Pha Taem National Park

Pha Taem National Park stretches along the Mekong River in Ubon Ratchathani province, directly across the water from Laos’s Phou Xieng Thong protected area. The park’s name comes from Pha Taem itself — a sandstone cliff carrying one of Southeast Asia’s largest collections of prehistoric rock art, painted an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Entry costs 400 THB for foreign adults and 40 THB for Thai adults, paid at the gate near Ban Nong Phuea Noi in Huai Phai subdistrict, roughly 95 km from Ubon Ratchathani town via Khong Chiam.

The rock art is the reason most people make the trip. Archaeologists from Silpakorn University identified four main panel groups along the cliff face in the 1980s, the largest running about 180 metres and holding more than 300 individual images — hunting scenes, hand prints, fish traps, and animal figures in a deep red-ochre pigment that has survived millennia of exposure on an open cliff face. A boardwalk and viewing platform run along the base of the cliff, keeping visitors off the rock itself.

Insider Tip: Go early. The cliff faces east over the Mekong, so morning light is both when the paintings photograph best and when the heat is still manageable for the walking trail along the boardwalk.

Beyond the paintings, the park holds a scattering of sandstone rock formations shaped by wind and rain into mushroom-like pillars — most famously at Sao Chaliang, a short drive from the main cliff site and covered by the same park ticket. Pha Chana Dai, a viewpoint within the park, is used by Thailand’s Meteorological Department as the country’s reference point for its first sunrise of the day, and draws crowds specifically around New Year for that reason.

Watch out: The park is large and its sights are spread across several separate parking areas rather than one compact trail — budget a half-day if you want to see the main cliff paintings, Sao Chaliang, and a viewpoint, rather than treating it as a quick stop.

Forest cover here is mostly dry dipterocarp woodland, opening onto sandstone outcrops with river views. Wildlife includes barking deer, wild pigs and civets, with wild elephants occasionally moving through the park’s forest corridors — sightings are possible but not something to plan around.

Combine a visit with Sao Chaliang’s rock formations and, if time allows, Kaeng Tana National Park nearby — most visitors base themselves in Ubon Ratchathani or Khong Chiam town and make this a full-day trip along the Mekong.