Mu Ko Phetra National Park comprises of numerous beaches and islands extended into the Andaman Sea. More than 22 islands cover 494.38 square kilometers and these islands were declared by the Royal Decree dated 31st December, 1984 as a national park, which is the 49th national park in Thailand.
Topography
Mu Ko Phetra National Park comprises of beaches and some mangrove forest. As for the islands in the Andaman Sea, limestone hills generally take up most of their areas where numerous rainforest plants can also be found. Some islands, however, have not many trees but only small plants covering the grounds.
Climate
Mu Ko Phetra National Park is located in the Tropic Zone with rather constant temperature and rainfall all year round. The rainy season, therefore, may seem quite lengthy but the months with most heavy rainfall are May through October. From the end of November until March, the rainfall will start to decrease, shifting into a short period of Summer from March to April which is also the period of transition for the Monsoon season (from Northeast Monsoon to Southwest Monsoon). As for the transition from the Southwest Monsoon to the Northeast Monsoon in October, although such transition can cause some variation in climate, no major differences can be detected.
Flora and Fauna
Types of vegetation on the Mu Ko Phetra National Park can be divided into 4 categories
- Rainforest scatters around the islands. Common vegetations found are Hopea ferrea , Ironwood and Kradon. Grounds covering plants found are fern, rattan, moss and ginger/galangal species
- Open Forest found along the beach and common vegetations are Casuarina equisetifolia , Calophyllum inophyllum, Hibiscus tiliaceus , Thespesia populneoides, Terminolia catappa, Dialium cochinchinense and Barringtonia asiatica. Grounds covering plants found are Pandanus odoratissimus.
- Mangrove Forest found in the muddy area by the sea and mouth of the canal. Common vegetations are Rhizophora mucronata (Red Mangroves) , Rhizophora apiculata, Brownlowia peltata , Xylocarpus moluccensis , Xylocarpus granatum, Bruguiera parciflora and Bruguiera cylindrica.
- Aquatic life such as seaweeds and planktons can also be found.
Wildlife
- Prominent birds found are Haliacetus leucogaster, Haliastur indus (Brahminy kite) and Spilornis cheela (Crested).
- Common mammals in the area are Nycticebus coucang, Presbytis Cristata (Silvered langur), Trangulus javanicus, Sus Scrofa (wild pig) and bats.
- Reptiles found are Python reticulatus (Regal Python) and Varanus nebulosus (Indian Monitor) and etc.
- Numbers of salt water fish, for example, red snappers, blow fish, butterfly fishes, seahorses and mudskippers.
