Kaeng Tana National Park

Kaeng Tana National Park covers around 80 square kilometres of the Mun River in Ubon Ratchathani province, straddling Sirindhorn and Khong Chiam districts. Entry costs 100 THB for foreign adults and 20 THB for Thai adults (children pay half), open daily 08:00-17:00. The terrain is mostly plateau and low hill forest, with the park office sitting on the riverbank near the rapids that give the park its name.

The centrepiece is Don Tana, a forested island roughly 450 metres wide and 700 metres long that splits the Mun River in two. A steel suspension bridge — cabled across large wire ropes and one of the longer such crossings in Isan — connects the park office to the island, and doubles as a viewpoint over the water on both sides. The island itself keeps a stand of dry evergreen forest and a sandy stretch on its northern tip where people stop to sit by the water. Local place-name lore ties “Tana” back to “Morana,” a word for the fatal accidents boatmen and fishermen once had among the rocks and underwater holes here — the river narrows and picks up speed through this stretch, which is exactly what makes it worth seeing.

Watch out: The Kaeng Tana rapids are a dry-season attraction. In the rainy months the river rises and simply covers the rock formations, leaving what looks like an ordinary stretch of the Mun — if dramatic rapids are the reason you’re visiting, check water levels or aim for the cooler, drier months rather than June-October.

Insider Tip: Cross the suspension bridge to Don Tana in the late afternoon. The island’s evergreen forest gives shade the park office side lacks, and local fishing boats working the channel around the island in the evening are worth watching from the bridge itself.

The Mun River flows on through the park to meet the Mekong further downstream near Khong Chiam, but the Mun and its rapids around Don Tana are the practical focus for a visit — most people come specifically for the island and the bridge rather than to trace the confluence itself. Bring water and sun protection; shade is limited outside the island’s forest, and the park office has only basic facilities.