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Jui Buri National Park
Known to be the best wild elephant watching spot in Thailand, it is almost 99% sure the visitors will see wild elephants any given day of the year in Kui Buri National Park’s wildlife watching area. Though, on a few occasions over the last couple of years there has been no elephant sighting over several consecutive days, probably because of drier conditions. Established as a national park in 1999, Kui Buri National Park covers 969 km² in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, about 85 km southwest from the popular tourist destination of Hua Hin. The park mountains are part of the Tenasserim Hills Range, spanning over many protected areas in Thailand and Myanmar. The park forest consists of dry and moist evergreen forests with trees such as Dipterocarpus tuberculatus, Hopea odorata, Terminalia chebula and different species of palms. The park is the only place in Thailand where sandalwood can be harvested for the cremation of royal family members. Nine trees were cut down for the cremation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. A royal brahmin spent one month selecting trees meeting royal criteria: they must be dead and have been over 100 years old. (source: Wikipedia).
Wildlife
The national park is home to one of the biggest populations of gaurs in Thailand, with estimated around 100 individuals and around 320 elephants (by 2016). In December 2013, 24 gaurs were found dead in the national park. Clinic tests concluded that the cause of death was bacterial. Following this incident, the national park was closed for eight months and re-opened again in August 2014. Few years later a herd of 70 gaurs were spotted feeding near one of the ranger stations, a good sign that the population was recovering. Although not commonly seen, the national park probably has a similar rich diversity of mammal species as in Kaeng Krachan National Park to the north. Apart from Asian elephants and gaurs, the other relatively common mammals are golden jackals, various deer, langurs, white-handed gibbons, Burmese hares, Malayan porcupines and wild boars. Other interesting but rare mammals are tigers, leopards, bantengs, Malayan tapirs and dholes (Asiatic wild dogs).
Kui Buri has a rich fauna of birds with over 260 species currently reported from the park, there are probably many more to be found. Crested firebacks, grey peacock-pheasants, ferruginous partridges, Tickell's brown hornbills, white-crowned hornbills, brown fish owls, yellow-vented green pigeons, white-fronted scops owls, moustached hawk-cuckoos, rufous-collared kingfishers, blue-rumped parrots, chestnut-naped forktails, red-bearded bee-eaters, maroon woodpeckers, rufous-winged philentomas, spectacled spiderhunters, spot-necked babblers, moustached babblers and many more have been recorded from the park. Cattle egrets are seen daily around elephant herds. Other more common birds are red junglefowls, Indochinese rollers and Asian openbills. Of the around 60 known reptile species found in the park are few interesting ones; red-headed kraits (Bungarus flaviceps), the southern variation of Pope's pit vipers (Trimeresurus popeiorum), dog-toothed cat snakes (Boiga cynodon), blunt-headed tree snakes (Aplopeltura boa), brown kukri snakes (Oligodon purpurascens), Indochinese ground snakes (Gongylosoma scriptum), speckle-headed whip snakes (Ahaetulla fasciolata), Drapiez's cat snakes (Boiga drapiezii), roughneck monitors (Varanus rudicollis), elongated tortoises (Indotestudo elongata), Burmese green lizards (Bronchocela burmana) and Malayan softshell turtles (Dogania subplana).
Visiting
One mistake many visitors make when getting to the park is; they hit “Kui Buri National Park” on their navigator and follow the suggested route. When searching, Google Maps or other navigators will simply mark the headquarters area of the park and draw a route accordingly. That’s not where the wildlife watching area is, so it is important to know where to get to. The best way to get a good picture of the whereabouts of the wildlife watching area and other relevant spots is to open the map of Kui Buri National Park from this page. By zooming in/out or panning the map it is possible to see the location of the different spots in the park, the roads, checkpoint, but also, when zoomed out enough and paned, other national parks and attractions in the area can be seen. It is not possible to enter the wildlife watching area beyond the visitor center with your own car. A safari pickup with a guide must be arranged from the visitor center. There is not much wildlife activity in the visitor center vicinity of the wildlife watching area if you are hoping to see elephants or other animals without a safari arrangement into the park.
Getting to the wildlife watching area
There is only one general wildlife watching area in Kui Buri, it is at Huai Luek Ranger Station, about 16 km north from the headquarters. There are no public transportation options to get there, private arrangements needed. It is possible to get there with any car or motorcycle. When getting there from Hua Hin or Pran Buri end, the road is pretty good all the way to the visitor center. The wildlife watching area is open from 2 pm to 6 pm daily, but there won’t be much wildlife activity until the late afternoon. Visitors are recommended to reach there from around 3 pm onward and allow a bit of margin for arrangements.
Getting there with own car/bike
In Google Maps, the wildlife watching area is marked as “Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching” or “Ang Kep Nam Huai Luek”. Enter either of these search terms or enter the lat/long coordinates below in the search field of your navigator for the directions; Coordinates; 12.1388, 99.6467 If you don’t intend to use any navigator; Follow the highway 4 south from Hua Hin towards Kui Buri Town for 60 km. Few kilometers before reaching Kui Buri, a couple of big elephant models will be seen on the left side of the road with a signpost showing the direction to “Kui Buri National Park” to the right on route 3217. Follow this road for 14 km until you see a big sign with an elephant photo on it showing right to route 4024. Ignore the sign pointing straight ahead to “Kuri Buri National Park headquarters”. Follow the signs on route 4024 until you reach the wildlife watching area. Last few hundred meters of the road is a bit poor, but can be accessed by any car.
Known to be the best wild elephant watching spot in Thailand, it is almost 99% sure the visitors will see wild elephants any given day of the year in Kui Buri National Park’s wildlife watching area. Though, on a few occasions over the last couple of years there has been no elephant sighting over several consecutive days, probably because of drier conditions. Established as a national park in 1999, Kui Buri National Park covers 969 km² in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, about 85 km southwest from the popular tourist destination of Hua Hin. The park mountains are part of the Tenasserim Hills Range, spanning over many protected areas in Thailand and Myanmar. The park forest consists of dry and moist evergreen forests with trees such as Dipterocarpus tuberculatus, Hopea odorata, Terminalia chebula and different species of palms. The park is the only place in Thailand where sandalwood can be harvested for the cremation of royal family members. Nine trees were cut down for the cremation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. A royal brahmin spent one month selecting trees meeting royal criteria: they must be dead and have been over 100 years old. (source: Wikipedia).
Wildlife
The national park is home to one of the biggest populations of gaurs in Thailand, with estimated around 100 individuals and around 320 elephants (by 2016). In December 2013, 24 gaurs were found dead in the national park. Clinic tests concluded that the cause of death was bacterial. Following this incident, the national park was closed for eight months and re-opened again in August 2014. Few years later a herd of 70 gaurs were spotted feeding near one of the ranger stations, a good sign that the population was recovering. Although not commonly seen, the national park probably has a similar rich diversity of mammal species as in Kaeng Krachan National Park to the north. Apart from Asian elephants and gaurs, the other relatively common mammals are golden jackals, various deer, langurs, white-handed gibbons, Burmese hares, Malayan porcupines and wild boars. Other interesting but rare mammals are tigers, leopards, bantengs, Malayan tapirs and dholes (Asiatic wild dogs).
Kui Buri has a rich fauna of birds with over 260 species currently reported from the park, there are probably many more to be found. Crested firebacks, grey peacock-pheasants, ferruginous partridges, Tickell's brown hornbills, white-crowned hornbills, brown fish owls, yellow-vented green pigeons, white-fronted scops owls, moustached hawk-cuckoos, rufous-collared kingfishers, blue-rumped parrots, chestnut-naped forktails, red-bearded bee-eaters, maroon woodpeckers, rufous-winged philentomas, spectacled spiderhunters, spot-necked babblers, moustached babblers and many more have been recorded from the park. Cattle egrets are seen daily around elephant herds. Other more common birds are red junglefowls, Indochinese rollers and Asian openbills. Of the around 60 known reptile species found in the park are few interesting ones; red-headed kraits (Bungarus flaviceps), the southern variation of Pope's pit vipers (Trimeresurus popeiorum), dog-toothed cat snakes (Boiga cynodon), blunt-headed tree snakes (Aplopeltura boa), brown kukri snakes (Oligodon purpurascens), Indochinese ground snakes (Gongylosoma scriptum), speckle-headed whip snakes (Ahaetulla fasciolata), Drapiez's cat snakes (Boiga drapiezii), roughneck monitors (Varanus rudicollis), elongated tortoises (Indotestudo elongata), Burmese green lizards (Bronchocela burmana) and Malayan softshell turtles (Dogania subplana).
Visiting
One mistake many visitors make when getting to the park is; they hit “Kui Buri National Park” on their navigator and follow the suggested route. When searching, Google Maps or other navigators will simply mark the headquarters area of the park and draw a route accordingly. That’s not where the wildlife watching area is, so it is important to know where to get to. The best way to get a good picture of the whereabouts of the wildlife watching area and other relevant spots is to open the map of Kui Buri National Park from this page. By zooming in/out or panning the map it is possible to see the location of the different spots in the park, the roads, checkpoint, but also, when zoomed out enough and paned, other national parks and attractions in the area can be seen. It is not possible to enter the wildlife watching area beyond the visitor center with your own car. A safari pickup with a guide must be arranged from the visitor center. There is not much wildlife activity in the visitor center vicinity of the wildlife watching area if you are hoping to see elephants or other animals without a safari arrangement into the park.
Getting to the wildlife watching area
There is only one general wildlife watching area in Kui Buri, it is at Huai Luek Ranger Station, about 16 km north from the headquarters. There are no public transportation options to get there, private arrangements needed. It is possible to get there with any car or motorcycle. When getting there from Hua Hin or Pran Buri end, the road is pretty good all the way to the visitor center. The wildlife watching area is open from 2 pm to 6 pm daily, but there won’t be much wildlife activity until the late afternoon. Visitors are recommended to reach there from around 3 pm onward and allow a bit of margin for arrangements.
Getting there with own car/bike
In Google Maps, the wildlife watching area is marked as “Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching” or “Ang Kep Nam Huai Luek”. Enter either of these search terms or enter the lat/long coordinates below in the search field of your navigator for the directions; Coordinates; 12.1388, 99.6467 If you don’t intend to use any navigator; Follow the highway 4 south from Hua Hin towards Kui Buri Town for 60 km. Few kilometers before reaching Kui Buri, a couple of big elephant models will be seen on the left side of the road with a signpost showing the direction to “Kui Buri National Park” to the right on route 3217. Follow this road for 14 km until you see a big sign with an elephant photo on it showing right to route 4024. Ignore the sign pointing straight ahead to “Kuri Buri National Park headquarters”. Follow the signs on route 4024 until you reach the wildlife watching area. Last few hundred meters of the road is a bit poor, but can be accessed by any car.
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