Gibbon Rehabilitation Project and Bang Pae Waterfall
Up in the Northeast of Phuket in a heavily forested area is the Khao Phra Thaeo National Park. To get there, head North on the airport road from Phuket Town and turn right at the Heroine's Monument, then drive around 10km - the entrance on the left side is easy to find. We have been up this way many times, not just for the Gibbon Project and the waterfall, but nearby is Bang Pae Seafood and also Bang Rong, where you find a floating restaurant and you can get a ferry to Koh Yao Noi. The Bang Pae waterfalls are not big, but popular with locals at the weekend and you get quite a few tourists up here too. There's a restaurant called Peang Prai just at the entrance gate to the waterfall too.
The forest is thick and full of sounds from the chirping of insects to the song of the gibbons. At the entrance to the falls just as you turn off the main road there is an elephant trekking safari - the elephants looked happy and well fed. I swear they posed for photos too. If you want to try elephant trekking this might be a good spot.
As you drive up to the park entrance the roadside is lined with rubber trees as is much of this area of Phuket. Rubber was once very important to the economy of Phuket and indeed it continues to be important. There are also fields of pineapples nearby, but once you hit the park entrance you are in the jungle, baby!
The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) is based here - this organisation aims to protect gibbons and their habitat through rehabilitation and education. It's a sad fact that gibbons are caught and kept as pets in Thailand and even hawked round the streets to have photos taken with tourists. This is illegal. The project takes in gibbons who have been rescued, taken away from their "owners" by the police or that have been handed in by owners who no longer wish to look after them. They then go through a long rehabilitation before being released back into the forests. Apparently there is a release due next week which one of the volunteers was telling me about. Sadly he also said that poaching still continues here in Phuket.
The Gibbons that are being kept here can be seen in large cages. There are notice boards with information about the gibbons and the work of the GRP. Gibbons swing around and sing their distinctive song. Some sit quietly. The volunteers know them all by name and say they have quite different personalities. My kids enjoyed seeing them and I tried to explain that gibbons are not monkeys!
If you are in Phuket or anywhere else in Thailand and see a gibbon being taken round the streets for tourists to take photos, please take a photo and send it to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project - grp@gibbonproject.org - tell them where and when the photo was taken. You can also contact the Thai National Parks Office at www.dnp.go.th/complain/index.asp. Please note that the project gets none of the National Park fee (200 Baht for foreigners), so any donation you can make is appreciated. They have a small shop selling gibbon related souvenirs. For more about the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project see the web site www.gibbonproject.org.
If you walk past the Gibbon Project you see a big sign saying "Bang Pae Waterfall". A winding and (in some parts) quite steep path heads up into the forest following the river. At the bottom there are some picnic tables and a few cheap restaurants too. At several points on the way up there are sections of river where you can jump in - on Saturday it was (as usual) quite busy with locals.
At the very top is a waterfall of about 15m in height... wow! I wouldn't base your trip to Phuket on a visit to this waterfall, but in combination with the gibbons, a walk in the forest and a drive around this area of Phuket, Bang Pae makes a very nice day out. Also good for getting your kids tired - take them for a walk up the path to the falls and they'll sleep like logs that night!
Bang Pae Waterfall and Gibbon Rehabilitation Project - Location Map
View Bang Pae Waterfall and Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in a larger map
The forest is thick and full of sounds from the chirping of insects to the song of the gibbons. At the entrance to the falls just as you turn off the main road there is an elephant trekking safari - the elephants looked happy and well fed. I swear they posed for photos too. If you want to try elephant trekking this might be a good spot.
As you drive up to the park entrance the roadside is lined with rubber trees as is much of this area of Phuket. Rubber was once very important to the economy of Phuket and indeed it continues to be important. There are also fields of pineapples nearby, but once you hit the park entrance you are in the jungle, baby!
The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) is based here - this organisation aims to protect gibbons and their habitat through rehabilitation and education. It's a sad fact that gibbons are caught and kept as pets in Thailand and even hawked round the streets to have photos taken with tourists. This is illegal. The project takes in gibbons who have been rescued, taken away from their "owners" by the police or that have been handed in by owners who no longer wish to look after them. They then go through a long rehabilitation before being released back into the forests. Apparently there is a release due next week which one of the volunteers was telling me about. Sadly he also said that poaching still continues here in Phuket.
The Gibbons that are being kept here can be seen in large cages. There are notice boards with information about the gibbons and the work of the GRP. Gibbons swing around and sing their distinctive song. Some sit quietly. The volunteers know them all by name and say they have quite different personalities. My kids enjoyed seeing them and I tried to explain that gibbons are not monkeys!
If you are in Phuket or anywhere else in Thailand and see a gibbon being taken round the streets for tourists to take photos, please take a photo and send it to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project - grp@gibbonproject.org - tell them where and when the photo was taken. You can also contact the Thai National Parks Office at www.dnp.go.th/complain/index.asp. Please note that the project gets none of the National Park fee (200 Baht for foreigners), so any donation you can make is appreciated. They have a small shop selling gibbon related souvenirs. For more about the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project see the web site www.gibbonproject.org.
If you walk past the Gibbon Project you see a big sign saying "Bang Pae Waterfall". A winding and (in some parts) quite steep path heads up into the forest following the river. At the bottom there are some picnic tables and a few cheap restaurants too. At several points on the way up there are sections of river where you can jump in - on Saturday it was (as usual) quite busy with locals.
At the very top is a waterfall of about 15m in height... wow! I wouldn't base your trip to Phuket on a visit to this waterfall, but in combination with the gibbons, a walk in the forest and a drive around this area of Phuket, Bang Pae makes a very nice day out. Also good for getting your kids tired - take them for a walk up the path to the falls and they'll sleep like logs that night!
Bang Pae Waterfall and Gibbon Rehabilitation Project - Location Map
View Bang Pae Waterfall and Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in a larger map
Gibbon Rehabilitation Project and Bang Pae Waterfall | Jamie's Phuket Blog
Comments on Gibbon Rehabilitation Project and Bang Pae Waterfall
Please do add your comment or ask a question!
Thanks for putting this article up, we will defintely put this on our list of places to visit. I've only recently learned that it was illegal to have a gibbon, AND that it isn't a monkey. Live & learn.
Hey Jamie. You mentioned an elephant trekking safari near the entrance to the park. Do you happen to know the name of the people running it? THANKS!
The Elephant trekking place is called Bang Pae Safari.
Hi Jamie,
I am so thankful to have come across your blog. Will be visiting Phuket in Nov with my 7yr old son. You have opened our eyes to so much more than the 'tourist' websites. Cant wait to check out all of your favourite spots.
cheers
from Australia
Hi Suzanne,
And if you like the look of this waterfall and the gibbons, try some kayaking at a place called Bang Rong, just 2km from Bang Pae:
Kayaking in the Mangroves at Bang Rong
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for your great blog! Any idea if there is an online map available specifically for Khao Phra Thaeo National Park?
Greg
Map of Khao Phra Taew
:)
Hi Jamie,
Thanks so much for the Khao Phra Thaeo National Park map link.
I may be wrong, but but it appears to show only a portion of the national park. (For example, it shows Ton Sai, but not Bang Pae waterfall.)
Ideally, I am trying to find a map that defines the boundaries of KPT National Park from that of the surrounding private land. Any suggestions?
Cheers!
Hi Greg,
Probably have to contact the local land department or national park office, I don't have the contact information though.
Hi Jamie your blog was great but are you able to go into more detail on what duties are included in volunteering. I am going over in june this year for a short period but would love to visit and volunteer. do you know of any other ligit conservation volunteer work over there? and are you able to tell me how long it will take to get there from patong? thankyou
I am sure you can contact them to ask about volunteering, website link is on this page, I don't know anything about it... Bang Pae from Patong, about 45 minute drive.
Hi
Waterfalls and the calmness of a walk in the jungle plus the gibbons makes a nice diversion from the frenetic phuket. Note that the entrance into the area is 200 baht/ adult (and adultish kids) so 4 of us plus a donation the gibbons came to 1000baht. Worth it if all the cash went to the right place!
Lee
Hi, I really appreciate all your advice on Phuket! My friend and I are coming to Phuket in just a few weeks. I am really interested in this area of Bang Rong, the Gibbon project and the Bang Pae Waterfall, so I was wondering if you have any suggestions on transportation? We are staying at the Pineapple guesthouse..
Also do think that this area is possible to do in one day?
Thanks so much for your help!
- Hanna
Hi Hanna,
Yuo can certainly do those places in a day, they are all close together, and add in lunch at Bang Pae Seafood or the Bang Rong restaurant, or maybe at Peang Prai near the waterfall. Getting there: rent a car is best, otherwise, have to make some deal with a taxi to take you to all these places, or contact my friends at Easy Day Thailand for a custom tour.
Hi Jamie,
Thanks so much for keeping up with the posts after so many years... This is better than any Thai tourist website I have seen.
Even though I will be visiting with my best friend who has lots of family in Phuket,(therefore no pressure to plan or organise anything,..a nice change) I couldn't help but to have a peek at what we might experience. I am more excited now as I go through your blog. I was especially worried about food poisoning but it might not be as common as I had initially thought. The food pics look like good quality produce even outside touristy spots.. which is what I prefer.. hence why we are all coming in low season : )
Cheers
Caz from OZ