First Naratiwat Durian and Guide to Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary

UPDATE: About 2 weeks after we left Hala Bala, there was an insurgent attack on the ranger station in the park, the first attack in this area in over 30 years. Read more at the Bangkok Post.

I wanted very badly to taste Naratiwat durian, but I really really didn’t need to get blown up.

The last time I crossed through Naratiwat I took the train. Three days later, the train track was destroyed and all routes north suspended.

The Islamic separatist movement – or the drug traffickers, or the gangs, or whoever you believe is at the root of conflict in Southern Thailand – had destroyed a cargo train en route to Bangkok.

“See,” a friend told me. “Naratiwat is not a safe place to visit.”

But there is tourism to Naratiwat, and perhaps the most famous place to visit is the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary just a few kilometers over the border with Malaysia. It’s a popular place for bird watchers. After reading reviews of the park and a few blog posts, I decided that if weekend warriors lugging thousands of dollars of camera equipment felt safe there, we durian enthusiasts should probably feel safe enough to visit this far south corner of the province too.

Here’s our guide to staying in the Bala Village on the East side of the Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as driving through the Wildlife Sanctuary to the West side (and the durians we found in both Baan Bala and Baan Phu Khao Thong Village!)

Baan Bala Village

We crossed the Bukit Bunga Immigration Station from Malaysia into Naratiwat, Thailand and within 10 minutes reached the Pracharat Resort รีสอร์ทประชารัฐ ฮาลา-บาลา in Baan Bala Village.

The resort caters specifically to birders, and as we pulled into the motel-style parking lot we saw both Bangkok and Malaysian license plates and people milling around in hiking gear lugging heavy tripods with enormous camera lenses.

Somehow, the extravagant gear was comforting.

The owner of the resort, Mr. Yunuh, specializes in birding tours. We told him we were actually looking for wild fruits, not birds, and he whipped out a guide book to the flora of Hala Bala. The diversity looked incredible, and listed NINE SPECIES of wild durian! – Durio dulcis, Durio graveolens, Durio griffithii, Durio lowianus, Durio macrophyllus, Durio mansonii, Durio wyatt-smithii, and of course regular Durio zibethinus.

He then took us into his front yard, where he had several old durian trees and three fruiting longkongs, inviting us to pick and eat as many longkongs as we wanted whenever we felt for them.

Within a few minutes, a tree-ripe durian materialized from the neighbor and we were having a welcome Naratiwat durian feast on the front porch of our little house.

Naratiwat Durian Baan!

Naratiwat is famous for “Durian Baan” or “village durian.” A friend told me scientists call these “culti-wild” – plants that are planted on purpose by people, but haven’t been intensively cultivated enough to be considered fully domesticated.

Durian Baan is amazing because the flavors and textures vary widely between different regions, depending on what people like and choose to plant. It’s the most diverse-tasting durian in the world!

Naratiwat Durian Baan definitely took us by surprise! It was sooo thick, our teeth sunk into the thick meaty vanilla like this was a Monthong or another hunky variety. The flavor reminded me of Monthong as well – really milky, really vanilla-ey, and really oniony.

It was very very different from the village durians we’d been eating just over the border in Malaysia!

At this point, it was late in the day and one little durian and some Tampoi wasn’t going to quench our durian hunger. It was time to go for a durian hunting stroll in the village.

Sukanya & Nuri’s Durian Store in Baan Bala

Baan Bala sprawls along a narrow road leading to Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary. There are surprisingly few shops and front-yard restaurants, and although we saw that the trees were dripping with rambutans and longkongs, it didn’t seem like anyone was selling them in front of their house.

A motorbike passed by, the owner hauling a rice sack bulging with thorny balls. We waved him down and asked him where he was taking his durian. “Home,” he said. “For my family to eat.”

For a little bit, we wondered if anyone in this village actually sold fruit, or if we’d have to request Mr. Yunuh to knock on a neighbor’s door and ask for us. But finally we came to a small shop collecting the neighborhood durian owned by Mr. Nuri and his wife Sukanya.

After asking too many questions about the durians they were selling, Nuri told us he had a very special durian at his farm.

He said if we wanted to try it, we should follow him and we could see if any durians had fallen.

Nuri hopped on his motorbike and we followed him about 2 minutes down the road toward the wildlife sanctuary. From the road he led us down a narrow trail, across a stream, and into a beautiful orchard blanketed by ferns.

The tree was planted by his father maybe 30 years ago. Maybe 40 years ago. He wasn’t sure exactly of the age of the trees.

We walked in a circle around the small clearing and collected all the durian into a pile.

Nuri pointed to the one that was special. It was small, and round like a pumpkin.

This one tastes really good, he said.

We asked if we could crack one open on the spot, and he brought out a machete to pry it open.

It honestly didn’t look that special. It was a pale ivory white color, and so fresh the wrinkles hadn’t really developed yet.

But when Richard touched it, his fingers plunged through the skin to a tiny little seed inside. It was surprisingly voluptuous for a little durian! It had a strong sweet nutty perfume, almost like a Durio lowianus/Durian Duan from Malaysia, and when Richard put it to his lips his eyes lit up.

“It tastes like a hybrid – but really thick meat and it’s soft,” he said. He then popped the whole piece in his mouth and closed his eyes, feeling the floral burn envelope his sinuses. Heaven.

Nuri lit up, smiling. He said he could eat 4 or 5 of these little fruits in one sitting, he liked them so much, and he was glad that we liked them too.

We took the whole pile back to the durian stall, weighed it up and paid, and took it back to the Pracharat Resort for dinner. We paid 30 THB per kilo.

Despite our best enjoyment, we couldn’t finish it all and some went into the refrigerator for the next day. Naratiwat durian baan is fleshy!

Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary

First thing the next morning, we walked the 1.5km to the entry of the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary gate. Gibbons were hooting in the hills all around us and we were eager to see any of the 10 species of hornbills living around the park.

The park was still closed, so we walked back to the Pracharat Resort and raided Mr. Yunuh’s longkong tree for breakfast.

When the park finally opened at 8:30am, we were the first in line. Actually, we were the line – except for the 3 staff members, there was no one else around.

The park staff had no brochures and no maps to give out, so I snapped a photo of the large illustrated map at the entryway. Later, I realized that all of the points of interest were already pinned on Google Maps, but since you lose cell reception in the middle of the park it was useful to snap a photo anyway.

As foreigners we paid 400 baht per person and 60 baht for our pickup truck, and started the 13km drive across the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary.

We drove slowly, heads stuck out the windows, searching for signs of life in the trees – the sound of animals leaping through the canopy, the call of birds – but it was silent. Even the gibbons had quieted down.

Artocarpus elasticus

But if the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary seemed empty of animals, it was full of wild fruits.

The first I noticed was an Artocarpus elasticus that had tumbled into the middle of the road. Looking up, the tree was loaded.

As we continued to drive, we saw many many of these trees, all of them dripping with golden fruits.

Artocarpus lancieifolius (Keledang)

The most exciting was probably this Keledang sighting. This is a wild terap/jackfruit species that tastes like divine citrusy marmalade. I’m a big fan.

Since they ripen toward the end of durian season we often miss them – and when we do find them, the monkeys and birds often found them first.

A rain of Keledang skin pieces littered the forest floor, and while I squatted here searching for something leftover for me, more fragments of fruit skin pattered against my head and shoulders. I looked up, trying to find the culprit in the canopy, but leaves obscured whoever was enjoying the fruit overhead.

Ficus auriculata (Roxburgh Fig)

The park was full of beautiful wild figs as well. The trees were covered in them, growing in big colorful bunches up and down the tree trunks.

This one was familiar to me, as it’s pretty common along waterways and streams. It can be eaten and tastes something like mushy strawberries.

Ficus schwarzii

These were new to me, but I was able to identify them from Mr. Yunuh’s book on the flora of Hala Bala.

We saw many many more fig trees that I wasn’t able to identify, but although the trees were bright and colorful with clusters of red, green and orange fruits – they were quiet.

How could there be such an abundance of figs and fruits, I wondered out loud, but no birds hopping around pecking at them? Where were the squirrels, the monkeys?

The park was so quiet.

The West Side of Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary

Coming down a long hill, we reached the other side of the wildlife sanctuary. We were now at the West entrance.

As we turned around and looked back at the park, we noticed a lot of signboards. One decreed where we stood as “Mystery Hill” with a short explanation. I tried to use Google Translate to figure out what it meant, but Google was less than helpful.

Other signs pointed to a small track leading off into the forest, where we could find the Giant Sappanwood Tree. Leaving the truck on the tarmac, we walked down the little trail. It crossed over a dam, and came to small stream with a broken log bridge with stray nails. As we waded across, I could see a grey mountain through the underbrush. Then there was the tree – looming and huge.

Giant Sappanwood Tree (Biancaea sappan)

Approaching the tree, it grew bigger and bigger and more bigger. At a point it almost felt like we were the ones shrinking. Everything around us was so green and wet and growing, like the set for a movie involving some forest elves. It was unreal.

Sappanwood trees have a reddish heartwood that was once famous the world over. It was an important trade item to Europe and Japan in the 17th century, where it’s reddish colored park was used in making dye and medicinal concoctions.

In Thailand, the heartwood of this tree is often slivered and boiled to make a pleasant red-colored tea. We’ve had it many times, but I had no idea the trees could grow so huge! Just being in the presence of gigantic living creatures like that – it was like swimming with a whale. It made us feel so small.

Phu Khao Thong Village

Coming back to our truck from the giant tree, we realized we were ready for second breakfast. It was now 11am, and the morning’s longkongs had long since been forgotten.

We had also exited the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary when we stopped to see the tree, so we were now free to roam the west side of the park. We decided to drive around and look for lunch.

The village we found ourselves in is called Baan Phu Khao and it was once a sizable town.

In 1932, the French company Societe des Mine d’Or de Litcho got a 25-year concession to mine for gold in this area. But when the French pulled out in 1941 during World War II, the mines were closed and haven’t been opened again. According to a record of the Department of Mineral Resources, the French company dug out 1,951kg of gold during the nine years of mining (citation from the Bangkok Post).

The village’s population dwindled, and now it’s just a tiny tiny strip of houses, a school, and a 2-pump gas station.

Still driving slowly, we noticed the pile of durians at a small storefront across the street from the school.

The woman inside was busy wrestling a naked toddler into some clothes and looked completely startled when we stepped out of the truck and pointed at the durians. She eyed us as if she’d seen a ghost, then smiled and indicated we should choose what we wanted.

When I asked her how much they cost, she paused, unsure what to say.

Finally she said “20 baht.”

“20 baht per kilo?” I asked.

“No, 20 baht per fruit,” she said.

For those of you not great at quick maths, I’ll do the currency conversion for you. It’s $0.60 USD per durian fruit – the cheapest durians we have ever experienced in Thailand. I was actually shocked.

She was also cleaning rambutans with an ingenious sprinkler system made out of a plastic bag and a hose.

They looked huge and red, and I asked if we could buy some too. She again didn’t know how much to charge, but eventually took out a plastic bag and said 20 baht.

“Per kilo?” I asked.

“No, for the bag,” she said. She had probably given us 2.5 kilos, making this one of the cheapest rambutan buys of my life as well.

Returning through the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary

To get back to the Pracharat Resort, we retraced our path through the park, again driving slowly and peering in to the trees in hopes of seeing wild animals.

But this time, we heard intense cawing in the trees. We stopped and climbed out of the car. We could see the trees shaking, and I could see a small dot of white and orange moving along a branch.

Richard pulled out his camera, and we decided to try our hand at birding.

Although our zoom lens was not as hefty as those of the folks we’d seen the day before, it did the job and through the lens we got a glimpse of a hornbill. If we hadn’t had the camera, all we would have seen was a red and white dot hopping around in the distance.

I think you really need a good camera or a pair of binoculars to enjoy this park.

Rhinoceros Hornbill

We were delighted with the spotting, and stood for awhile at the side of the road just watching the hornbill hop up sideways and down the branches, munching on tiny round fruits in the trees and sometimes opening his wings for no apparent reason.

While the park is said to have 10 species of hornbills, the Rhinoceros Hornbill is one of the most common.

By now it was afternoon, and the gibbons had begun to call again far away down the hillside.

Since the park closes at 4:30pm we didn’t want to miss our chance to see the most popular destination – the Sirindhorn Waterfall.

Sirindhorn Waterfall

We’d been eerily alone in the park all day. We’d seen one other car on the side of the road, birders at ready with their tripod-ed camera, but other than that we’d had the park to ourselves. Or so I thought.

When we reached the parking lot, I realized where everybody was hanging out. The parking area for the waterfall was almost full of motorbikes. Clearly this was a popular spot for locals.

I expected it to be very crowded, but people were spread along the many pools and levels of crystal clear water that wandered for a good 300 or 400 meters and there was plenty of space.

We still had some durian, so we brought it down to the waters edge for a picnic. The air was cool from the icy spray of water hitting the rocks, the rocks warmed from the sun.

After a swim in the cold water, we enjoyed some durians we had brought from the village and leftover from Nuri.

The fruit-flesh was still incredibly thick and fatty, just like rolls of cookie dough plunked inside of a fruit. The durian was sweet and milky, with a sugar-cookie flavor and that green onion sharpness of Monthong.

So unique, and so surprising to find in this supposedly remote far southern corner of Thailand.

As shadows began to creep over the sunny rocks, we packed up our durian shells and drove out of the park just a few minutes before it closed. We had maximized the day and our 860 baht, and felt very satisfied.

It was a great first introduction to Naratiwat.

It felt very calm. People were friendly. They smiled, they asked where we were from, but they didn’t stare like we were aliens from outer space. Even grumpy grandpas in sarongs gave us a thumbs ups when we walked by and waved.

As we came to our last night at the Pracharat Resort, we said to each other – why not explore a bit more?

So the next day we set out for the most famous fruit-producing district in Naratiwat: Sukhurin.

Where we stayed: Pracharat Resort

We stayed at the Pracharat Resort (Facebook Page) but found it very difficult to contact them to make a booking. They didn’t answer by Line or WhatsApp, and the Facebook Page doesn’t have a message option.

I finally called them on their Thai number(from Malaysia) to make the booking.

The best way to book if you’re not in Thailand is to message one of the family members who speaks some English, named Sulfadlee, on his personal Facebook page.

Mr. Yunuh, speaks Kelantanese and Thai but no English. We were able to communicate with Bahasa malayu, but I sometimes struggled to understand him.

Mr. Yunuh was also very busy during the duration of our stay. The resort has a community center and meeting hall, and they seemed to be hosting events the whole time we were there.

So while the room was spacious and comfortable, it was definitely not the serene and remote getaway you might expect going on a wildlife tour. Instead, it was smack dab in the middle of the village activity. Which in some ways, is actually better than a remote villa.

How to Visit Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary

Located 8km from Bukit Bunga Border crossing to Malaysia, it takes just 15 minutes to reach the park. You could stay overnight at the Pracharat Resort or even do this as a day trip from Malaysia.

The park is 13km long, and a private vehicle is necessary to explore the park unless you book a tour beforehand. It costs 400 baht per person for foreigners to enter the park.