In Thai, khao yai means "big mountain", and indeed Khao Yai is one of Thailand's largest, most popular, and grandest national parks.
Also Thailand's first officially protected national park (it was established in 1962) and both an ASEAN Heritage Park and UNESCO natural heritage site, Khao Yai spans some 2,168 square kilometres spread over parts of Nakhon Ratchasima, Saraburi, Prachinburi and Nakhon Nayok provinces.
The park's vast territory is home to some of Thailand's last remaining wild tigers, leopards, gibbons, exotic snakes and elephants. It is also a very popular destination with bird watchers as it hosts over 300 species of b