New national park declared in Chiang Mai, Lamphun

[snoop1130]

New national park declared in Chiang Mai, Lamphun

 

 

Thailand has declared a new national park that covers rich forest areas in Chiang Mai and Lamphun provinces.

 

The declaration of the 354.3-square-kilometre Mae Takhrai national park was published in the Royal Gazette on Dec 12 after receiving royal approval.

 

It will be the country’s 131st national park.

 

Mae Takhrai national park covers Mae Kuang, Sansai, Mae On, Khun Mae Tha, Mae Ti-Mae Tip, Mae Sarn forests in Doi Saket, Sansai, San Kamphaeng of Chiang Mai, and Muang district of Lamphun province.

 

Full Story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/new-national-park-declared-chiang-mai-lamphun/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2017-12-15

[MaeJoMTB]

Entrance fee 20bht locals, 200bht white folk.

[BuaBS]

2 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Entrance fee 20bht locals, 200bht white folk.

400 THB !

A map showing the area of the park , would have been nice and informative .

[Ruffian Dick]

3 hours ago, BuaBS said:

400 THB !

A map showing the area of the park , would have been nice and informative .

Ask and you shall receive.

http://mychiangmaitour.com/maetakhrai_national_park/

Connecting these "islands" is crucial to biodiversity in northern Thailand's wilds. Good to see this happening.

[BuaBS]

Thanks Ruffian . A good article should have included it.

Weird patchy form though , not one big piece of land.

[connda]

Best of luck attempting to find it using either of the maps from the website provided by Ruffian Dick <tip of the hat for the link RD>.  So let me throw my two cents into the pot in order to attempt to clarify where this really is located.
Other than highway 1006 there are no other roads marked on the first map that would actually tell you how to get to this park.  Nothing is to scale and the location on the first map is completely different than the second map which shows the park on highway 118. Maeta Khrai is not on highway 118, its at the end of rural highway 1230 that I live on.   Map making is definitely not a strong skill set here in Thailand.  However I do know where Wat Maeta Khrai is, and judging by the rather misconstruction first map and based on my knowledge of the mountain ranges and other positions of other highways, that looks to be accessible from Chiang Mai by following highways 1006 or 1317 to highway 1229 which takes you over a mountain range into a valley to connect to highway 1230 which goes north into Maeta Khrai from Ban Mae.  Interesting Buddhist temple in that area (Wat Maeta Khrai  https://foursquare.com/v/วดแมตะไคร/4d6ef1d85b5ca1cd24dd6544).  Visit it and you'll understand.  Also, the map shows highway 1229 crossing and extending past 1230.  Not so - it ends at that intersection - you have to turn left and head north on 1230.  Ban Mae (not Ban Mai) is a sleepy little village where dogs lay in the middle of the road because that area is devoid of traffic.  Pop these GPS coordinates (18.740070, 99.309842) into Google Map and you find Nam Dtok Maeta Khrai or Maeta Khrai Waterfall with no roads going to it (zoom in and look for these Thai characters น้ำตกแม่ตะไคร้ to the right of the road) which is (nam dtok mae dta krai). Directly below those coordinates is Maeta Khrai reservoir (Ang Gep Nam Hui Maeta Khrai).   I haven't been up in that area since last year.  May have to get on the motorcycle and see if I can actually find an entrance to a 'national park'.  This place is rural and then some.   On the plus side, the government has done a nice job resurfacing the roads in that area which use to be a collection of pot holes.  Of further interest, to the south on highway 1230 about 30 km down the road you'll find a road taking you to Doi Khuntan National Park and before the park, the Doi Khuntan Railway Tunnel, all worth a visit.  And about 3 km past the road to Doi Khun Tan in our not so sleepy village on highway 1230 about 9 km from highway 11 south of Lamphun, you'll find Gassan Khuntan Golf Course and then Saphan Kaow Railway Bridge Park where this weekend they are holding a running and bicycling competition.  We definitely live in a beautiful little valley out here in Northeast Lamphun province where parks abound.  Pretty soon the government will be charging me 400 THB to enter my own driveway! 

Edited December 16, 2017 by connda

[Samuel Smith]

2 hours ago, connda said:

Other than highway 1006 there are no other roads marked on the first map that would actually tell you how to get to this park.  Nothing is to scale and the location on the first map is completely different than the second map which shows the park on highway 118. Maeta Khrai is not on highway 118, 

Actually, Mae Ta Khrai NP is also on hwy118.  Located here 18.967122, 99.242745.  That's the part most visitors get to see.  There's  camp ground by the river & NP admin buildings on the other side.  Apart from that, the only access to the NP there is with rangers to hike into the mountainous terrain.

 

The whole park is quite extensive, including Doi Lang Ka Luang & surrounding very extreme terrain.  Great hiking area.  

 

Sounds like they're extending its boundaries further south to include the hills & reservoirs along the eastern edge of Chiang Mai / Lamphun valley.

 

I doubt they can enforce entrance fees, but it gives "protection" to the areas within its boundaries.  Not sure it's a new NP either.

Edited December 16, 2017 by Samuel Smith

[connda]

2 hours ago, Samuel Smith said:

Actually, Mae Ta Khrai NP is also on hwy118.  Located here 18.967122, 99.242745.  That's the part most visitors get to see.  There's  camp ground by the river & NP admin buildings on the other side.  Apart from that, the only access to the NP there is with rangers to hike into the mountainous terrain.

 

Wow, that's confusing, ain't it.  Big park.  I just looked at the map on the link and it was showing 'park headquarters' at the end of road 1230.  But honestly, highway 118 is more accessible.  I can't say I have ever seen campground up in our neck of the wood.  But I may head out that direction this weekend an take another look.  Maybe they have built something new since last year.  Thanks for the additional info! 

[Samuel Smith]

31 minutes ago, connda said:

Wow, that's confusing, ain't it.  Big park.  I just looked at the map on the link and it was showing 'park headquarters' at the end of road 1230.  But honestly, highway 118 is more accessible.  I can't say I have ever seen campground up in our neck of the wood.  But I may head out that direction this weekend an take another look.  Maybe they have built something new since last year.  Thanks for the additional info! 

Take a look near the reservoir east of Mae Ta Krai temple.  Maybe not a camp ground, but there might be place to stay on the south side of the dam.  Various other NP buildings to north of reservoir.

[canthai55]

22 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Entrance fee 20bht locals, 200bht white folk.

You need a pink ID card

[canthai55]

6 hours ago, connda said:

  Of further interest, to the south on highway 1230 about 30 km down the road you'll find a road taking you to Doi Khuntan National Park and before the park, the Doi Khuntan Railway Tunnel, all worth a visit. 

I do this route as a day trip on my bikes. 1317 1229 1230 Doi Khun Tan, down to Lampang, return. Nice.

Lots of work going on climbing the hill to the park gates - new concrete roads, drains, asphalt going up the switchbacks.

[Samuel Smith]

2 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

I do this route as a day trip on my bikes. 1317 1229 1230 Doi Khun Tan, down to Lampang, return. Nice.

Lots of work going on climbing the hill to the park gates - new concrete roads, drains, asphalt going up the switchbacks.

That's a lot of pedalling.  Must give it a go!

[canthai55]

21 minutes ago, Samuel Smith said:

That's a lot of pedalling.  Must give it a go!

no pedals since 1968. Twist of the wrist !

[connda]

23 hours ago, canthai55 said:

You need a pink ID card

Actually, you just need to speak Thai, have a drivers license, and joke with them.  With the exception of Doi Inthanon I haven't paid full price in years.  And there isn't anything at Doi Inthanon worth paying full price for anyway.  Doi Inthanon is a foothill compared to mountains that are a short plane flight to Northwest of Thailand. 

[dfdgfdfdgs]

On 12/16/2017 at 6:17 AM, Samuel Smith said:

Not sure it's a new NP either.

 

There are a lot of these forest reserves, 'no hunting areas' and wildlife conservation sanctuaries, some of them later go on to become National Parks but most of them already have most of the facilities set up before they make the transition, so nobody would notice much difference.

[dfdgfdfdgs]

18 minutes ago, connda said:

Actually, you just need to speak Thai, have a drivers license, and joke with them.

 

They're cracking down on this recently and whilst you can probably make it work at some of the national parks, your chances are slim at most of them.  If the staff get caught letting a foreigner through for Thai price they could lose their job.

 

Personally I usually check out satellite view on Google maps, or GPS trails online, and find another way through to where I want to go, which avoids any official entrances or checkpoints.  Sometimes you have to hack through jungle for a few hundred metres, but rather that than contribute to xenophobic pricing policies.

[Ruffian Dick]

On 12/17/2017 at 2:18 AM, dfdgfdfdgs said:

Personally I usually check out satellite view on Google maps, or GPS trails online, and find another way through to where I want to go, which avoids any official entrances or checkpoints.  Sometimes you have to hack through jungle for a few hundred metres, but rather that than contribute to xenophobic pricing policies.

Wow. To save $5? Check out park entrance fees for Yosemite (for US citizens) sometime. 

[dfdgfdfdgs]

12 hours ago, Ruffian Dick said:

Wow. To save $5? Check out park entrance fees for Yosemite (for US citizens) sometime. 

 

I don't know what type of dollar you mean or what $5 is in baht.  Park entrance is between 100-500 baht.  I think it's wrong to take a country's best assets and force everybody to pay to enter them, whatever the cost.  I also think it's wrong to charge different amounts depending on where people were born.  For both reasons I try and avoid entrance fees whenever reasonably possible (I draw the line at swimming or kayaking 30 miles to Koh Surin to avoid the 500 baht).