooms, like the net mushroom pictured here.

     Another fascinating oddity you will see in the rainforest here is the strangler fig. The strangler fig is actually a vine although after years of growth it looks like a tree. Its fruit, which is not much different from the fig we eat, is a favorite of the hornbills, gibbons, and other wild animals and birds in the forest. When these animals emit the seed and it falls on a tree, it eventually sends fast-growing roots to the ground. After many years, these roots become large enough to circle and strange the host tree, which dies and deteriorates, leaving a hollow sometimes big enough to walk into.

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS

    The nearest town is Takua Pa, 40 kilometers or about 40 minutes on the way to Phuket. Now a hub for tourists going to Khao Lak, Phuket, and Khao Sok, a decent hospital, several modern banks, and numerous local shops can be found there. Takua Pa has a history dating back to its role as a coastal entrepot during Roman times. More recently it was a major center for tin-mining and processing. The old town has interesting streets of Sino-Portuguese arcade architecture dating back 200 years. One old house still has its well in middle of the living room.

    South towards Surathani (and Koh Samui) is the town of Panom. Twenty-five years ago one could still find mouse deer, as well as tiger and bear meat, in its weekend market. Elephants were still being captured in the nearby forests. Here also is a new park called Klong Panom National Park which has the same dramatic limestone architecture found at Khao Sok. There is very little development at this park, which could offer interesting adventures for real explorers.

    More accessible is Naka Wildlife Sanctuary, which is effectively the other (west) side of the Khao Sok mountains. The unspoiled mountain forests here lead right down to the beautiful Andaman Sea.

    Several islands here have beautiful and unspoiled beaches, with resorts ranging from backpacker places to the unique and isolated Golden Buddha Beach Resort on Phra Thong island. This area is populated by sea gypsies and Thai Muslims as well as Thai Buddhists.

    The coast here was devastated by the 2004 tsunami, but the Muslim and sea gypsy villages have risen again and the well-run community-based tourism company Andaman Discoveries offers a taste of the simple, colorful village life along the coast. There is also a comfortable, reasonably priced group of air-conditioned chalets named Kuraburi Greenview Resort set against this mountain range.