Phu Pha Thoep National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติภูผาเทิบ), formerly known as Mukdahan National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติมุกดาหาร), 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 Mukdahan 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 ...

. This park, one of the country's smallest national parks, is home to unusual rock formations and a cave with ancient hand paintings.

Geography

Phu Pha Thoep National Park is located about south of

Mukdahan Mukdahan ( th, มุกดาหาร, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') and capital of Mukdahan Province, which became Thailand's 73rd province in 1982. In the northern region of the country, on the right (west) bank Mekong River, it was form ...

Mueang Mueang ( th, เมือง ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( lo, ເມືອງ ''mɯ́ang'', ; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''muang''), Mong ( shn, ''mə́ŋ'', ), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese), were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principali ...

and

Don Tan Don Tan (, ) is the southeasternmost district (''amphoe'') of Mukdahan province, northeastern Thailand. History Originally Don Tan was a ''tambon'' of Mukdahan district, Nakhon Phanom province. Don Tan was upgraded to a minor district ('' kin ...

districts. The park's area is 30,245 rai ~ . The highest point is Phu Jongsi peak at .

History

Phu Pha Thoep National Park is home to a cave with hand paintings estimated to be 3,000 to 5,000 years old. The cave name, Tham Fa Mue Daeng, means "red hand", referring to the red colour of the paintings.

Attractions

Phu Tam Pra is a mainly seasonal waterfall. Above this waterfall is a cave grotto housing a three-foot wide

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

image along with hundreds of smaller wooden Buddha images and animal models. The park's namesake mountain Phu Pha Thoep hosts a complex of rocks in eroded formations thought to resemble mushrooms, temples, swans etc. The viewpoint atop Phu Mano affords views of

city, the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...

river and neighbouring

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Flora and fauna

The park features forest types including mixed and

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 ...

. Tree species include ''

Afzelia xylocarpa ''Afzelia xylocarpa'' is a tree from Southeast Asia. It grows in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma in deciduous forests. It can reach 30 metres tall with a trunk up to 2 metres in diameter in a mature specimen. Uses The seeds are harv ...

'', '' Anisoptera costata'', ''

Dalbergia cochinchinensis ''Dalbergia cochinchinensis'', the Thailand rosewood, Siamese rosewood, or tracwood, ( th, พะยูง: ''Phayung'' ; Vietnamese: Trắc (or Cẩm lai nam bộ); Khmer: ក្រញូង: ''Kranhung'' ; Lao: ກະຍູງ: ''Kayung'' ; C ...

'', '' Dalbergia oliveri'', ''

Irvingia malayana ''Irvingia malayana'', also known as wild almond ( vi, Kơ nia, th, กระบก, km, ចំបក់) or barking deer’s mango, is a tropical evergreen tree species in the family Irvingiaceae. The specific epithet ' is from the Latin meani ...

'', '' Lagerstroemia calyculata'', '' Pterocarpus macrocarpus'', ''

Shorea roxburghii ''Shorea roxburghii'' is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is native to Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam. Common names * Malay: ''temak'', a name it sometimes shares with ''Shorea hypochra'' * th ...

'', '' Shorea obtusa'', '' Shorea siamensis'', '' Toona ciliata'' and ''

Dalbergia obtusifolia ''Dalbergia'' is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Dalbergia'' clade (or tribe): the Dalbergieae. The g ...

''. Various species of ''

Dillenia ''Dillenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dilleniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of southern Asia, Australasia, and the Indian Ocean islands. The genus is named after the German botanist Johann Jacob Dillenius, ...

'', '' Barringtonia'' and ''

Cratoxylum ''Cratoxylum'' (or ''Cratoxylon'' , an orthographic variant) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae, native to tropical Asia. The generic name is from the Greek meaning "strong wood", referring to the timber. Description ''Cra ...

'' are also present. Animals in the park include

northern pig-tailed macaque The northern pig-tailed macaque (''Macaca leonina'') is a vulnerable species of macaque in the subfamily Cercopithecidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Traditionally, ''M. leonina'' w ...

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 ...

, golden jackal,

common palm civet The Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''), also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad range ...

, northern red muntjac ('' Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis'') and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

. The park's many birds include junglefowl,

green peafowl The green peafowl or Indonesian peafowl (''Pavo muticus'') is a peafowl species native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2009 because the global population has been declining r ...

and pheasant. In 2005, specimens of a new frog species, ''

Fejervarya triora ''Fejervarya triora'' is a species of frogs belonging to the family Dicroglossidae. Its type locality is in Phu Chong-Na Yoi National Park, Ubon Ratchathani Province in the far east of Thailand. It is also known from Mukdahan National Park in ...

'', were discovered in the park.

References

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

Geography

History

Attractions

Flora and fauna

See also

References