Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary

Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary covers roughly 3,647 sq km of forest along the Myanmar border in Sangkhla Buri district, Kanchanaburi. Together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng sanctuary, it forms the Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 1991 as the largest continuous tract of protected forest in mainland Southeast Asia. Most people who search for this page never set foot past the checkpoint — and that’s largely by design.

This is a working conservation area, not a park built for visitors. The sanctuary shelters tiger, wild elephant, gaur, banteng, and clouded leopard, but access to the interior is tightly restricted: rangers control who goes where, independent trekking isn’t allowed, and overnight or deep-forest visits require written permission from the Wildlife Conservation Office in Bangkok, requested at least 15 days in advance. What a casual visitor can realistically do is stop at the checkpoint area near the Sangkhla Buri office, take in the forest edge and the Songkalia River watershed it protects, and talk to rangers about what the sanctuary’s research and anti-poaching patrols involve.

Watch out: Don’t book a “Thung Yai safari” that promises wildlife sightings or unguided hiking — that’s not how this sanctuary operates, and any operator claiming otherwise is either misrepresenting the trip or steering you to a different, more developed area nearby.

Sangkhla Buri town, 20–30 minutes from the checkpoint, is where almost all the area’s actual tourism infrastructure sits — the Mon Bridge, Wat Wang Wiwekaram, and the flooded temple ruins visible when the reservoir drops in the dry season. Most travellers treat the sanctuary as a name on the map next to the town rather than a destination in its own right, and that’s a reasonable way to plan the trip: come for Sangkhla Buri, add the checkpoint as a short stop if you’re curious about the forest it protects.

Insider Tip: If you want a legitimate guided walk inside sanctuary land, ask at the Sangkhla Buri district office or a licensed local operator about ranger-accompanied day trips — these exist but need advance arrangement, not a walk-up booking.