Khao Phanom Bencha National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติเขาพนมเบญจา) is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in Krabi Province,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. The park is named for Khao Phanom Bencha mountain and protects an area of virgin rainforest and rare wildlife.

Geography

Khao Phanom Bencha is north of

Krabi Krabi ( th, กระบี่, ) is the main town in the province of Krabi (''thesaban mueang'') on the west coast of southern Thailand at the mouth of the Krabi River where it empties in Phang Nga Bay. As of 2020, the town had a population of 3 ...

town and encompasses parts of

, Khao Phanom and Ao Luek districts. The park's area is 31,325 rai ~ and reaches its highest point at the peak of Khao Phanom Bencha, part of a mountain range running north to south.

Attractions

The park has numerous large waterfalls, including Huai To Falls, a waterfall of five cascades and a height of . Nearby Huai Sakhe Falls is a waterfall of three cascades. Khao Pheung is a cave featuring stalactites and

stalagmites A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...

. The Khao Phanom Bencha mountain peak is thickly forested and climbable on a multi-day trek.

Flora and fauna

The park's forest includes such tree species as

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

, takian, ''

Dipterocarpus alatus ''Dipterocarpus alatus'' ( th, ยางนา, , ; Khmer: ''chhë tiël ba:y, chhë tiël tük, chhë tiël thom''DY PHON Pauline, 2000, Plants Used In Cambodia, self-published, printed by Imprimerie Olympic, Phnom Penh or ឈើទាល (''ch ...

'', ''

Lagerstroemia ''Lagerstroemia'' (), commonly known as crape myrtle (also spelled crepe myrtle or crêpe myrtle), is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australi ...

'', '' Magnolia champaca'' and ''

Parkia speciosa ''Parkia speciosa'', the bitter bean, twisted cluster bean or stink bean, is a plant of the genus ''Parkia'' in the family Fabaceae. It bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a ra ...

''. At lower elevations ''Calamus'' palms and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

are found. Animal species include clouded leopard,

Sumatran serow The Sumatran serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis sumatraensis''), also known as the southern serow, is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to mountain forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was previo ...

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabit ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

and

mouse deer Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, the only extant members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only ...

. Numerous monkey species reside within the park such as

langur The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. Some classifications sp ...

lar gibbon The lar gibbon (''Hylobates lar''), also known as the white-handed gibbon, is an endangered primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. It is one of the better-known gibbons and is often kept in captivity. Taxonomy There are five subspecies of ...

and stump-tailed macaque. Gurney's Pitta

Khao Phanom Bencha is home to over 200 bird species and is a significant bird-spotting area. Species include white-crowned and

helmeted hornbill The helmeted hornbill (''Rhinoplax vigil'') is a very large bird in the hornbill family. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand and Myanmar. The casque (helmetlike structure on the head) accounts for some 11% of its 3 ...

white-rumped shama The white-rumped shama (''Copsychus malabaricus'') is a small passerine bird of the family Muscicapidae. Native to densely vegetated habitats in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, its popularity as a cage-bird and songster has led to it ...

and argus pheasant. An extremely rare bird here is the endangered

Gurney's pitta Gurney's pitta (''Hydrornis gurneyi'') ( th, นกแต้วแร้วท้องดำ) is a medium-sized passerine bird. It breeds in the Malay Peninsula, with populations mainly in Myanmar. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate ...

References

{{authority control National parks of Thailand Geography of Krabi province Tourist attractions in Krabi province

Geography

Attractions

Flora and fauna

See also

References