Private Tour | 3-days wildlife tour in Khao Yai
Why?
A 3-day tour in Khao Yai national park is a great way to discover the wildlife of Thailand. Besides wildlife watching there is time to visit the most interesting scenic sites of the park. No guarantees can be made in nature except lots of trees, but with some luck you might see animals like gibbons, deer, hornbills and various other bird species, macaques, and maybe even elephants.
Honestly, 3 days should be the minimum spent in this beautiful forest. You won't regret it!
What?
On these 3-day trips we spend every day from morning till evening in the jungle. Hiking, game drives, a night drive, visiting scenic highlights like the views and waterfalls, are all activities included on this tour. And one late afternoon we will watch a couple million bats flying out at sunset. We focus mainly on wildlife watching, but do also take time to enjoy the scenery.
Itinerary
Our trips start and end daily at your hotel or other locations we agreed on.
This is an example itinerary. The program might be turned upside down. We adapt to mother nature.
Day 1 - From 8 - 8:30 am till about 8:30 pm
After meeting at the agreed pick-up location in the Pak Chong area, we enter the national park where the wildlife watching will start right away. After a stop at a viewpoint where you will learn more about the park, we continue our drive to search for animals in the tree tops along the road. And after this drive it is time for your first jungle hike.
At a slow pace we take in all the sounds and smells of the forest. Together with your guide you follow any signs that could lead you to an exciting animal sighting. The dense forests make wildlife watching difficult and one needs luck to see the elusive creatures that inhabit this forest.
After the jungle walk it's time for lunch at one of the park restaurants. At midday we head to one of the park's waterfalls to relax a bit before we head out on a late afternoon drive. We will explore the areas where wild elephants occasionally come to forage or visit mineral deposits. Despite them being the largest land mammal, the thick jungle can easily hide them from view, so there are certainly no guarantees of success, but who knows...
We'll have dinner and afterwards we will be joined by a ranger with a powerful spotlight on a truck and will drive a route through both forested and open areas to look for nocturnal creatures. Deer are often seen, but also other animals like porcupines, civets, elephants, and other nocturnal wildlife might show themselves. After this long day you'll be returned to your hotel.
Day 2 - From 8 - 8:30 am till about 6 pm
This second day is similar to day 1, but we will explore different areas.
We'll go trekking in another part of the park and try to look for animals we have not seen on the previous day. Today we'll visit another waterfall, and we'll do another driving safari to search for animals.
After our dinner we'll bring you back to your hotel.
Day 3 - From 8 - 8:30 am till about 5 - 6 pm
The final day, we start again with another beautiful trail, our last jungle hike of the trip.
After lunch we'll head to the highest viewpoint of the park. This area has different vegetation and with luck we might encounter some unusual animals on the way.
After this we leave the park to head to the bat caves. These are located outside the national park and are home to more than a million bats that will exit around sunset to feed on insects. Quite a special sight!
At the end of the tour, you'll be returned to your hotel or to Pak Chong for onward transport.
Where & When?
The tour starts from Pak Chong, which is easy to reach by bus, shuttle minivan, or train from Bangkok. Private transfers by taxi or minivan can be arranged on request.
We can arrange a taxi from Bangkok or back to Bangkok on the last day. It takes 2.5 hours, it costs 2,200 Baht one way.
Our tours are operated all year round.
Tour details in short:
- Duration: 3 day(s)
- Type: Private tour
- Price: 5,200 - 16,800 Baht per person
- Group size: 1 or more people
- Grade: Moderate
- Transport: Safari vehicle
- Start: 8 - 8:30 am (day 1)
- End: 5 - 6 pm (day 3)
What to bring:
- Long trousers
- Rain clothing
- Sweater or light jacket
- Hiking or sport shoes
- Towel
- Flashlight
- Insect repellent
- Sunblock lotion
How much?
You'll be accompanied by a private guide and no other people will join you; the best way to explore nature! Our tours are all-inclusive except for the accommodation.
| Pax | Rate per person |
|---|---|
| 1 | 16,800 THB |
| 2 | 9,400 THB |
| 3 | 7,800 THB |
| 4 | 6,800 THB |
| 5 | 6,100 THB |
| 6 | 5,600 THB |
| 7 | 5,400 THB |
| 8 and up | 5,200 THB |
Tour rates include:
- Entrance fees
- English speaking guide
- Transportation from/to hotel or other meeting point
- All meals
- Snacks & fruit
- Drinking water
- Leech protection socks
Reviews from our guests
By: Lina Slimani | posted Mon 18 Sep, 2023
Nous avons réservé 3 jours de visite dans le parc. Nous avons passé une très bonne 1ere journée. Nous avons vu beaucoup d’animaux que nous n’aurions pas vu sans notre guide donc merci à lui. Nous avons pu voir des le premier jour les éléphants sauvages tant attendus, mais aussi des gibbons, macaques, scorpion, vipère, calaos, insectes… Les deux jours suivants nous nous sommes ennuyées. Vraiment…
Lors de notre réservation, vous avez mentionné des « trecks », mais nous n’avons fait que de la marche dans des sentiers balisés. Nous ne sommes pas du tout allés dans la jungle et c’est vraiment dommage vu la taille du parc! Le safari se passe sur une route bien goudronnée. Si jamais vous voulez vivre une aventure, passez votre chemin. A moins que vous ne soyez retraités.
Une des guides officielle du parc a pris un scorpion dans la forêt et l’a mis dans une bouteille juste pour que les touristes qui faisaient le treck et qui ne l’auraient pas vu puissent faire des photos. C’est une honte! C’est un parc national. Partout où nous sommes allés en Thaïlande et où nous avons vu des animaux il était interdit de les toucher. Nous avons respecté. Le guide est censé donner l’exemple.
Donc en définitif c’est beaucoup trop cher pour l’expérience proposée.
Tour operator's response
Dear Lina,
I have to rely on a google-translated version of your review, because we don't speak French.
I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed.
I understand you wrote: "We had a very good first day. We saw a lot of animals that we would not have seen without our guide so thank you to him. We were able to see the long-awaited wild elephants on the first day, but also gibbons, macaques, scorpions, vipers, hornbills, insects... The next two days we were bored. Really... When we booked, you mentioned “trecks”, but we only did walking on marked trails. We didn’t go into the jungle at all and it’s a shame considering the size of the park! The safari takes place on a well-paved road. If you ever want an adventure, move on. Unless you are retired."
You have walked various trails with our guide over the course of the entire tour. All those tracks are through proper forest, so i don't really get your point. Yes, all trails are marked trails, because park regulations don't allow us to walk off-trail. We have never promised off-trail walking in any message nor in the tour package information. I am sorry that you had different expectations about that. perhaps it got lost in translation.
Not every day is the same in nature, so perhaps you have been unlucky to see not much new species on the following days. That can happen. That's not entirely in our hands. After seeing that much on the first day, it's becoming hard to beat.
Lastly you wrote:
"One of the park's official guides took a scorpion in the forest and put it in a bottle just so that tourists who were on the trek and who hadn't seen it could take photos. It's a shame! It is a national park. Everywhere we went in Thailand and saw animals it was forbidden to touch them. We respected. The guide is supposed to set an example.""
I don't quite understand what that has to do with the tour you have booked with us and our tour guide. We can't control what other people do. Your guide was not the one who caught the animal. Our guide understood that you liked scorpions, so when he heard someone had found a scorpion he decided to bring you over to have a look, even though you had already seen one earlier on the trip.
Anyway, we are sorry that despite doing the best we could, apparently we have failed to set the right expectations during our correspondence prior to your booking.
Thank you for your feedback.
By: Peter Stoll | posted Fri 18 Aug, 2023
Our Guide Apple showed us a lot of different species in the park, like green viper, white handed gibbons, king cobra baby,… and also 4 very different walks through the jungle. He introduced us in the culture of Thai food.
We are very thankful of spending these three days in the very impressive national park Khoa Yai.
By: R&G | posted Wed 12 Apr, 2023
Excellent and exciting tour with Lek, 'the Elephant whisperer'!! We were driven around in comfort to see a range of wonderful wildlife, from hornbills and gibbons, to bears and porcupines. The highlight was a number of views of wild elephants emerging from the jungle. Lek was knowledgeable and enthusiastic and we really enjoyed spending time with him, he clearly has great passion for his work! We also arranged transfers to and from Bangkok that were comfortable and punctual - thank you all!
By: Jasmin Arif | posted Mon 27 Feb, 2023
We enjoyed our tour a lot! Jum was an amazing guide and because of her great skills we got to see a lot of animals. The organization is also extremely good.
By: Linda Breden | posted Mon 30 Jan, 2023
I had a great time my guide was really knowledgeable and looked after me. I saw lots of animals
By: Darren Clapich | posted Mon 16 Jan, 2023
We had a truly spectacular experience and our guide was amazing!
By: Denise Tielen | posted Thu 29 Dec, 2022
We had an amazing 3 day tour with our guide Lek.
The whole experience was excellent, the communication during the booking and confirmation to start. The kind, knowledgeable and flexible guide. I would highly recommend!
Without a guide we wouldn't have seen so many different animals, we saw elephants, many birds incl hornbills, monkeys, gibbons, snake,scorpion, deers, porcupines, wild dog, chinese water dragon and more...
Our guide went above and beyond for us. The guides and the park rangers are continuously in contact with each other where the animals are or can be.
2 days is good 3 days is better to increase the chance to see special animals.
By: Ian Smith | posted Wed 30 Nov, 2022
The guide Tata was excellent. Extremely friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Best guide I have ever had. He went the extra mile also helping and advising when photographing and videoing the animals. He was passionate about nature, the animals and the environment. He gave us an amazing experience seeing so many animals in the park whilst always respecting the animals in their natural environment which is what we wanted to see. I will be recommending Tata to friends and family.
The only thing that could have been better about the package, is more choice of food. The food was good but repetitive. There were other places to eat in the park and It would have been nice to try different dishes and places. Things like pad thai, spring rolls, more fruit selection, corn on the cob, fries, fresh coconut, fruit drinks etc.
Thank you Tata you ensured that we had an amazing experience, one we will treasure for life. Ian and Alison
By: hiroko mizuno | posted Mon 14 Nov, 2022
Both of the two guides were excellent. They were enthusiastic, friendly, and did an excellent job. Thanks to them we were able to see elephants, dholes, pileated gibbons and so on, for which I am truly grateful.
The only regret was that we had lunch at the same restaurant for all three days. We were a little bored by the third day. I would have liked to have had a choice of restaurants, because I would have liked to try different cuisines at the food court, etc.
There is one point I would like you to improve. The guide gave us bottled water every day, which I think is not good for the environment. After the initial giving of one bottle, why not have a large tank available and refill from there to the bottle given on the first day? This may be something that should be addressed by the park as a whole, though.
I think nature tours should be environmentally conscious and sustainable in all aspects.
By: Laura Tolboom | posted Sat 24 Sep, 2022
We loved our tour with guide Lek!!!
