Pa Hin Ngam National Park: Chaiyaphum's Forest of Beautiful Stones and Siam Tulips
Pa Hin Ngam means 'forest of beautiful stones,' and the name delivers twice over. At the western edge of Chaiyaphum, where the Khorat Plateau falls away toward central Thailand, erosion has sculpted a field of sandstone into mushrooms, towers and shapes locals read as nails, radar dishes and hens. Then, every rainy season, the rocky ground between the stones erupts in pink: fields of Siam tulips — dok krachiao — that draw visitors from across Thailand. Add a cliff-top viewpoint at the very end of the land, and Pa Hin Ngam becomes Chaiyaphum's most complete national park day out. Lan Hin Ngam: The Stone Garden The rock field, Lan Hin Ngam, is the park's original attraction — it was protected in 1986, years before the park around it was declared. A loop trail wanders among the formations, some taller than a house, balanced and hollowed by wind and water over millions of years. Come in the early morning when the stone glows warm and the crowds are still on the road from ...