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Welcome to Island Hopping in the Andaman Sea of Thailand
National Parks in Thailand
The introduction of the rubber tree at the beginning of this century, the oil palm in the seventies and the rapidly growing population over the last 50 years were the main reasons for the widespread destruction of the rain forests in Southern Thailand. The remarkable exception to this devastation is the extensive system of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and other protected areas, that has been established over the past forty years. Different from other nations, where national parks have been established several decades ago, for Thailand, they are a recent development: the first, Khao Yai, was established in 1961. Today, almost all of Thailand's remaining natural forests, together with most of its wildlife, are located in protected areas. Included in this treasure are some of the last great forests of mainland Southeast Asia and some marine habitats in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. The laws, that regulate the
protected areas of Thailand, state that areas, declared a national
park should be of natural interest and should be preserved in its natural
state, while wildlife sanctuaries are set aside for the conservation
of wildlife habitat. Non-hunting areas and forest parks have similar
management aims and can be upgraded if considered appropriate.
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