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People from Lahore National College of Arts alumni
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The Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary (, ) is a protected area in Thailand in the northern part
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of Kanchanaburi Province and the southern part of Tak Province. It was declared a wildlife
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sanctuary in 1972, and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991 together with the adjoining Huai Kha
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Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary.
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Location and topography
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The sanctuary is at the western national border of Thailand with Burma, in the southern area of the
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Dawna Range. It extends northeast of the Three Pagodas Pass from Sangkhla Buri District in
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Kanchanaburi Province into Umphang District in Tak Province.
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The wildlife sanctuary stretches over an area of about , and is the largest protected area in
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Thailand.
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Together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary () it constitutes the core area of
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the Western Forest Complex, which represents the largest agglomeration of contiguous protected area
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in mainland Southeast Asia, .
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The area is predominantly mountainous and composed of various limestones interspersed with massive
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intrusions of granite and smaller outcrops of quartzite and schist. Elevations range from about at
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the Vajiralongkorn Reservoir in the south of the sanctuary to its highest peak, Khao Tai Pa, at .
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Major rivers are the Mae Klong and the Mae Chan which originate in the Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary
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and join in Thung Yai into the Upper Khwae Yai which feeds the Si Nakharin Reservoir. Various
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smaller rivers in the south and southwest feed the Vajiralongkorn Reservoir while in the
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northwestern part of the sanctuary the Mae Kasat and the Mae Suriya flow into Burma.
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Climate and rainfall
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The climate of the region is characterised by three seasons: a hot, wet season from May to October,
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a cooler, dry period from November to January and a hot, dry season from February to April. Average
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minimum and maximum daily temperatures range from in the wet season, in the hot, dry season, and
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in the cooler season. Day-time temperatures can exceed in April, while nighttime temperatures of
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are not uncommon in the cool season.
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The average annual rainfall decreases from the western part of the sanctuary receiving a year to
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annual rainfalls of between 1,600 and 2,000 millimetres in the eastern parts of the sanctuary. Over
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80 percent of the rain is brought by the southwest monsoon from the Andaman Sea.
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Flora and habitat types
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Phytogeographically the sanctuary lies at the interface between the terminal southern ridges of the
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eastern Himalayas and the equatorial forests of the great Sunda Shelf. As most of the sanctuary is
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botanically unexplored, scientific knowledge about its rich flora is sparse.
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montane evergreen forests cover about 15 percent of the sanctuary and occur along the mountain
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ridges above 1,000 metres where moisture levels are high.
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Seasonal or dry evergreen forests are found on about 31 percent of the area, predominantly on land
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lying between 800–1,000 metres elevation. Gallery evergreen forests occur along permanent
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watercourses, where humidity is high and the soil perpetually moist. They are often categorized
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under dry evergreen forests, but are particularly important to the sanctuary's fauna.
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Mixed deciduous forest is the most common forest type in Thung Yai, covering about 45 percent,
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predominantly in areas below elevation.
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Dry dipterocarp forest is a formation unique to mainland Southeast Asia and is found on about one
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percent of the area.
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Savanna forest and grassland covers about four percent, predominantly in the thung yai or "big
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field" covering about 140 km2 at the centre of the sanctuary.
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The remaining 4% of the area are categorized as secondary forests, fallow areas, and swidden fields
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in the nomination for the World Heritage Site, but include also various Bamboo forests which are
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not included in this classification.
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Fauna
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Like the flora, the fauna of Thung Yai provides a specific mix of species with Sundaic,
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Indo-Chinese, Indo-Burmese and Sino-Himalayan affinities due to the sanctuary's particular
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biogeographic location. The savanna forest of Thung Yai is the most complete and secure example of
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Southeast Asia's dry tropical forest.
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Among the mammal species living in Thung Yai are lar gibbon (Hylobates lar), various species of
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macaque (Macaca) and lutung (Trachypithecus), Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris tigris),
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Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), sun bear
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(Helarctos malayanus) and Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus),
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Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), gaur (Bos gaurus), hog deer (Cervus porcinus), sambar
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(Rusa unicolor), Fea's muntjac (Muntiacus feae) und Sumatran serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) as
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well as many bat species probably including Kitti's hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai).
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Thung Yai is part of the Western Forest Complex, which is the largest tiger habitat in the
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Southeast Asia region, with around 200 of the animals living there. The area is known as a natural
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breeding area for tigers in Thailand and Myanmar as well.
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Banteng (Bos javanicus) and wild water buffalo (Bubalus amee) are known to occur in the adjoining
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Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary and may exist in Thung Yai too. Indications for the occurrence
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of Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) and northern Sumatran rhinoceros
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(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis) in the area are recorded from the 1980s, but have not been
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confirmed since then.
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Bird species sighted in Thung Yai include white-winged wood duck (Cairina scutulata), kalij
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pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos), grey peacock-pheasant (Polyplectron bicalcaratum), green peafowl
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(Pavo muticus), spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis), Oriental darter (Anhinga
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melanogaster), painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala), greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius),
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red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis), lesser fish eagle
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(Ichthyophaga humilis) and all six species of hornbill (Bucerotidae) living in mainland Southeast
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Asia.
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The nomination for the two wildlife sanctuaries, Thung Yai Naresuan and Huai Kha Khaeng, to become
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World Heritage Sites lists some 120 species of mammal, 400 birds, 96 reptiles, 43 amphibians, and
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113 species of fish, but research on the biodiversity in the sanctuaries is sparse.
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Poaching
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According to the Bangkok Post, the preserve, "... has been notorious for decades as an area where
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rich and powerful people enjoy poaching and game hunting." In early 2018, Premchai Karnasuta, the
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president of the Italian-Thai Development PLC (ITD), one of Thailand's largest construction
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companies, was arrested in the sanctuary in possession of skinned carcasses of protected wild
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animals, including a black leopard, a Kalij pheasant, and a common muntjac (also known as a barking
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deer), as well as three rifles and ammunition. Premchai faces several charges including trespassing
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and poaching. He has maintained his innocence. "I didn't do it," he told local media. He has failed
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to explain, however, why he was in the wildlife sanctuary and how the carcasses of the freshly
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killed leopard and several other endangered animals ended up in his possession. If convicted, he
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may be incarcerated for up to 28 years. Conservationists fear that the billionaire will be let off
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lightly for a wildlife crime that would see an average citizen sent to prison for years.
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In the most high-profile poaching case, on 29 April 1973 a military helicopter crashed in the
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sanctuary, killing six high-ranking police and military officers. It turned out that they were part
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of a group of more than 50 officers on an illegal four-day hunting trip in the preserve. The report
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claimed these hunters cooked and ate the animals they killed at parties. The military refused to
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admit wrongdoing and the event was brushed aside by the prime minister. The scandal eventually led
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to the 14 October uprising that ended the military government and led to a three-year period of
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democratic rule.
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Illegal poaching by the rich and powerful is common in Thailand, said a spokesman for the Wildlife
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Friends Foundation. "The police, rich people and government officials do it all the time," he said.