CraigBKK
Senior Member
I have been riding in Thailand’s Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary for the past three years. Located at the far northern end of Kanchanaburi province and boarding Myanmar on it’s Western edge, it is one of my favourite areas to ride in Central Thailand and one of the most challenging. Each trip has been eventful; physically and psychologically Thung Yai leaves you exhausted but wanting more.
My first trip there in the winter of 2016 has been the only one where I have successfully been able to make it to the Suriya River in Myanmar, cross it and continue up to Tak Province before returning on the same route. This trip however wasn’t without it’s problems as I flipped the bike onto myself whilst trying to power out of a rut incline, resulting in a painful swollen wrist.
The following year after riding north along the Salawa track we were turned back at the Langka Ranger’s station (N 15.53982 E 098.61877) and exited at Klitti in the South-Eastern part of the sanctuary. The interesting 80km ride to exit passed through a variety of terrain including savanna and dry river beds but we had a difficult time leaving as the deputy chief of the headquarters, the final ranger’s station we passed before leaving informed us that we did not have permission to be in that part of the sanctuary, which upon closer inspection was true.
Over the next hour or so we gave an official statement and tried to explain the situation. We were fed breakfast and treated very well. We were asked to delete all photographs and video taken on the Klitti track, which we had taken ‘without permission’, and finally were given an full written warning instructing us to not travel in the park without permission again. Our bike and personal details were all recorded before we left, which was a tough way to finish a disappointing trip.
The following month we returned but after one rider dropped out with a bad back just prior to the trip and another rider having knobblies tear off his brand new rear tyre on the ride up, the trip ended at Sangkhlaburi’s Amazon coffee shop before it even started.
This trip saw us enter in the Sanephong route, south of Sangkhlaburi, one that none of us had ridden before and would lead us through many water crossings and a chance encounter with Jack, the infamous Muddy Rider.
On only the second water crossing Lee took the wrong route through and soon found himself in trouble.
As Jez and I were pulling Lee and his bike out of danger, by chance Jack turned up and advised us to take the shallow route along the left bank.
We decided then to stop, survey and have one of us guide the rider across on every river crossing as we didn’t want a drowned bike at this early stage in the trip.
Our strategy of working as a team was going well until Jez drowned his bike on a crossing with some large and slippery rocks around lunchtime.
After ridding the bike of all water in the exhaust and airbox and drying the spark plug it was time for lunch, but not after first losing the nuts that held the header pipe in place…
Once back on the bikes it was more river crossings but our initial plans of riding straight through Koh Sadeung without stopping and spending the night elsewhere seemed less and less likely.
We finally arrived in Koh Sadeung later than planned and once we had located the locking nuts for Jez’s header pipe decided to camp there for the night on the opposite bank to the small village in a picturesque field. Dinner, as usual on my Thung Yai visits, consisted on Burmese Indian curry from the restaurant at Sangkhlaburi market.
The following morning, after a late start in order for all the camping gear to dry out from a very damp night…
… we crossed over the small wooden bridge to the village (much easier than crossing the river as we had done the previous day) and ate breakfast before heading up to Tilapa.
Before we had even reached the ranger’s checkpoint Jez’s front tyre was flat and Lee was back working on his bike. Eventually we left Koh Sadeung around midday, again much later than planned.
The ride up to Tilapa was drama free apart from Lee’s tantrum that we hadn’t waited for him at the ranger’s checkpoint and, not wanting to be turned back, ridden ahead while he changed a battery on his action cam.
After eating noodles and refueling in Tilapa we deciding to try and head up to the Suriya River and camp there for the night, not stopping at the Langka Ranger’s Station where we had been halted last year. Unfortunately a ranger had passed us on the ride up there and they were waiting for us. After some discussion we conceded to the fact that once again we were not being allowed to pass and would have to spend our second night there and head back the next day.
The following morning we left the same way we had arrived, along the rutted tracks just north of Jakae, where ominously, we past two of the rangers from the station on a mobile phone as if calling to someone we had left and were heading back south. To make the most of the trip and to try and over come our disappointment, whenever we saw small tracks leading off the main track we turned to explored but found nothing of interest so kept heading back to Tilapa.
Once again Jez was having problems with his bike, this time bending his gear shifter in a muddy rut. Both Lee and I had spare shifters with us but after a lot of bending and wasting more time Jez was up and going again.
The ride back to Tilapa for more lunch noodles was a relaxed one and although dusty in places past some beautiful stretches and rivers.
After more noodles and fuel in Tilapa we decided to ride the single track to Liwo and then exit the sanctuary at Takhiangthong. This was a track that Lee and I had ridden a few years ago on our successful return from a night in Beung Khleung, Tak Province, crossing the Suriya River.
I remembered this track to be steep and challenging in places but had managed to ride it successfully before with an injured wrist. This time however I wasn’t so lucky. Whilst climbing one of the long, bumpy steep sections I lost traction and momentum. Stuck on a bump I had no drive forward and efforts to bounce the rear wheel and roll the bike backwards didn’t help. The clutch was burnt out leaving the bike with no way to ascend the steep track.
In our preparations, Lee had told Jez to bring the spare clutch he had along, but this was when we found out that he hadn’t. In fact Jez hadn’t brought any spares along or tools for repairs on his bike. Now not having a spare clutch between us meant we had no choice but to try and get the bike out with only manpower.
Over the next few hours we struggled to push and pull the bike probably only a few 100 metres. Exhausted, we we running out of water too. Jez had been having problems with his feet the whole trip and had to bandage them up (he didn’t bring his own first aid kit so had to use Lee’s).
Finally we decided that sourcing water was our priority as dehydrating whilst stranded in the jungle was something I had experienced before and didn’t want to go through again. So Lee and Jez left with my water filter and I waited with the bike for their return.
As night fell and they were still not back I decided that I would have to pitch tent in the middle of the track without water and try to get through the night as best I could. The jungle can be dangerous place at night and my mind played tricks on me as every sound of bamboo creaking or animals moving through the undergrowth was amplified, especially as I was dehydrated.
After dark the pair of them returned with water and explained how they had a difficult time getting to the village, taking wrong tracks (neither of them brought GPS units on the trip) and had to cut down undergrowth before sliding the bikes under a fallen tree with a pocket knife (I was the only one who had brought a machete and they hadn’t taken it with them).
I felt too physically exhausted to pack the tent and walk to the village, around 2.5km, in the dark so decided to stay the night there alone and walk to the temple in the village where they were staying, early the following morning. That night I didn’t sleep well at all.
The next morning at dawn after a terrible night’s sleep I packed what I could onto my hydration pack and filled it with the remaining water. I wrote a note on the bike in Thai that the bike was broken and I would be returning to it. I set off for the village, relieved to be getting out of the claustrophobic jungle, but worried to be leaving behind my motorbike and some of my belongings there.
Once in the small Karen village of Liwo I met the other two at the temple I found a local, Phi Phon to take me to Sangkhlaburi, where I’d meet Lee and ride back to Bangkok in his van. Jez would ride directly back to Kanchanaburi town. The following week Lee and I would have to return with a new clutch and try to fix the bike on the trail so I could ride it out. Well that was the plan.
***
The following Friday started off wet with rain falling before dawn and againI was caught in the rain as I rode my scooter across Bangkok to meet Lee late afternoon. As I rode to Liwo the next morning in the same pickup truck that delivered me to Sangkhlaburi the previous Monday, Phi Phon, told me it had been raining there too and he had told a relative to go check on my bike and cover it with banana leaves. The bike and my belongings were both ok.
I’d also soon see that much of the trail, which had appeared to be overgrown and unused had been cleared too, and act of kindness that I was grateful for. Lee took the spare parts I had bought in the week and rode ahead to make a start on repairing the bike. As I entered the single track on foot I saw a school girl’s navy skirt hanging from a bush and storm clouds gathering in the distance. Some strange omen I thought.
When I arrived at the bike Lee was busy at work and covered in hornets. We had encountered them the previous week further down the trail but now they were out in force. I lit a few small fires on both sides of us to try and keep them away but it didn’t really do any good. They would however eventually disappear once the rain came. Just after Lee finished changing the clutch and reassembled the bike the clouds that had been building opened up and sound of thunder told us we were under a passing storm.
We waited for rain to pass but it didn’t. When starting the bike up and trying the new clutch the bike still didn’t have the force to get up the hill. Maybe it was more than the clutch plates. The pair of us were in the jungle with a bike that couldn’t be ridden uphill and in the middle of a thunderstorm. We had no choice but to start pushing and pulling again. This time though there were only two of us and the track was becoming muddier by the minute due to the rain.
It was a battle. I was slipping all over the place behind the bike and now the clutch when in gear wasn’t even braking the bike so the downhill sections in the mud were treacherous too. I slipped on one incline and had the bike fall on top of me. Another fall cut my leg and bruised me in several places.
Eventually we made it to the fallen tree where Lee and Jez had cleared the overgrown bushes a week earlier and where Lee had left his bike on our return. During the week the locals had attempted to burn the tree but it was still blocking the track. Unfortunately part of it had broken and fallen down meaning that my bike would now not slide under it. With some chopping at a branch and maneuvering though we lifted the bike over the remaining sections. It was still raining and the track was slippery and muddy. My tyres were covered in mud and I was physically tired but we were past the worst.
Much of the track now was down hill so I rode the bike and was soon reaching the 4×4 track and was finally free of the intensity of the jungle. As I had been mostly pushing the bike and did not realise that I’d been able to ride out of this flat section of the track, I hadn’t put on my gloves. Once out of the single track I noticed I’d picked up a cut on my left hand that needed a dressing.
Both Lee and I had hoped to be out of the jungle before nightfall but as my bike was still not ridable and it had taken most of the afternoon to get it to Liwo village, both of us that no real choice but to stay in the temple. Our clothes were wet and muddy but fortunately I had two clean and dry t-shirts from the previous trip in my bag, making us a little more comfortable.
After a cold night, with not much sleep, we again tried to get the bike riding properly by taking out the clutch plates, inspecting them and reassembling them. It appeared that the new clutch plate B was a little warped so we swapped that out with a slightly used plate that Lee had brought along.
We tried the bike again and although it seemed to have a little more power there was a slight rattling sound coming from the engine so I decided to not chance riding it the 16km back to the sanctuary entrance, some of which is steep in places.
After finding another local with a pickup, this time to take me and the bike back to entrance where Lee had parked his van, my trip to Thung Yai Naresuan was over once again. I’ll be back next year, hopefully with a little more luck next time and a spare clutch.
My first trip there in the winter of 2016 has been the only one where I have successfully been able to make it to the Suriya River in Myanmar, cross it and continue up to Tak Province before returning on the same route. This trip however wasn’t without it’s problems as I flipped the bike onto myself whilst trying to power out of a rut incline, resulting in a painful swollen wrist.
The following year after riding north along the Salawa track we were turned back at the Langka Ranger’s station (N 15.53982 E 098.61877) and exited at Klitti in the South-Eastern part of the sanctuary. The interesting 80km ride to exit passed through a variety of terrain including savanna and dry river beds but we had a difficult time leaving as the deputy chief of the headquarters, the final ranger’s station we passed before leaving informed us that we did not have permission to be in that part of the sanctuary, which upon closer inspection was true.
Over the next hour or so we gave an official statement and tried to explain the situation. We were fed breakfast and treated very well. We were asked to delete all photographs and video taken on the Klitti track, which we had taken ‘without permission’, and finally were given an full written warning instructing us to not travel in the park without permission again. Our bike and personal details were all recorded before we left, which was a tough way to finish a disappointing trip.
The following month we returned but after one rider dropped out with a bad back just prior to the trip and another rider having knobblies tear off his brand new rear tyre on the ride up, the trip ended at Sangkhlaburi’s Amazon coffee shop before it even started.
This trip saw us enter in the Sanephong route, south of Sangkhlaburi, one that none of us had ridden before and would lead us through many water crossings and a chance encounter with Jack, the infamous Muddy Rider.
On only the second water crossing Lee took the wrong route through and soon found himself in trouble.
As Jez and I were pulling Lee and his bike out of danger, by chance Jack turned up and advised us to take the shallow route along the left bank.
We decided then to stop, survey and have one of us guide the rider across on every river crossing as we didn’t want a drowned bike at this early stage in the trip.
Our strategy of working as a team was going well until Jez drowned his bike on a crossing with some large and slippery rocks around lunchtime.
After ridding the bike of all water in the exhaust and airbox and drying the spark plug it was time for lunch, but not after first losing the nuts that held the header pipe in place…
Once back on the bikes it was more river crossings but our initial plans of riding straight through Koh Sadeung without stopping and spending the night elsewhere seemed less and less likely.
We finally arrived in Koh Sadeung later than planned and once we had located the locking nuts for Jez’s header pipe decided to camp there for the night on the opposite bank to the small village in a picturesque field. Dinner, as usual on my Thung Yai visits, consisted on Burmese Indian curry from the restaurant at Sangkhlaburi market.
The following morning, after a late start in order for all the camping gear to dry out from a very damp night…
… we crossed over the small wooden bridge to the village (much easier than crossing the river as we had done the previous day) and ate breakfast before heading up to Tilapa.
Before we had even reached the ranger’s checkpoint Jez’s front tyre was flat and Lee was back working on his bike. Eventually we left Koh Sadeung around midday, again much later than planned.
The ride up to Tilapa was drama free apart from Lee’s tantrum that we hadn’t waited for him at the ranger’s checkpoint and, not wanting to be turned back, ridden ahead while he changed a battery on his action cam.
After eating noodles and refueling in Tilapa we deciding to try and head up to the Suriya River and camp there for the night, not stopping at the Langka Ranger’s Station where we had been halted last year. Unfortunately a ranger had passed us on the ride up there and they were waiting for us. After some discussion we conceded to the fact that once again we were not being allowed to pass and would have to spend our second night there and head back the next day.
The following morning we left the same way we had arrived, along the rutted tracks just north of Jakae, where ominously, we past two of the rangers from the station on a mobile phone as if calling to someone we had left and were heading back south. To make the most of the trip and to try and over come our disappointment, whenever we saw small tracks leading off the main track we turned to explored but found nothing of interest so kept heading back to Tilapa.
Once again Jez was having problems with his bike, this time bending his gear shifter in a muddy rut. Both Lee and I had spare shifters with us but after a lot of bending and wasting more time Jez was up and going again.
The ride back to Tilapa for more lunch noodles was a relaxed one and although dusty in places past some beautiful stretches and rivers.
After more noodles and fuel in Tilapa we decided to ride the single track to Liwo and then exit the sanctuary at Takhiangthong. This was a track that Lee and I had ridden a few years ago on our successful return from a night in Beung Khleung, Tak Province, crossing the Suriya River.
I remembered this track to be steep and challenging in places but had managed to ride it successfully before with an injured wrist. This time however I wasn’t so lucky. Whilst climbing one of the long, bumpy steep sections I lost traction and momentum. Stuck on a bump I had no drive forward and efforts to bounce the rear wheel and roll the bike backwards didn’t help. The clutch was burnt out leaving the bike with no way to ascend the steep track.
In our preparations, Lee had told Jez to bring the spare clutch he had along, but this was when we found out that he hadn’t. In fact Jez hadn’t brought any spares along or tools for repairs on his bike. Now not having a spare clutch between us meant we had no choice but to try and get the bike out with only manpower.
Over the next few hours we struggled to push and pull the bike probably only a few 100 metres. Exhausted, we we running out of water too. Jez had been having problems with his feet the whole trip and had to bandage them up (he didn’t bring his own first aid kit so had to use Lee’s).
Finally we decided that sourcing water was our priority as dehydrating whilst stranded in the jungle was something I had experienced before and didn’t want to go through again. So Lee and Jez left with my water filter and I waited with the bike for their return.
As night fell and they were still not back I decided that I would have to pitch tent in the middle of the track without water and try to get through the night as best I could. The jungle can be dangerous place at night and my mind played tricks on me as every sound of bamboo creaking or animals moving through the undergrowth was amplified, especially as I was dehydrated.
After dark the pair of them returned with water and explained how they had a difficult time getting to the village, taking wrong tracks (neither of them brought GPS units on the trip) and had to cut down undergrowth before sliding the bikes under a fallen tree with a pocket knife (I was the only one who had brought a machete and they hadn’t taken it with them).
I felt too physically exhausted to pack the tent and walk to the village, around 2.5km, in the dark so decided to stay the night there alone and walk to the temple in the village where they were staying, early the following morning. That night I didn’t sleep well at all.
The next morning at dawn after a terrible night’s sleep I packed what I could onto my hydration pack and filled it with the remaining water. I wrote a note on the bike in Thai that the bike was broken and I would be returning to it. I set off for the village, relieved to be getting out of the claustrophobic jungle, but worried to be leaving behind my motorbike and some of my belongings there.
Once in the small Karen village of Liwo I met the other two at the temple I found a local, Phi Phon to take me to Sangkhlaburi, where I’d meet Lee and ride back to Bangkok in his van. Jez would ride directly back to Kanchanaburi town. The following week Lee and I would have to return with a new clutch and try to fix the bike on the trail so I could ride it out. Well that was the plan.
***
The following Friday started off wet with rain falling before dawn and againI was caught in the rain as I rode my scooter across Bangkok to meet Lee late afternoon. As I rode to Liwo the next morning in the same pickup truck that delivered me to Sangkhlaburi the previous Monday, Phi Phon, told me it had been raining there too and he had told a relative to go check on my bike and cover it with banana leaves. The bike and my belongings were both ok.
I’d also soon see that much of the trail, which had appeared to be overgrown and unused had been cleared too, and act of kindness that I was grateful for. Lee took the spare parts I had bought in the week and rode ahead to make a start on repairing the bike. As I entered the single track on foot I saw a school girl’s navy skirt hanging from a bush and storm clouds gathering in the distance. Some strange omen I thought.
When I arrived at the bike Lee was busy at work and covered in hornets. We had encountered them the previous week further down the trail but now they were out in force. I lit a few small fires on both sides of us to try and keep them away but it didn’t really do any good. They would however eventually disappear once the rain came. Just after Lee finished changing the clutch and reassembled the bike the clouds that had been building opened up and sound of thunder told us we were under a passing storm.
We waited for rain to pass but it didn’t. When starting the bike up and trying the new clutch the bike still didn’t have the force to get up the hill. Maybe it was more than the clutch plates. The pair of us were in the jungle with a bike that couldn’t be ridden uphill and in the middle of a thunderstorm. We had no choice but to start pushing and pulling again. This time though there were only two of us and the track was becoming muddier by the minute due to the rain.
It was a battle. I was slipping all over the place behind the bike and now the clutch when in gear wasn’t even braking the bike so the downhill sections in the mud were treacherous too. I slipped on one incline and had the bike fall on top of me. Another fall cut my leg and bruised me in several places.
Eventually we made it to the fallen tree where Lee and Jez had cleared the overgrown bushes a week earlier and where Lee had left his bike on our return. During the week the locals had attempted to burn the tree but it was still blocking the track. Unfortunately part of it had broken and fallen down meaning that my bike would now not slide under it. With some chopping at a branch and maneuvering though we lifted the bike over the remaining sections. It was still raining and the track was slippery and muddy. My tyres were covered in mud and I was physically tired but we were past the worst.
Much of the track now was down hill so I rode the bike and was soon reaching the 4×4 track and was finally free of the intensity of the jungle. As I had been mostly pushing the bike and did not realise that I’d been able to ride out of this flat section of the track, I hadn’t put on my gloves. Once out of the single track I noticed I’d picked up a cut on my left hand that needed a dressing.
Both Lee and I had hoped to be out of the jungle before nightfall but as my bike was still not ridable and it had taken most of the afternoon to get it to Liwo village, both of us that no real choice but to stay in the temple. Our clothes were wet and muddy but fortunately I had two clean and dry t-shirts from the previous trip in my bag, making us a little more comfortable.
After a cold night, with not much sleep, we again tried to get the bike riding properly by taking out the clutch plates, inspecting them and reassembling them. It appeared that the new clutch plate B was a little warped so we swapped that out with a slightly used plate that Lee had brought along.
We tried the bike again and although it seemed to have a little more power there was a slight rattling sound coming from the engine so I decided to not chance riding it the 16km back to the sanctuary entrance, some of which is steep in places.
After finding another local with a pickup, this time to take me and the bike back to entrance where Lee had parked his van, my trip to Thung Yai Naresuan was over once again. I’ll be back next year, hopefully with a little more luck next time and a spare clutch.
. But I guess someone has to trailblaze 8-)
