1. Introduction
Numerous fossils have been discovered in Thailand over the past fifty years, and especially during the last decade. Some of the earliest reports of fossils in Thailand were on fish from the North in 1916 and on trilobites from the Carboniferous Period in Phatthalung Province in the South in 1920 (Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), 1969; SUTEETHORN, 2002). The known fossil record in Thailand ranges from Cambrian trilobites up to Holocene pollen. Although these fossils are considered part of the national heritage, many of them face multitudinous threats. Numerous fossils have been damaged and the sites destroyed during the process of mining lignite, sand, limestone, and other economically important rocks. Additional fossils have ended up in private collections both locally and overseas. Some of the fossils have been used to make jewelry and other items. To protect these fossils and fossil sites and to increase awareness of fossils in the public, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) with the collaboration of other organizations, such as the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, universities, local governments, public enterprises, and some private enterprises, have set up paleontological parks and museums in Thailand. In this paper, after a brief overview of the fossil record in Thailand, we will describe paleoparks, museums, and some prominent fossil sites (Fig. 1 ), examine their importance for paleontology and conservation, and discuss what the future may hold.
2. Fossils in Thailand: overview
Thailand is located in the center of the Southeast Asian mainland, from 5°37' - 20°27' N latitude and from 97°22' - 105°37' E longitude. The total area is 514,000 km². The local climate is tropical and characterized by monsoons. Thailand shares its border with Myanmar in the west and north, Laos in the northeast, Cambodia in the east, and Malaysia in the south. Thailand is mountainous in the north and west resulting from the uplift of Precambrian to Mesozoic rocks. The central plains overlie Cenozoic deposits. East of the plains are hills often capped with Jurassic sandstone. Northeastern Thailand comprises the Khorat Plateau, underlain by Jurassic-Cretaceous rocks. The east consists of plains and hills underlain by Precambrian to Mesozoic rocks. In Southern Thailand lie a series of longitudinal mountain ranges, formed from Paleozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and Mesozoic granites (WORKMAN, 1997).