| Discover the Wild: A Complete Guide to Elephant Safari in Kui Buri National Park
The best place in Thailand to spot wild elephants
Embark on an unforgettable journey to the heart of Thailand’s wilderness at Kui Buri National Park, the premier destination for spotting wild elephants in their natural habitat. With an astonishing 98% chance of sightings, our adventure promises close encounters with these majestic creatures amidst the breathtaking landscapes of Kui Buri. This guide shares essential tips and insights to ensure your safari experience is both thrilling and respectful of the wildlife. Discover the best times to visit, what to expect, and how to make the most of your visit to this lesser-known gem.
Quickly go to
During our travels in Thailand, we visited several of its amazing national parks, including the illustrious Khao Yai National Park. The oldest national park of Thailand, Khao Yai is known as the pinnacle of wildlife observation. Our visit here was an unforgettable experience! During our three day jungle tour there, we observed gibbons, hornbills and monkeys swinging overhead through the canopy, as well as deer, porcupines, kingfishers, and other wonders of nature, but no elephants!
The elusive wild elephants, that do live in Khao Yai, remained just out of sight. The change of encountering them there is unfortunately not that great. This spurred us to travel further into Thailand, where we eventually booked a tour through majestic Kui Buri National Park, renowned for its near-certain elephant sightings.
About Kui Buri National Park
In Kui Buri, the chance of running into wild elephants is just under 100%. Visitors rarely leave here without seeing the animals. Yet, the park is not well known amongst the general public.
Kui Buri National Park is located off the beaten tourist track. You’ll find this park in the south of Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. The park is located in the Prachuap Khiri Khan province, about an hour’s drive from the famous seaside resort of Hua Hin and almost 4 hours from Bangkok.
Established in 1999 and strongly influenced by royal conservation efforts, the park is a testament to Thailand’s commitment to preserving its natural heritage. It houses about 500 wild elephants, which have been declared protected species by the then Thai king. This less-traveled path leads adventurers to a truly authentic encounter with nature.
Animals in the park
Apart from elephants, you are also likely to encounter gaur (large Asian cattle) in Kui Buri National Park. Kui Buri is home to the largest population of these animals in Thailand.
The park is also home to a large number of special birds, such as hornbills, several species of monkeys, deer, golden eagles, boars and porcupines. However, the chances of seeing these animals are much less than the chances of seeing elephants. Even rarer are tigers and leopards, which also roam the jungles of this protected area.
How to visit Kui Buri National Park?
You can drive to Kui Buri by car or taxi, but you can only enter the park on a jeep driven and accompanied by local guides. These rangers know the places where the elephants are most often found and make sure that you can admire them from a distance. It is important not to get too close, as these are wild animals.
The park is open every day from 2pm to 6pm. This is to ensure that the animals can wander through the jungle undisturbed for the most part.
Would you like to have an English speaking guide during your elephant safari? Then it is important to book a tour in advance (like this one). Without a pre-arranged tour, the guides you will be assigned do not speak English.
The Kui Buri National Park is not accessible by public transport. To get here, you really need a hire car, taxi or organised tour. But this also ensures that the park is not completely overrun by tourists and remains an authentic experience.
Location
If you are driving yourself to the national park, please note that there are two navigation points. The first is the Kui Buri Headquarters. You don’t want to go here, because this is not the place from where you can spot wildlife.
Instead, you want to go to Huai Luek Ranger Station which is about 16 kilometres north of the headquarters. To get here, navigate via Google Maps to Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching or Ang Kep Nam Huai Luek.
The cost of a visit to Kui Buri?
The entrance fee to the park is 200 Thai bath per person, which is about 5.40 euros.
In addition, a jeep with a local (non-English speaking) guide and driver costs 850 bath (about 23 euros) for a maximum of 8 people. Hiring a jeep is compulsory, as this is the only way to gain access to the park.
A taxi from Hua Hin to the Elephant Watching station cost us 2000 bath, which is about 54 euro. This included the ride back. The taxi driver waited at the car park until our tour was over.
The organised tour that we booked with an English speaking guide, cost us 2000 bath per person. That is about 54 euro per person and it included the entrance fee and the rent of the jeep.
The best time to visit Kui Buri?
The rainy season in Kui Buri runs from May to November, with most rainfall in August, September and October. In these final 2 months, the park closes every year. The rest of the year it is quite dry in this area and you can visit the park daily from 2pm.
The park closes at 6pm in the evening. As most of the animals become active around dusk, it is recommended to visit the park around 3pm.
Be sure not to forget
Of course you don’t want to forget to bring your camera on an elephant safari through the Kui Buri National Park. But also keep in mind that the safari takes place in an open pick-up truck and that you will be in the Thai sun for several hours. Therefore, always remember to wear sunscreen and a hat.
You can’t pay with your bank card near the Elephant Watching Station. Make sure that you have enough cash on hand.
In the vicinity of the Kui Buri National Park
Sam Roi Yot National Park
About a 50 minutes’ drive from Kui Buri is Sam Roi Yot National Park, Thailand’s first maritime national park. This national park has a large freshwater swamp and mangrove forest surrounded by limestone mountains. Sam Roi Yot literally means “mountain with 300 peaks”.
In the park, you can take a boat trip through the mangrove. The wooden boardwalk built over the swamp is a popular spot for birds and birdwatchers. However, the main attraction of Sam Roi Yot National Park is the Phraya Nakhon cave located in the limestone mountain.
The Phraya Nakhon Cave
In Sam Roi Yot National Park, you’ll find the Phraya Nakhon Cave with the iconic Kukha Karuhas Pavilion, the smallest temple in Thailand. The roof of the limestone cave has collapsed, so the morning light shines directly on the temple (between 10.30 and 11.30 am). Especially in the months of December to March, this is an unbelievably beautiful sight. It is not for nothing that this is a dream location for photographers.
Hua Hin
If you go to Kui Buri, chances are you will do so from the famous seaside city of Hua Hin. For centuries, this place has been a favourite holiday spot of the Thai royal family. It is also a place where you can feel like royalty yourself in one of the many luxury resorts that this place has to offer.
To be honest, we didn’t find Hua Hin a very nice or special place, but we did have a wonderful stay here in the Rest Detail Hotel. It is also a good base to explore both the Kui Buri National Park and the Sam Roi Yot National Park.
Would you like to explore these places, but not stay in (an expensive hotel in) Hui Hin? Maybe a stay in the coastal town Prachuap Khiri Khan is something for you then. We have heard good stories about this place during our tour of Thailand.
Hi, we are Samira & Maurits, a travel-hungry couple with a passion for photography.
With our free travel guides, we hope to inspire you and help you plan your dream holiday. We also provide important tips and tricks for making new journeys, but also for capturing those precious memories in your own travel photos.
All the photos on this site were taken by us.
Do you want to experience this too? In our blogs we link to relevant pages and our favourite travel services that make this possible. For this we (sometimes) receive a small commission, without it costing you anything extra.
This enables us to keep the site running and we are very grateful to you for that!
| Want to explore more?
The Phraya Nakhon Cave: Visit this magical cave in Sam Roi Yot National Park
The Phraya Nakhon Cave is a limestone cave located in Sam Roi Yot National Park. Long ago, part of the cave’s roof has collapsed. Through the remaining hole, the morning light falls in, illuminating the smallest temple of Thailand. Read all our tips for visiting this hidden gem.
Jungle safari in Khao Yai National Park
Khao Yai is Thailand’s oldest national park and a dream for nature lovers and wildlife photographers. But make sure to avoid the weekends and local holidays to get the most out of your visit.
Amazing 2 to 3 week itinerary for central Thailand
Going beyond the North and South. Visit our story on how we travelled the heart of Thailand. Including everything you need to know of our ‘off the beaten path’ travel route.