The Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าทุ่งใหญ่นเรศวร, ) is a protected area in
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 ...
in the northern part of
Kanchanaburi Province and the southern part of
Tak Province
Tak ( th, ตาก, , Burmese: တာ့ခ် pronounced ak is one of Thailand's seventy-seven provinces (''changwat'') and lies in lower northern Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, ...
. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1972, and a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by UNESCO in 1991 together with the adjoining
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าห้วยขาแข้ง, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the l ...
.
Location and topography
The sanctuary is at the western national border of Thailand with
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, in the southern area of the
Dawna Range
The Dawna Range (; th, ทิวเขาถนนธงชัยตะวันตก, ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู), also known as Dawna Hills, is a mountain range in eastern Burma and northwestern Thailand. Its northern e ...
. It extends northeast of the
Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass ( Phlone ; my, ဘုရားသုံးဆူ တောင်ကြားလမ်း, ''Paya Thon Zu Taung Za Lang'', ; th, ด่านเจดีย์สามองค์, , ) is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the ...
from
Sangkhla Buri District in Kanchanaburi Province into
Umphang District
Umphang ( th, อุ้มผาง, ) is the southernmost district (''amphoe'') of Tak province, Thailand, established by the Royal Decree Establishing Amphoe Umphang, BE 2502 (1959), which came into force on 6 May 1959.
The district is on the ...
in Tak Province.
The wildlife sanctuary stretches over an area of 2,279,500 rai ~ ,
and is the largest protected area in Thailand.
Together with the adjoining
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าห้วยขาแข้ง, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the l ...
( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าห้วยขาแข้ง) it constitutes the core area of the
Western Forest Complex
The Western Forest Complex, straddling two countries, Thailand and Myanmar, including 19 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, is the main biodiversity conservation corridor of the region. Covering 18,730 km2, it is one of the largest pro ...
, which represents the largest agglomeration of contiguous protected area in
mainland Southeast Asia
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
, .
Management of this wildlife sanctuary is split between two protected areas regional offices: PARO 12 (Tak) manages the west part and PARO 3 (Ban Pong) manages the east part of this wildlife sanctuary.
* Thung Yai Naresuan West Wildlife Sanctuary, 1,331,062 rai ~
* Thung Yai Naresuan East Wildlife Sanctuary, 948,438 rai ~
The area is predominantly mountainous and composed of various
limestones
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when th ...
interspersed with massive intrusions of
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and smaller outcrops of
quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
and
schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...
. Elevations range from about at the
Vajiralongkorn Reservoir in the south of the sanctuary to its highest peak, Khao Tai Pa, at . Major rivers are the
Mae Klong
The Mae Klong (, , ), sometimes spelled Mae Khlong or Meklong, is a river in western Thailand. The river begins at the confluence of the Khwae Noi (Khwae Sai Yok) and the Khwae Yai River (Khwae Si Sawat) in Kanchanaburi, it passes Ratchaburi ...
and the Mae Chan which originate in the
Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary
Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าอุ้มผาง) is a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand site in the Umphang District of Tak Province, northwestern Thailand. It was announced as ...
and join in Thung Yai into the Upper
Khwae Yai which feeds the
Si Nakharin Reservoir. Various smaller rivers in the south and southwest feed the
Vajiralongkorn Reservoir while in the northwestern part of the sanctuary the Mae Kasat and the Mae Suriya flow into
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
[
]
Climate and rainfall
The climate of the region is characterised by three seasons: a hot, wet season from May to October, a cooler, dry period from November to January and a hot, dry season from February to April. Average minimum and maximum daily temperatures range from in the wet season, in the hot, dry season, and in the cooler season. Day-time temperatures can exceed in April, while nighttime temperatures of are not uncommon in the cool season.
The average annual rainfall decreases from the western part of the sanctuary receiving a year to annual rainfalls of between 1,600 and 2,000 millimetres in the eastern parts of the sanctuary. Over 80 percent of the rain is brought by the southwest monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
from the Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...
.[
]
Flora and habitat types
Phytogeographically
Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...
the sanctuary lies at the interface between the terminal southern ridges of the eastern Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
and the equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to:
*Earth's equator
**the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region
**tropical climate
*the Celestial equator
** equatorial orbit
**equatorial coordinate system
** equatorial mount, of telescopes
* equatorial ...
forests of the great Sunda Shelf
Geologically, the Sunda Shelf is a south-eastern extension of the continental shelf of Mainland Southeast Asia. Major landmasses on the shelf include the Bali, Borneo, Java, Madura, and Sumatra, as well as their surrounding smaller islands. ...
. As most of the sanctuary is botanically
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
unexplored, scientific knowledge about its rich flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
is sparse.
montane evergreen forests cover about 15 percent of the sanctuary and occur along the mountain ridges above 1,000 metres where moisture levels are high.
Seasonal or dry evergreen forests are found on about 31 percent of the area, predominantly on land lying between 800–1,000 metres elevation. Gallery evergreen forests occur along permanent watercourses, where humidity is high and the soil perpetually moist. They are often categorized under dry evergreen forests, but are particularly important to the sanctuary's fauna.
Mixed deciduous forest
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Description
TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...
is the most common forest type in Thung Yai, covering about 45 percent, predominantly in areas below elevation.
Dry 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 ...
forest is a formation unique to mainland Southeast Asia
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
and is found on about one percent of the area.
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 ...
forest and grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
covers about four percent, predominantly in the ''thung yai'' or "big field" covering about 140 km2 at the centre of the sanctuary.[
The remaining 4% of the area are categorized as ]secondary forest
A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
s, fallow
Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycl ...
areas, and swidden fields in the nomination for the World Heritage Site, but include also various 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 ...
forests which are not included in this classification.[
]
Fauna
Like the flora, the fauna of Thung Yai provides a specific mix of species with Sundaic, Indo-Chinese, Indo-Burmese and Sino-Himalayan affinities due to the sanctuary's particular biogeographic
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...
location. The savanna forest of Thung Yai is the most complete and secure example of Southeast Asia's dry tropical forest.
Among the mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
species living in Thung Yai are 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 ...
(''Hylobates lar''), various species of macaque
The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...
(''Macaca'') and lutung
The lutungs, langurs, or leaf monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys in the genus ''Trachypithecus'' (derived from Greek , meaning "rough" and , meaning "monkey"). Their range is much of Southeast Asia (northeast India, Vietnam, southern Chin ...
(''Trachypithecus''), Indochinese tiger
The Indochinese tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to Southeast Asia. This population occurs in Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. In 2011, the population was thought to comprise 342 individuals, includin ...
(''Panthera tigris tigris''), Indochinese leopard
The Indochinese leopard (''Panthera pardus delacouri'') is a leopard subspecies native to mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. In Indochina, leopards are rare outside protected areas and threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation as w ...
(''Panthera pardus delacouri''), clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), sun bear
The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a species in the family Ursidae (the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'') occurring in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the smallest bear, standing nearly at the shoulder and weighing ...
(''Helarctos malayanus'') and Asian black bear
The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It lives in the Himalayas, sout ...
(''Ursus thibetanus''), Malayan tapir
The Malayan tapir (''Tapirus indicus''), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir and Indian tapir, is the only tapir species native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since ...
(''Tapirus indicus''), Indian elephant
The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia.
Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild po ...
(''Elephas maximus indicus''), gaur
The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...
(''Bos gaurus''), hog deer
''Axis'' is a genus of deer occurring in South and Southeast Asia. As presently defined by most authorities, four species are placed in the genus. Three of the four species are called hog deer. The genus name is a word mentioned in Pliny the Eld ...
(''Cervus porcinus''), sambar (''Rusa unicolor''), Fea's muntjac
The Fea's muntjac or Tenasserim muntjac (''Muntiacus feae'') is a rare species of muntjac native to southern Myanmar and Thailand. It is a similar size to the common muntjac (adult weight is 18 – 21 kg (40 - 46 lb)).
It is diurnal and ...
(''Muntiacus feae'') und 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 ...
(''Capricornis sumatraensis'') as well as many bat species probably including Kitti's hog-nosed bat
Kitti's hog-nosed bat (''Craseonycteris thonglongyai''), also known as the bumblebee bat, is a near-threatened species of bat and the only extant member of the family Craseonycteridae. It occurs in western Thailand and southeast Myanmar, where i ...
(''Craseonycteris thonglongyai''). Thung Yai is part of the Western Forest Complex
The Western Forest Complex, straddling two countries, Thailand and Myanmar, including 19 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, is the main biodiversity conservation corridor of the region. Covering 18,730 km2, it is one of the largest pro ...
, which is the largest tiger habitat in the Southeast Asia region, with around 200 of the animals living there. The area is known as a natural breeding area for tigers in Thailand and Myanmar as well.
Banteng (''Bos javanicus'') and wild water buffalo
The wild water buffalo (''Bubalus arnee''), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large Bovinae, bovine native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as ''Endangered species, Endangered'' i ...
(''Bubalus amee'') are known to occur in the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าห้วยขาแข้ง, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the l ...
and may exist in Thung Yai too. Indications for the occurrence of Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus'') and northern Sumatran rhinoceros
The Northern Sumatran rhinoceros (''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis''), also known as Chittagong rhinoceros or northern hairy rhinoceros was the most widespread subspecies of Sumatran rhinoceros, as well as the only known subspecies native to ma ...
(''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis'') in the area are recorded from the 1980s, but have not been confirmed since then.
Bird species sighted in Thung Yai include white-winged wood duck
The white-winged duck or white-winged wood duck (''Asarcornis scutulata'') is a large species of duck, formerly placed in the genus ''Cairina'' with the Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and allied with the dabbling ducks. However, mtDNA cy ...
(''Cairina scutulata''), kalij pheasant
The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos'') is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have at ...
(''Lophura leucomelanos''), grey peacock-pheasant
The gray peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron bicalcaratum''), also known as Burmese peacock-pheasant, is a large Asian member of the order (biology), order Galliformes.
Taxonomy
In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards (naturalist), George Ed ...
(''Polyplectron bicalcaratum''), green peafowl (''Pavo muticus''), spot-billed pelican
The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...
(''Pelecanus philippensis''), Oriental darter
The Oriental darter (''Anhinga melanogaster'') is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and, like the cormorant, it hunts for fish while its body is submerged in water ...
(''Anhinga melanogaster''), painted stork
The painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala'') is a large wading bird, wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Thei ...
(''Mycteria leucocephala''), greater adjutant (''Leptoptilos dubius''), red-headed vulture
The red-headed vulture (''Sarcogyps calvus''), also known as the Asian king vulture, Indian black vulture or Pondicherry vulture, is an Old World vulture mainly found in the Indian subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in some parts of So ...
(''Sarcogyps calvus''), mountain hawk-eagle
The mountain hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus nipalensis'') or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself ...
(''Nisaetus nipalensis''), lesser fish eagle
The lesser fish eagle (''Haliaeetus humilis'') is a species of ''Haliaeetus'' found in the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the foothills of the Himalayas, and south-east Asia. There are records from Gujarat, Central India and in more recent t ...
(''Ichthyophaga humilis'') and all six species of hornbill
Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (an ...
(''Bucerotidae'') living in mainland Southeast Asia.[
The nomination for the two wildlife sanctuaries, Thung Yai Naresuan and Huai Kha Khaeng, to become World Heritage Sites lists some 120 species of ]mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
, 400 birds, 96 reptiles, 43 amphibian
Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
s, and 113 species of fish, but research on the biodiversity in the sanctuaries is sparse.[
]
Poaching
According to the ''Bangkok Post'', the preserve, "... has been notorious for decades as an area where rich and powerful people enjoy poaching and game hunting." In early 2018, Premchai Karnasuta, the president of the Italian-Thai Development
The Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited ( th, บริษัท อิตาเลียนไทย ดีเวล๊อปเมนต์ จำกัด (มหาชน)) was formed on 15 August 1958 as the "Italian-Thai Corpora ...
PLC (ITD), one of Thailand's largest construction companies, was arrested in the sanctuary in possession of skinned carcasses of protected wild animals, including a black leopard
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been ...
, a Kalij pheasant
The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos'') is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have at ...
, and a common muntjac
Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...
(also known as a barking deer), as well as three rifles and ammunition. Premchai faces several charges including trespassing and poaching. He has maintained his innocence. "I didn't do it," he told local media. He has failed to explain, however, why he was in the wildlife sanctuary and how the carcasses of the freshly killed leopard and several other endangered animals ended up in his possession. If convicted, he may be incarcerated for up to 28 years. Conservationists fear that the billionaire will be let off lightly for a wildlife crime that would see an average citizen sent to prison for years.
In the most high-profile poaching case, on 29 April 1973 a military helicopter crashed in the sanctuary, killing six high-ranking police and military officers. It turned out that they were part of a group of more than 50 officers on an illegal four-day hunting trip in the preserve. The report claimed these hunters cooked and ate the animals they killed at parties. The military refused to admit wrongdoing and the event was brushed aside by the prime minister. The scandal eventually led to the 14 October uprising that ended the military government and led to a three-year period of democratic rule.
Illegal poaching by the rich and powerful is common in Thailand, said a spokesman for the Wildlife Friends Foundation. "The police, rich people and government officials do it all the time," he said. "I think it's because rich people want to show off to their friends that they have ''barami'' ( th, บารมี, social power), that they can afford to hunt because they have so much money."
History
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
, Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
and Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
stone tools have been found in the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River ( th, แม่น้ำแควใหญ่, , ), also known as the Si Sawat ( ), is a river in western Thailand. It has its source in the Tenasserim Hills and flows for about through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang ...
valleys and parts of the sanctuary were inhabited by Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
man. For at least 700 years, the Dawna- Tenasserim region has been home to Mon and Karen people
The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...
, but burial grounds in Thung Yai and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าห้วยขาแข้ง, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the l ...
have not been systematically researched.
The Thai name "Thung Yai Naresuan" refers to the "big field" (''thung yai'') or 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 ...
in the centre of the sanctuary, and to King Naresuan
King Naresuan the Great (( th, สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช, , ) or Sanphet II ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๒), ( my , နရဲစွမ် (သို့) ဗြနရာဇ်); 1555/1556 – ...
, a famous Siamese ruler who supposedly based his army in the area to wage war against Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
sometime during his reign of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...
from 1590 until his death in 1605.[
The ]Karen people
The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...
who live in the sanctuary call the 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 ...
''pia aethala aethea'' which may be translated as "place of the knowing sage". It refers to the area as a place where ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
hermits
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
called ''aethea'' have lived and meditated and may do so even today. The Karen in Thung Yai regard them as holy men important for their history and identity in Thung Yai and revere them in a specific cult.[
Historical sources as well as local oral tradition suggest that settlement of ]Karen people
The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...
in Thung Yai did not occur before the second half of the 18th century. At that time, due to political and religious persecution in Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, predominantly Pwo-Karen from the hinterlands of Moulmein
Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...
and Tavoy
Dawei (, ; mnw, ဓဝဲါ, ; th, ทวาย, RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the northern bank of ...
migrated into the area northeast of the Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass ( Phlone ; my, ဘုရားသုံးဆူ တောင်ကြားလမ်း, ''Paya Thon Zu Taung Za Lang'', ; th, ด่านเจดีย์สามองค์, , ) is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the ...
, where they received formal settlement rights from the Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
ese Governor of Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi ( th, กาญจนบุรี, ) is a town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') in the west of Thailand and part of Kanchanaburi Province. In 2006 it had a population of 31,327. That number was reduced to 25,651 in 2017. The town ...
. Sometime between 1827 and 1839 the Siamese King Rama III
Nangklao ( th, พระบาทสมเด็จพระนั่งเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว, ; 31 March 1788 – 2 April 1851), birth name Thap ( th, ทับ), also styled Rama III, was the third king of Siam ...
established this area as a principality (''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 the Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
leader who governed the principality received the Siamese title of nobility ''Phra Si Suwannakhiri''. During the second half of the 19th century, this Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
principality at the Burmese border became particularly important for the Siamese King Rama V
Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...
(Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...
) in his negotiations with the British colonial power in Burma regarding the demarcation of their western border with Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
.[
At the beginning of the 20th century, when the modern Thai nation state was established, the ]Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
in Thung Yai lost their former status and importance. During the first half of the 20th century, external political influences were minimal in Thung Yai and the Karen communities were highly autonomous regarding their internal affairs. This changed in the second half of the 20th century, when the Thai nation state extended its institutions into the peripheral areas and the Karen re-appeared as ''chao khao'' or "hill tribes
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
" on the national political agenda, as forest destroyers and illegal immigrants.[
Plans to protect the forests and wildlife at the upper Khwae Yai and ]Khwae Noi river
The River Kwai (), more correctly Khwae Noi ( th, แควน้อย, , 'small tributary') or Khwae Sai Yok (, ), is a river in western Thailand. It rises to the east of the Salween in the north-south spine of the Bilauktaung range near, but ...
grew in the mid-1960s. Due to strong logging and mining interests in the area, it was not before 1972 that the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าห้วยขาแข้ง, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the l ...
could be established, and Thung Yai resistance was even stronger. However, in April 1973 a military helicopter crashed near Thung Yai and revealed an illegal hunting party of senior military officers with family members, businessmen, and a film star, arousing nationwide public outrage which finally led to the fall of the Thanom-Prapas Regime after the uprising of 14 October 1973. After this accident and under a new democratic government, the area finally could be declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1974. After the military had taken power once again in October 1976, many of the activists of the democracy movement fled into peripheral regions of the country and some of them found refuge among the Karen people
The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...
living in Thung Yai.[
During the 1960s, not only timber and ore, but also the water of the western forests as hydroelectric power resources became of interest for commercial profit and national development. A system of several big dams was planned to produce electricity for the growing urban centres. On the ]Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River ( th, แม่น้ำแควใหญ่, , ), also known as the Si Sawat ( ), is a river in western Thailand. It has its source in the Tenasserim Hills and flows for about through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang ...
the Si Nakharin Dam
The Srinagarind Dam (''also known as the'' Srinakarin Dam; th, เขื่อนศรีนครินทร์; ; ) is an embankment dam on the Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River ( th, แม่น้ำแควใหญ่, , ), also ...
was finished in 1980 and the Tha Thung Na Dam in 1981, while the Khao Laem Dam (renamed Vajiralongkorn Dam
Vajiralongkorn Dam ( th, เขื่อนวชิราลงกรณ; ), also called the Khao Laem Dam (), is a concrete-faced rock-fill dam (CFRD) in Thong Pha Phum District in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The dam lies across the Khwae Noi Riv ...
) on the Khwae Noi River
The River Kwai (), more correctly Khwae Noi ( th, แควน้อย, , 'small tributary') or Khwae Sai Yok (, ), is a river in western Thailand. It rises to the east of the Salween in the north-south spine of the Bilauktaung range near, but ...
south of Thung Yai was completed in 1984. The Nam Choan Dam, the last of the projected dams, was supposed to flood a forest area of about 223 km2 within the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary.
A public dispute about the Nam Choan Dam project lasted for more than six years, dominating national politics and public debate in early-1988 before it was shelved in April that year. Pointing to the high value of Thung Yai for nature conservation and biodiversity, dam opponents on the national and international level raised the possibility of declaring the area a world heritage site. This prestigious option would have been lost with a huge dam and reservoir in the middle of the two wildlife sanctuaries most promising to meet the requirements for a global heritage.[
After the dam project was shelved, the proposal to UNESCO was written by ]Seub Nakhasathien
Seub Nakhasathien ( th, สืบ นาคะเสถียร, ,RTGS suep nakhasathian; 31 December 1948 – 1 September 1990) was a Thai conservationist, environmental activist, and scholar who is renowned for his effort to protect Cheow Lan ...
and another outspoken opponent of the Nam Choan Dam, and, in December 1991, Thung Yai Naresuan together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าห้วยขาแข้ง, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the l ...
was declared a Natural World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by UNESCO. In the nomination, the "outstanding universal value" of the two sanctuaries is, in first place, justified with their extraordinary high biodiversity due to their unique position at the junction of four biogeographic zones, as well as with its size and "the undisturbed nature of its habitats".[ The death of Seub Nakhasathien, the forest conservator instrumental in the UNESCO listing who committed suicide in 1990, transformed the status of Thung Yai Naresuan and the adjacent Huay Kha Kaeng Complex into a sacrosanct site and inspired many young persons to become forest patrol staff.]
Even though the UNESCO nomination explicitly emphasizes the "undisturbed nature" of the area,[ and notwithstanding scientific studies supporting traditional settlement and use rights of the ]Karen people
The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...
in Thung Yai as well as the sustainability of their traditional land use system and their strong intention to remain in their homeland and to protect it, governmental authorities regard the people living in Thung Yai as a threat to the sanctuary and pursue their resettlement.
Karen villages in Huai Kha Khaeng
The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east ...
were removed when the sanctuary was established in 1972, and in the late-1970s the remaining communities in Huai Kha Khaeng had to leave when the Si Nakharin Dam
The Srinagarind Dam (''also known as the'' Srinakarin Dam; th, เขื่อนศรีนครินทร์; ; ) is an embankment dam on the Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River ( th, แม่น้ำแควใหญ่, , ), also ...
flooded their settlement areas. During the 1980s and early-1990s, villages of the Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
ethnic minority group were removed from the Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuaries. The resettlement of the remaining Karen in Thung Yai was announced in the management plan for the sanctuary, drafted in the late-1980s, as well as in the proposal for the world heritage site. But, when the Thai Royal Forest Department tried to remove them in the early-1990s, it had to reverse the resettlement scheme due to strong public criticism. Since then, the authorities have used repression, intimidation, and terror to convince the Karen to leave their homeland "voluntarily", and placed restrictions on their traditional land use system which will inevitably cause its breakdown and deprive the Karen of subsistence.[
the sanctuary employs about 200 staff to care for more than 1.3 million ]rai
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
(2,080 km2). The sanctuary is larger than the total area of Bangkok, which is 98,000 rai in size. There are 25 ranger stations inside the sanctuary. Each station is assigned three firearms, some inoperable. Sanctuary staff patrol some 12,000 km of forest paths, and another 10,000 km in the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng sanctuary. The Thailand Development Research Institute
The Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI – th, สถาบันวิจัยเพื่อการพัฒนาประเทศไทย) is a non-profit non-government Thai policy think tank focused on social and economic de ...
(TDRI) calculates that each forest staffer needs to police 2,083 rai (3.3 km2). In Thailand overall there are 443 protected forest zones totalling 66.3 million rai, or 20.68 percent of the country's total area. The government allocates a budget of around 61 baht per rai to manage them.
See also
* Wildlife of Thailand
* Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
References
External links
Information regarding ethnic minority people living in the sanctuary
Yai.org Western Forest Conservation Club
*
{{Wildlife sanctuaries of Thailand
World Heritage Sites in Thailand
Wildlife sanctuaries of Thailand
Geography of Kanchanaburi province
Geography of Tak province
Protected areas established in 1974
1974 establishments in Thailand
Dawna Range