Sphagnum moss -- living sponge at Doi Inthanon
By English News

CHIANG MAI: -- Located near the peak of Thailand's highest mountain, 'Doi Inthanon', Ang Ka is a swamp forest similar to a natural reservoir storing seeping underground water.

The 'Ang Ka Nature Trail' is 360 meters long, passing through wet and cold areas in a lush valley. Here is where sphagnum moss and other plants grow, covering the whole area like a blanket covers all trees -- a local charm that attracts tourists in the beginning of the cool season.

Moreover, the so-called 'sphagnum moss field' is the biggest of its kind in the country, like a red and green carpet laid along the nature trail on the floor, shrubs and big trees, putting beautiful colours into the forest.

"The forest is rich and beautiful," a tourist says.

"It's beautiful, fresh, colouring this area. It's nice to take pictures here. I'm impressed," comments another tourist.

Sphagnum moss is found only in high altitudes of more than 2,000 metres from sea level. It is not only beautiful, but it is like a living sponge owing to its quality of reducing moisture and absorbing water.

Doi Inthanon is located in Mae Chaem District in the northern province of Chiang Mai. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-11-17

This article has whetted my desire to visit this area. I am an avid gardener and nature lover.

I was once travelling with a Thai through the beautiful Otway Ranges in Victoria, Australia. He remarked on its beauty. I suggested that we stop and walk in the forest a bit and he could see nature close up. "No I can see it from the car" was his response. I stopped anyway and we walked. I pointed out all the understory plants growing on the forest floor and how they thrive in the shelter of the larger trees. I showed him the brightly coloured parrots and other birds and told him how they sit in the trees spreading little drops of fertilizer and disperse their seeds. He was amazed by the intricate relationship of the bio-diversity in the bush.

The lady teaching me Thai once told me that Thai tourists when travelling o/s only like to be photographed outside cathedrals and museums and the like. They never want to go inside and learn about the history or culture of the country they are visiting.

If you visit Ang Ka try to learn and understand the park and you will get so much more pleasure from it.

C'mon guys, if we can somehow get beer, girls, sex, accidents and people jumping off balconies into this topic then we might get some postings on it. There must be a bar or massage joint in Ang Ka isn't there???

This is good ecological news

Got three days booked on Doi Inthanon in December - gets pretty cold up at that height.