Phu Kradueng National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติภูกระดึง), in the Si Than sub-district of Amphoe Phu Kradueng, Loei Province, is one of the best known national parks of

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 ...

. It has a high point of 1,316 m (4318 ft) elevation at Khok Moei. It was proclaimed 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 ...

on 23 November 1962, making it the second national park of

after

Khao Yai National Park Khao Yai National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติเขาใหญ่, , ) is a national park in Thailand. Established in 1962 as Thailand's first national park, it is the third largest national park in Thailand. Descri ...

. The park is closed to visitors during the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

(1 June - 30 September).

Toponymy

"Phu" (ภู) comes from the Thai-

Isan Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...

word "phukao" (ภูเขา), meaning mountain. The name "kradueng" (กระดึง), or "krading" (กระดิ่ง) in the local dialect of Loei Province, can be translated as "rakhang yai" (ระฆังใหญ่), meaning "large bell". This name comes from a legend relating to a Buddhist holiday. During the holiday many of the townspeople heard the sound of a large bell. They believed it to be the bell of

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

Geography

Phu Kradueng mountain, made up of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

formations, takes the form of a

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

towering some 1,000 meters above the surrounding valleys. The summit

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

is roughly square-shaped and 60 km² (37,500 rai) in size, with an average elevation of about 1,250 meters. Sloping slightly to the north, its western, southern, and eastern edges are fairly straight and formed by abrupt sandstone

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s, while the northern part is deformed in a more irregular shape, containing a number of streams and (seasonal)

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s. The summit itself, in the southwestern part of the plateau, is inconspicuous. The park occupies an area of 217,576 rai ~

History

Legend has it that a hunter tried to hunt a bull that fled to the top of a mountain in Srithan sub-district. (Currently in Phu Kradueng district). This mountain has never been seen before. When the hunter followed the bull to the top of that mountain, he found that the area on that mountain was filled with beautiful vast plains, pine forests, plants and various kinds of wildlife. Prince Prachaksinlapakhom went to the area and made a geographical report, which was presented to the Ministry of Interior. In 1943 the government issued a decree of the National Forest. The Royal Forest Department therefore started a survey to establish a national park in Phu Kradueng, Loei Province for the first time, but due to the shortage of budget and officials, little went and stopped. On October 7, 1959, the Cabinet passed a resolution to designate 14 forests in various provinces as a national park in order to permanently conserve natural resources for the common benefit. The Forest Department has proposed the establishment of Phu Kradueng forest to be a national park in accordance with Section 6 of the National Park Act 1961 by a royal decree to determine Phu Kradueng forest in the district of Si Than. Phu Kradueng Subdistrict Wang Saphung District Loei Province is a national park. On July 6, 1977, the Cabinet passed a resolution to revoke the national park area in the area that the Air Force requests to use as a telecommunication relay station for the benefit of the government. The military has an area of approximately 5 rai, the Royal Forestry Department, therefore, requested the revocation of the land area in 1978.

Terrain

Phu Kradueng is a sandstone mountain peak cut, located in the northwest of the

Khorat Plateau The Khorat Plateau ( th, ที่ราบสูงโคราช) is a plateau in the northeastern Thai region of Isan. The plateau forms a natural region, named after the short form of Nakhon Ratchasima, a historical barrier controlling access ...

, near the east slope of the Phetchabun mountain range. Most of the mountain's areas are 400–1,200 meters above sea level. The base or foothills start from the lowest point of the area at an altitude of 260 meters to an altitude of 400 meters. Phu Kradueng. The flat area on the top of the mountain is approximately 60 square kilometers (37,500 rai), resembling a bonfire or heart shape when viewed from above, with the tip of the leaf in the southeast and the inner part in the northeast. The flat area on the hill consists of low hills. The highest peak is at Khok Moei, approximately 1,316 meters above sea level.

Climate

Phu Kradueng is a cool and comfortable all year round. The average temperature is 15 °C. In the cool season, temperatures on the coldest nights reach freezing. In the rainy season, the weather can change quickly. Fog and low clouds tend to hang low over the landscape. Cliffs may collapse under their own weight after the soil which underlies the sandstone cap is eroded by heavy rain. Heavy rains can also cause flash floods in the streams which run down the mountain. Thus, the park is closed between June and September every year for visitor safety and forest rejuvenation.

Flora and fauna

The mountain's steep sides are home to a succession of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

forest tiers, namely (in ascending order):

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...

, mixed deciduous, dry

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, and hill evergreen forests, interspersed with

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 ...

. In contrast to that, the plateau at the mountain top consists of a sandy

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

landscape. Dominant tree species are Siamese sal (''

Shorea obtusa ''Shorea obtusa'', the Siamese sal, is a species of hardwood tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae, native to Southeast Asia. Distribution and habitat ''Shorea obtusa'' is native to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. It grows in relat ...

''), ''

Shorea siamensis ''Shorea siamensis'' is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is native to most of mainland Southeast Asia. Uses In Cambodia, ''Shorea siamensis'' (known in Khmer as រាំងភ្នំ – Raing Phnom) is rare and most oft ...

'', ''

Diospyros ''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark tim ...

'' spp., ''

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 Australia ...

'' spp., ''

Podocarpus neriifolius ''Podocarpus neriifolius'' is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It grows 10–15m tall, though very occasionally taller, in tropical and subtropical wet closed forests, between 650m and 1600m altitude.Dy Phon Pauline, 2000, ''Pla ...

'', maple, ''

Pinus merkusii ''Pinus merkusii'', the Merkus pine or Sumatran pine, is a pine native to the Malesia region of southeast Asia, and the only one that occurs naturally south of the equator. Description ''Pinus merkusii'' is a medium-sized to large tree, reachin ...

'', and ''

Pinus kesiya ''Pinus kesiya'' (Khasi pine, Benguet pine or three-needled pine) is one of the most widely distributed pines in Asia. Its range extends south and east from the Khasi Hills in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya, to northern Thailand, Philipp ...

''. The grass fields support a variety of flowers, such as '' Hydrocera triflora'', ''

Torenia fournieri ''Torenia fournieri'', the bluewings or wishbone flower, is an annual plant in the Linderniaceae, with blue, white, or pink flowers that have yellow markings. It is typically grown as a landscape annual, reaching 12–15 in. tall. It has simple o ...

'' and marigolds. These flowers bloom at different times of the year. Some grow well in the rocky fields including ''

Dendrobium ''Dendrobium'' is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, i ...

'' sp. Close to the ground are ferns, mosses, and '' Serissa'' sp. Lady's slipper orchids such as

Paphiopedilum ''Paphiopedilum'', often called the Venus slipper, is a genus of the lady slipper orchid subfamily ''Cypripedioideae'' of the flowering plant family Orchidaceae. The genus comprises some 80 accepted taxa including several natural hybrids. The ge ...

grow on trees. Phu Kradueng, with its variety of forest types and vegetation, provides abundant food for wildlife community, including elephants, bears,

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

barking deer Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

serow The serows ( or ) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under ''Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals. Extant ...

, squirrels, foxes,

white-handed 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 ...

s and

crab-eating macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque and referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. A species of macaque, the crab-eating macaqu ...

s. Birds include

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 ...

black eagle The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South ...

silver pheasant The silver pheasant (''Lophura nycthemera'') is a species of pheasant found in forests, mainly in mountains, of mainland Southeast Asia and eastern and southern China, with an introduced population on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neu ...

red-wattled lapwing The red-wattled lapwing (''Vanellus indicus'') is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicat ...

, Chinese francolin,

minivet The minivets are passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Pericrocotus'' in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. There are about 15 species, occurring mainly in forests in southern and eastern Asia. They are fairly small, slender birds with lon ...

, rufous-bellied eagle,

Nepal house-martin The Nepal house martin (''Delichon nipalense'')Frequently ''Delichon nipalensis'' in older sources, but ''nipalense'' is currently preferred in accordance with is a bird migration, non-migratory passerine of the swallow family Hirundinidae. Its ...

, bush robin,

Mugimaki flycatcher The mugimaki flycatcher (''Ficedula mugimaki'') is a small passerine bird of eastern Asia belonging to the genus ''Ficedula'' in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. The name "mugimaki" comes from Japanese and means "wheat-sower". The b ...

and

slaty-backed flycatcher The slaty-backed flycatcher (''Ficedula erithacus'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowla ...

. There is one rare species of turtle called "Tao Poo Loo" or "Tao Hang" which has a long tail and lives in high elevations along streams in the forests. A common and widespread butterfly is

blue pansy ''Junonia orithya'' is a nymphalid butterfly with many subspecies occurring from Africa, through southern and south-eastern Asia, Cambodia and in Australia. In India, its common English name is the blue pansy, but in southern Africa it is known ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control

Phu Kradueng Phu Kradueng ( th, ภูกระดึง), is a high mountain in Loei Province, Thailand. It is in Phu Kradueng District, giving its name to the district. Its west side borders Nam Nao District of Phetchabun Province. This mountain is part ...

Phetchabun Mountains Protected areas established in 1943 Protected areas established in 1962 Tourist attractions in Loei province 1943 establishments in Thailand 1962 establishments in Thailand