Chaiyaphum is national park country: most of our 14 grounds are inside a park, a wildlife sanctuary or beside a dam. Its signatures are the pink Siam tulip fields of the rainy season, the standing stones of Mo Hin Khao and the Thung Kamang grassland with its herds of deer.
Park grounds cost ฿30 per person, private camps ฿100–200 per person per night, and two dam-side sites charge nothing to pitch. The trade-off is fewer comforts than elsewhere: every ground has toilets, but only about a third have showers or electricity.
Counted across the 14 campsites shown on this page, ordered by how many list each one.
Camper favorite
The south-west of the province holds Pa Hin Ngam and Sai Thong national parks, the two tulip-field sites, with grounds inside the parks and private camps by the gates; Pha Pho Mueang at Sai Thong is cool, with morning mist. Near the city, Tat Ton National Park has pitches beside its waterfall, and Mo Hin Khao in Phu Laen Kha National Park is a wide rock plateau for stargazing. The north is the Phu Khieo forest: Thung Kamang, Chulabhorn dam, and private camps on the clear, swimmable Thap Lao spring.
The tulips bloom from June to August, making this one of the few provinces where the rainy season is the main season — bring a tent that really keeps rain out. Winter suits Mo Hin Khao and Thung Kamang: open skies, cool air and wildlife feeding in the grassland at dawn. Tat Ton waterfall is fullest from August to October, and in the hot season the Lam Pathao dam site, up in the hills, stays cooler than the plain.
Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary is not an ordinary attraction: entering Thung Kamang needs permission in advance and strict respect for the sanctuary's rules. Most grounds in the province have no showers and almost none provide drinking water, so carry plenty. Tulip season weekends are very crowded — for quiet fields, come midweek and go in early.
฿30 per person in the national parks, ฿100–200 per person per night at private camps, and two dam-side sites that are free.
Around June to August each year; the peak depends on the rains, so check with the park before going.
Contact Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary for permission in advance — it is a conservation area with limited numbers.
