Than Bok Khorani National Park

The park headquarters at Ao Luek sits around a spring that emerges from the base of a limestone cliff and runs into a series of shallow green pools under banyan and fig trees, connected by short paths - a botanical garden more than a wilderness, laid out around the water, and used by Thai families for picnics and bathing in the lower pools. The wider park, gazetted in 1998, covers about 103 square kilometres including islands in Phang Nga Bay and, more significantly, a set of caves in the surrounding karst. Tham Phi Hua To, the cave of the big-headed ghost, named for unusually large human skulls once found in it, holds prehistoric paintings of people, animals and body parts over a floor of piled shells, and Laem Fai Mai, Tham Chao Le and other rock shelters nearby carry more paintings. The pools clear or cloud with rainfall, so the green colour is not reliable, and the caves need a boat and a guide.

What's there

• The spring pools - green shallow basins under the cliff and banyan trees.
• Tham Phi Hua To - the skull cave, painted and floored with shells.
• The garden layout - paths and picnic ground around the water.
• The wider park - islands and karst caves across Phang Nga Bay.

When to go

November to April; after rain the pools cloud and lose their colour. Cave visits need a boat and a guide arranged from Ao Luek or Bo Tho pier.

Practical notes

The pools are small and manicured rather than wild, and the colour depends on recent rainfall. The caves are a separate boat trip, not walkable from the headquarters. Foreign entry fees are higher than Thai.

Nearby

Ao Thalane is south; Ko Hong and Phang Nga Bay are offshore.

Key facts