Thong Pha Phum park closes nature trail to prevent forest fires
The Thong Pha Phum National Park in Kanchanaburi closed its 8-kilometre nature trail on Thursday out of concern that tourists may accidentally cause fires during the dry season.
Ratchasit Jongjarasporn, the park’s chief, signed an order on January 30 to announce the closure of the Khao Chang Puak nature trail from February 1 until further notice.
The trail in the Bang Itong forest near Khao Chang Puak mountain in Tambon Pilok of Thong Pha Phum district opened on November 2 for the winter.
Ratchasit said in his order that the park officials observed that the fields along the track had become very dry in this year’s hot weather and forest fires could occur easily.
He said for the safety of the tourists themselves, the park decided to close the trail from February 1 onward.
From the opening of the trail on November 2 to the end of January, some 5,450 tourists visited and trekked along the Khao Chang Puak trail.
He added that the arrival of many tourists generated a lot of revenue for the park and a local community, whose residents sold ingredients for tourists to cook food while camping along the trail.
A total of 56,995 tourists visited the park between October and January 31, generating total revenue of 2.93 million baht.
