At 2235 sq km, the Thap Lan National Park is Thailand’s second-largest national park. Well known as a habitat for the abundant and gracefully impressive đôn lahn (talipot palm), the park is also home to elephants, tigers, gaur, sambar, barking deer, palm civets, hornbills and gibbons. It is hoped that the kouprey, a rare species of primitive cattle, still lives here, though it’s been more than 30 years since the last official sighting. Illegal logging has damaged the park, but tree-planting programs are redressing the imbalance.
