UNESCO approved the geopark in Nakhon Ratchasima province (also known as Korat) in northeast Thailand on May 17 2023 as a geopark and made Nakhon Ratchasima province the 4th city in the world after Italy, South Korea and China, that has been certified as a 3-crown city or “Triple Crown” which consists of:
1. World Heritage Site : Khao Yai National Park
2. Biosphere Reserve Area : Sakaerat Forest, Pak Thong Chai District, and
3. Global Geopark : Khorat Geo Park.
A geopark is a geographical, geological, archeological, ecological and cultural site. The Khorat Geo Park has interesting geological resources such as the Khorat Plateau, 220-million-year old fossils, dinosaur fossils, museum of petrified wood, prehistoric paintings and the Khorat cuesta which is a learning site about wind energy and a place where tourists can ride bicycles to see the wind farm of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and appreciate the view at the geo view point of Khorat Geo Park. This is another unseen tourist attraction which is gaining popularity among tourists.
Khorat Geo Park became the second Thai geopark to be included among 195 UNESCO Global Geoparks worldwide. The first Thai geopark is Satun Geo Park in the south of Thailand which made the list on April 17, 2018.
เครดิตภาพ : อนุสาร อสท.