Bangkok, Thailand’s vibrant and bustling capital, is a city that never sleeps. While it offers a plethora of experiences, it’s also a place where the hustle and bustle can sometimes become overwhelming. Fortunately, just a short drive away from the city lies the serene greenery of Khao Yai, the National Park itself, and the Pak Chong area at its northern entrance, where you can find numerous resorts, restaurants, and attractions. It’s a perfect weekend getaway destination, offering lush landscapes and a tranquil ambiance, making it an ideal escape from Bangkok’s urban chaos.
In this article, we’ll take you through a weekend in Khao Yai. It’s a maximum of a 3-hour drive from Bangkok and serves as a great stop on our way further to Buri Ram and Roi Et provinces where some of our family resides. Coming here with a car is a must, and it’s actually a quite different experience to visit Khao Yai National Park itself, as opposed to exploring the Khao Yai area and its attractions.
We’ve visited the area and the park itself a few times already (more trip articles from the past to come), and we didn’t this time because it’s vast (and relatively expensive considering the dual pricing) and requires a whole day.
Choosing a resort in Khao Yai
Most places to stay are on the northern entrance of the National Park, in the Pak Chong district, where you can also find most restaurants. When you reach Pak Chong on the way from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, you branch off to the area north of the park, which features the typical Khao Yai landscape and its limestone rock formations. This area of Khao Yai boasts a few vineyards, golf courses, and dairy farms. It offers a wide range of resorts, including many luxurious ones, and some fancy restaurants. It’s an area where Bangkok’s upper class escapes to connect with nature and benefit from a cooler climate. There are also accommodations inside the park itself, but they are more rustic and secluded, at least an hour’s drive from the lively area.
So choosing a place to stay actually depends on the activities and attractions you want to explore in the region. You don’t need to enter the park to unwind in nature, simply relaxing in the serene environment, and, of course, for wine tasting and hopping between local cafes and restaurants. For wildlife watching and trekking, it’s better to stay in the park or spend the whole day (and evening, consider the night safaris) there.
We’ve been to many hotels in the area, usually to be honest we chose depending on current promotions as there are many expensive luxury resorts and some would often offer lower prices, particularly in low season or outside of week-ends (Thais from Bangkok often come just for the week-end). A few hotels below which are usually above our budget.
A luxury resort located in the scenic countryside of the Pak Chong District, north of of Khao Yai National Park. The resort is known for its Swiss-inspired design, blending European-style architecture with the natural surroundings of the Khao Yai mountains (which means “big mountains” in Thai!). You have panoramic views of the golf course and mountains from the rooms, which are vast, with balconies. There’s a large swimming pool, and the kids can enjoy the animal farm with many different species such as rabbits, goats and deers.
This time, we decided to indulge a bit, choosing a very nice resort, The Hidden Village, which offered some very interesting discounts as it was just opening.
A well-situated luxury resort, just a few kilometers from the National Park entrance, on the main road but remains relatively private and tranquil. The rooms consist of generously sized rustic-chic-designed bungalows, each featuring spacious outdoor terraces, with some even offering outdoor Jacuzzis or small private pools. These accommodations are scattered throughout a lush garden, providing views of the iconic Khao Yai rock formations. Additionally, the resort boasts a stunning rainforest-themed section, complete with a waterfall and a spacious saltwater freeform swimming pool. You have to order the previous evening and the breakfast is delivered to your room in the morning at your convenience. Although it’s on the pricier side, it’s worth noting that the resort is still undergoing some finishing touches (construction work didn’t disrupt our stay though), so they offer some enticing promotions.
After enjoying the resort’s salt water pool, walking around its lush gardens, and a massage at a nearby spa, we ate dinner at the Prime 19 restaurant, a 5 minutes drive from the hotel and a place we have already been a few times.
Located on Thanarat Road, the main road in the tourist-centric area to the north of Khao Yai National Park, Prime 19 is a steakhouse restaurant that channels the nostalgic allure of 1990s American style. The restaurant is renowned for its butchery and beef-centric grills, with a special emphasis on Angus Beef Steaks imported from Australia. Their extensive menu includes a variety of options, with pizzas and tasty homemade desserts. While it may be considered somewhat pricey, the establishment’s unique grandiose decor and nightly live entertainment add an extra layer of enjoyment to the overall dining experience.
A visit to a zoo and to a landscaped garden restaurant
We had never been to the Bonanza zoo, which was closed for a long time due to Covid and only reopened recently. We like zoos, and this small one was was worth a visit. After that we went to have lunch at a restaurant, located inside a new resort. Fabulous garden, quite similar in style to the one in our hotel, maybe its the same gardeners, a fully manmade landscaped garden .
Nestled in the scenic beauty of Khao Yai, Bonanza Exotic Zoo is a captivating haven for wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers, right next to the Bonanza Golf and Resort. It’s a small inexpensive zoo on a hillside grove, with a lot of shade and animals have large enclosures. Visitors can stroll pass enclosures to admire a diverse array of creatures, a few exotic animals from around the world (lions, giraffes), a lot of bird species and also some more common farm animals that can be petted. The zoo was closed for Covid, so I guess it struggled and if it’s well maintained, some enclosures could be renovated.
With a picturesque backdrop of lush greenery and an atmosphere of tranquility, Bonanza Exotic Zoo in Khao Yai is a nice attraction if you have wildlife, particularly with kids.
A delightful new restaurant in Khao Yai serves authentic Southern cuisine alongside the usual Thai and Western dishes. The restaurant features air-conditioned dining rooms with glass walls, but the true allure lies outdoors in the garden. This meticulously crafted garden immerses you in a dreamlike, lush atmosphere with soothing streams and waterfalls.
