Things to Do around Khao Yai National Park
If you have enough of Khao Yai National Park – do not hurry up to leave the region. The area around the park is home to diary farms, wineries and stylisation of European villages which make for a perfect Insta-opp.
Khao Luk Chang Bat Cave
Khao Luk Chang is located 6 km far from the northern entrance of Khao Yai. Every night around 6pm hundreds of thousands of bats (some guide would say 5 million) leave the cave for their night hunt and come back only a few hours later when it’s too dark for visitors to see anything. Entering the cave is prohibited but the view from outside is spectacular.
A short hike from the parking lot will take you close to the cave from where the view is even better, otherwise an observation point is located at the bottom of the hill. A visit to the cave is included into many tours from Pak Chong as the last attraction of the day. If you want to visit by yourself, go left exiting the park on highway 1016 and turn left after 3 km onto a secondary road. There are not many signs and it might be a bit complicated to find it, but if you go there around 5pm you should see some of the tour groups and you can follow them.
Visit a winery
Driving west of Pak Chong for roughly 30 km you can visit some of the finest wineries in Thailand. All of them are located in the beautiful Asoke Valley and the ride itself which follows a winding road among sunflower fields, green hills, dairy farms and secondary roads is worth doing even if you don’t particularly appreciate wine.
All the wineries are open to visitors and offer wine tasting tours starting at around THB200. Some of the best producers are PB Valley and Grandmonte; both of them are open every day from 8am to 6pm. The most scenic route leading there is highway 1016 just north of the park entrance, while highway 2 heading west from Pak Chong is quicker and easier. If you don’t want to drive by yourself you can hire a songthaew in Pak Chong for the whole day; expect to pay around THB1500.
Chokchai Diary Farm
While visiting wineries don’t forget to stop for a tour at Chockchai farm, the largest dairy farm in Thailand with more than 5000 cows. It offers educational tours around the property, which are not only instructive but also a lot of fun, especially for kids and families. After a short movie that will explain you more about the farm history, you’ll be taken to learn how to milk a cow, you’ll be shown the best bulls in the ranch, you’ll be driven around on tractor to see the cattle and the land, you’ll be shown some cowboy skills and at the end a small petting zoo will give you the chance to get closer to some of the animals. The ticket is THB300 (THB150 for kids) and tours are available every day except Monday.
There is also a small kids playground which is free of charge – so even if you are not going to visit the farm itself, let your little ones to check it – they will be delighted.
The onsite restaurant offers some of the best steaks you can get in the country. To get there drive west on highway 2 for 12 km from Pak Chong. The farm is well indicated with plenty of signs in English.
Palio Village
Palio Village is actually a shopping centre not far from the entrance of Khao Yai, designed to resemble a picturesque hillside village in Tuscany. It is a nice place to walk around for a few hours, do some shopping and have a good lunch (many Italian restaurants are available along with several Thai options). The village is quite a popular attraction among the Thais visiting the park, but during the week it’s almost deserted and very relaxed. Palio is open every day from 10am to 10pm and to get there simply drive south from Pak Chong towards Khao Yai entrance.
