Khao Sok Information: The evergreen rainforest

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Khao Sok – Facts on the tropical rainforest

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One of the oldest eco-systems in the world

Tree-trunks towering 30 m straight in the air

Khao Sok National Park, A true rainforest of origin - 2½ hours drive from Phuket, Krabi, Ao Nang, Phang Nga, Khao Lak, Nature lovers paradise, wildlife, jungle, Art's river view lodge, Chiew Larn Lake, Rajjabrapa Dam, jungle raft, a dream land of mist and mountains

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The virgin rainforest continues through other National Parks and further on into Burma.

The tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia today belongs to the oldest eco-systems in the world. The diversity of the flora has been dated back some 160 million years, which is older than both the Amazons-and the Central African rainforest. The rainforest on the Kra Isthmus has more than 200 species of trees per hectare which is more than any other place on the earth. In temperate rainforest by contrast it would be considered exceptionally diverse to have ten tree species per hectare.

Tree-trunks tower 30 meters in the air, before the first branches begin to form the canopy, - adding another 30 – 35 meter to the total height. Trees like these usually belong to the dipterocarp family and may be several centuries old. They are the preferred trees for gibbons when singing, grooming and sleeping, and they provide excellent habitat for hornbill nesting cavities.

Description: Gibbons are perhaps the most conspicuous animals in Southeast Asian rainforests. Their songs are described as some of the finest music ever uttered by a wild land mammal and their remarkable power and grace in swinging through their tall tree habitat is unparalleled. To many naturalists, gibbons are the voice and soul of the forest, an observation also held by indigenous peoples who have shared the same forests for centuries. Because of their small body size, gibbons are termed lesser apes. Their arms are relatively longer than their legs, - which allows rapid movement through the forest canopy and access to preferred foods. Gibbons come in many different combinations of color, including jet black, silvery, rufous or cinnamon; some species' colors vary with gender while other species change color as they mature.

Description: Hornbills is the name of a family (Bucerotide) of large Jurassic tropical birds which have enormous curved bills and often a bony cask on the head. Thirty of the world’s 54 spices of hornbill occur in Asia with thirteen species found in Thailand. Khao Sok has five confirmed species of hornbill including the rare helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax Vigil). Living relics from at least fifteen million years ago, the hornbill as a species is one of the oldest birds surviving on Earth. As fruit eaters they are critical to seed dispersal.

The Kingdom of Thailand has since the seventies, made a great effort to preserve, what is left of the original forest. Today Thailand has more than one hundred National Parks and none hunting areas, and in the schools a vigorous work is made to promote understanding for these natural values. There’s now a total logging band on all original forest and the penalty for poaching and illegal logging, is now life imprisonment.

Information, education and rehabilitation programs have already succeeded. Animal species before thought almost extinct are now once again on the increase.

Wild Kingdom Tours is proud of being a part of this work, and our goal is to spread the knowledge of the diversity of nature here to as many people as possible!

As a consequence of this, we have allied ourselves with local nature guides. They have a vast knowledge of the flora, fauna and herbal medicine.

One final thought-In nature one takes only a picture and leaves only a footprint!