Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park

Geography

Khao Sam Roi Yot means "mountain with 300 peaks. The limestone hills are a sub-range of the Tenasserim Hills that arise at the shore of the Gulf of Thailand, with the highest elevation being Khao Krachom at 605 m. Between the hills are freshwater marshes. Several of these marshes were converted into shrimp farms, as only 36 km² of the total 69 km² of marshes are part of the national park. A portion, 18 km², of these marshes are scheduled to be declared a Ramsar site.

Two white sand beaches are in the park, Hat Laem Sala and Hat Sam Phraya. Hat Laem Sala is 17 km from park headquarters and can be reached from the village Ban Pu either by boat or by climbing up and down over a hill for nearly 30 minutes.

The park is approximately 58 kilometres south of Hua Hin.

Phraya Nakhon Cave

Phraya Nakhon Cave is in Kui Buri District. It is managed by Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. It is about 500 meters from Laem Sala beach and approximately 17 kilometers north of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. Tourists can go to the cave by renting a boat or by walking across Tian Mountain. After that, there is a climb up the mountain about 430 meters to reach Phraya Nakhon Cave.

There is a water well at the foot of the mountain known as Phraya Nakhon Well. It is made of baked clay bricks in a trapezoidal shape.

Phraya Nakhon is a large cave which has a hole in the ceiling allowing sunlight to penetrate. At the top of the hole, there is a stone bridge known as "death bridge" because many wild animals have fallen to their deaths from it. Many kings of Thailand have come to see this cave and left evidence of their visit.

The outstanding feature of Phraya Nakhon Cave is the "throne", a historic site built during King Rama V's (King Chulalongkorn) reign. The best time to see the throne is between 10:30 - 11:30 as the sun shines on the throne at that time. The throne has since become the symbol of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.

Later kings also visited the cave. For the visit of King Chulalongkorn in 1890, the Kuha Karuhas pavilion was built inside the cave. Later, King Vajiravudh, as well as King Bhumibol Adulyadej visited the cave.

The cave can be visited but requires a bit of legwork to reach it. The hike takes roughly 30 minutes.

History

Khao Sam Roi Yot was probably where King Mongkut hosted European guests on 18 August 1868 to observe a total solar eclipse. The king was interested in astronomy and had calculated the date and location of the eclipse himself. His calculations proved better—by about two seconds—than those of French astronomers, who acknowledged his accuracy. He contracted malaria, possibly during that event, and died on 1 October.

The national park was created on 28 June 1966. It was enlarged on 1 April 1982.

Khao Sam Roi Yot legends

According to Thai folklore, the giant Mong Li and his wife lived on the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Each had independently promised their daughter to Chao Lai and the emperor of China. When the daughter was old enough to marry, both future husbands arrived on the same date. Mong Li then cut his daughter into two halves. Chao Lai turned himself into a hill, while the traditional fruit basket to be presented to a Buddhist monk was turned into the Khao Sam Roi Yot mountains.

Islands

The island of Ko Kho Ram on the other side of the gulf was the elephant and the ox cart with the wedding presents. Nom Sao Island is the daughter's breasts. Ao Sam Roi Yot, Kho Ram Island and Nom Sao Island's silhouette, seen from certain angles, look like a person resting in the middle of the sea. There is a goddess shrine on Nom Sao Island that is a popular attraction.

Other islands in the same area are Ko Sattakut, Ko Rawang, and Ko Rawing.