Khao Kho Upland Agricultural Experiment Station

A working government research station in Phetchabun’s Khao Kho district, at around 800 metres elevation, where the Department of Agriculture grows strawberries, arabica coffee, and macadamia alongside temperate fruit and flowers that don’t survive Thailand’s lowland heat. Entry is free.

The station began under royal initiative in December 1983, opening officially in April 1984, and has been renamed a few times since — it now operates as the Phetchabun Highland Agricultural Research Center (Khao Kho) under the Department of Agriculture’s Horticultural Research Institute. The cool climate here (down to 3-4°C on winter nights, 20-25°C in the warm season) across its 821 rai makes it one of the few spots in central Thailand where strawberries, macadamia, and arabica coffee are grown commercially rather than as a novelty crop. Visitors can walk the demonstration plots, browse the ornamental sections — roses, orchids, and several lotus varieties — and buy produce directly when it’s in season.

Timing matters more here than at most attractions. February and March bring coffee and macadamia blossom across the orchard rows; April and May is guava season; and the main coffee and macadamia harvest runs August through December, with tasting and sales alongside the picking. Outside those windows you’re mostly looking at green rows and greenhouse vegetable plots rather than a working farm at full colour — still worthwhile if you’re driving through Khao Kho, but plan around the season if the flowers or harvest are the point of the trip.

The station’s job is research and seedling distribution, not tourism, and that shapes the visit: there’s no interpretive centre with polished signage, just plots, greenhouses, and staff who are usually happy to talk about what they’re growing if you ask. On-site accommodation — guest houses, a camping field, and a seminar room — is built for agricultural workshops and group bookings rather than passing travellers, though it’s bookable if you plan ahead and want to stay in Khao Kho’s cool air overnight rather than drive back down.

Insider Tip: Pair a visit with Khao Kho’s other cool-climate attractions — strawberry and coffee farms cluster around this district, and the research station is a useful first stop for context on why the area’s agriculture looks so different from the rest of lowland Phetchabun.

Watch out: This is a research facility first and a tourist stop second — don’t expect a café, gift shop, or much English signage. Bring your own water and snacks.

The station sits within Phetchabun province, roughly a 5-hour, 346 km drive from Bangkok via Highway 1 before the mountain roads into Khao Kho begin.