page_title: List of national parks of Thailand
section_title: National parks of Thailand
hierarchical_section_title: List of national parks of Thailand / National parks of Thailand
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Phraya Nakhon Cave in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Changwat Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand. English: Phraya Nakhon Cave in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand.
context_page_description: National parks in Thailand are defined as an area that contains natural resources of ecological importance or unique beauty, or flora and fauna of special importance. As of 2015 Thailand's protected areas included 147 national parks, 58 wildlife sanctuaries, 67 non-hunting areas, and 120 forest parks. They cover almost 20 percent of the kingdom’s territory.
  The parks are administered by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The department was created in 2002, and took over the national parks from the Royal Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
  The first national park was Khao Yai in 1961, when the National Park Act B.E. 2504 was passed. The first marine park was Khao Sam Roi Yot, established in 1966. In 1993 the administration of the national parks was split into two divisions, one for the terrestrial and one for the Marine National Park Division.
  Controversies about Thailand's national parks include complaints over excessive development and allotment of private concessions.
context_section_description: ᵃ  Marine parks
caption: Phraya Nakhon Cave in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Thailand's first national marine park.
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