Thung Yai Naresuan Forest

The Thung Yai Naresuan Forest is located alongside the Myanmar border, 300 km north-west of Bangkok. It is a well known wildlife sanctuary of Thailand as well as an important forest of South East Asia. This is known to be the largest connected conserved forest in Thailand and in the South East Asia Region. The forest area preserves the sample of almost all the types of forest those are found in continental South-East Asia. Diverse iety of animals can be found in this forest. 50% of the large birds of Thailand are found here. 33% of the land vertebrates and 77% of the large mammals especially elephants and tigers are also found in this region. There are two contiguous wildlife sanctuaries in this region: Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai, located alongside the western international border with Myanmar. The terrain in this area is generally mountainous where quite a few seasonal and permanent streams are found. The highest peak of this region lies in the farthest northern side of the Huai Kha Khaeng Sanctuary. Valleys are intermingled with small lowland plains. The topography in Thung Yai is divided with the association of many permanent streams and rivers dissecting the area onto valleys and lowland plains. A unique feature of this forest is huge central grassland plain. There are four important rivers within the catchment area flowing through Burma to the Andaman Sea. The forest area houses a number of swampy areas, Small lakes, and ponds. Some of these are completely seasonal whereas others are persistent. The forest is the home to important wildlife habitats whereas some limestone sinkholes are also found in this area. Five types of forest can be found in this forest. The highest slopes of Thung Yai are coated with hill evergreen forest. The slopes above 600 m contain dry semi-evergreen forest. Whereas in the remaining parts of the sanctuary bamboo forest and mixed deciduous forests are found. The areas with poor or shallow soil support dry dipterocarp forest. There are two specific features of Thung Yai, which are not common in other areas. The existence of a large grassland plain enclosing savannah forest which is made up of cycads and Phoenix palm is the first feature of this forest. Secondly, the most extensive riparian forests of Thailand are also found in this forest. The fauna of this forest Thung include an uncommon mix of species along with Indo-Chinese, Indo-Burmese, Sundaic, and Sino-Himalayan affinities.