Phu Phra Bat Buabok Forest Park
Encyclopedia
Amphoe Ban Phue
Ban Phue is a district in the northwestern part of Udon Thani Province, northeastern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring districts are Sangkhom, Pho Tak, Tha Bo and Sakhrai of Nong Khai Province, Phen, Mueang Udon Thani and Kut Chap of Udon Thani Province, Suwannakhuha of Nongbua Lamphu Province,...
, Udon Thani Province
Udon Thani Province
Udon Thani is one of the north-eastern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Nong Khai, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Khon Kaen, Nong Bua Lamphu and Loei.- Geography :...
, northeast Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
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Named after two Buddha footprints carved into rocks in the Lan Xang
Lan Xang
The Lao kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Kao was established in 1354 by Fa Ngum.Exiled as an infant to Cambodia, Prince Fa Ngum of Xieng Dong Xieng Thong married a daughter of the Khmer king. In 1349 he set out from Angkor at the head of a 10,000-man army to establish his own country...
style, the park is located at a disconnected sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
hill at the eastern edge of the Phu Phan mountains
Phu Phan Mountains
The Phu Phan mountains are a range of hills dividing the Khorat Plateau of the Isan region of Thailand into two basins: the northern Sakhon Nakhon Basin, and the southern Khorat Basin.-Etymology:...
. The hill tops at 352 m above sea level, and extends 9 km in north-south direction and 2 km in east-west direction. Three major kinds of forest are found at the hill - dry dipterocarp forest at the foothills, mixed deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
forest in the plain surrounding the hill, and dry evergreen forest on the hill itself.
The park covers an area of 13 km² of the Pa Kua Num Forest Reserve. It was officially gazetted 20 February 1996. 5.4 km² of the area form the Phu Phrabat historical park, which was established in 1981, covering the 81 cultural sites on the hill at the rock outcrops.
The forest park together with the historical park are on the tentative list of future world heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
s since 2004.