Khao Yai Travel Guide · Chapter 6 of 8
The Thanarat Road Strip: Farms, Villages and Family Attractions
Thanarat Road (Route 2090) is a 23 km strip of built attractions between Pak Chong and Khao Yai's north gate — themed villages, animal farms, a theme park, none inside the park, most half-hour photo stops. Palio, its best-known name, closed in March 2020 and has never reopened. Jim Thompson Farm, an hour away, now opens only every other December.
At a glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| The road | Route 2090, called Thanarat Road, from the Highway 2 junction in Pak Chong to the park's northern checkpoint |
| Length of the strip | About 23 km. Kilometre markers count up from the Pak Chong end |
| End-to-end drive | Roughly 30 minutes with no stops; slower on weekend afternoons |
| Park checkpoint | Chao Por Khao Yai Shrine, near the km 23 marker |
| Primo Piazza | Widely listed at 200 THB adult / 100 THB child (about US$6 / US$3), daily 09:00–18:00 |
| Palio Khao Yai | No entrance fee. The shopping village closed in March 2020 and has not returned as a trading attraction |
| Chokchai Farm | Highway 2 at km 159–160 — not on Thanarat Road. Guided tour about 2–2.5 hours; no tours Mondays except public holidays |
| Bonanza Exotic Zoo | Listed at 150 THB adult, 80 THB child 100–140 cm, free under 100 cm; 09:00–17:00 |
| Scenical World | Listed at 10:00–18:00, last ticket redemption 17:00, closed Wednesdays |
| Jim Thompson Farm | Pak Thong Chai district, about an hour away. Now runs every other year. Did not open at all in 2025 |
| Midwinter Green | On Thanarat Road, no entrance fee — a restaurant and event venue, not a ticketed attraction. Seasonal market mid-October to mid-February |
What Thanarat Road is, and what is not on it
Thanarat Road is Route 2090, a sealed two-lane road that leaves Highway 2 in Pak Chong and climbs about 23 km south to the park's northern checkpoint at the Chao Por Khao Yai Shrine. Everything in this chapter sits outside that barrier, and none of it needs the park entry fee covered in Inside Khao Yai National Park.
The strip grew up along the first 20 km because that is where Bangkok weekenders drive past. The most useful thing to know is which places are not on it: several widely copied "Thanarat Road" lists include venues reached on a different highway.
| Stop | Thanarat km | Drive from Pak Chong |
|---|---|---|
| Highway 2 junction, Pak Chong | km 0 | — |
| Sheep Land | about km 4 | around 6 minutes |
| Midwinter Green | about km 10 | around 14 minutes |
| Pimsuk Farm | km 12 | around 17 minutes |
| Palio Khao Yai | km 17 | around 23 minutes |
| Primo Piazza | not confirmed | around 25 minutes |
| Park checkpoint (Chao Por Khao Yai Shrine) | km 23 | around 30 minutes |
| Park visitor centre | 14 km inside the gate | around 55 minutes |
Only two of those markers are well attested: Palio at km 17 and the checkpoint at km 23. Midwinter Green at km 10 and Sheep Land at km 4 each come from a single source, and no kilometre marker for Primo Piazza or Scenical World could be found at all — navigate to those two by name, not by marker.
Chokchai Farm is on Highway 2 at the km 159–160 markers. Bonanza Exotic Zoo is in the Khanong Phra area, off Highway 2. Jim Thompson Farm is in Pak Thong Chai district, about an hour away. The vineyards are in Phaya Yen off Highway 2, the far side of Pak Chong and the opposite direction from the park gate — the three zones are mapped in Khao Yai Orientation. Treating all of these as one line of stops is how day plans fall apart.
Jim Thompson Farm now opens every other year
Jim Thompson Farm has always been a short seasonal opening — historically about five weeks from early December to early January, tickets sold in advance through Ticketmelon and the Jim Thompson House Museum. For eleven months the gates are shut.
It is now harder than that. The farm did not open in 2025. Its own website states that the Farm Tour "will pause in 2025 and return on a biennial schedule, with an enhanced edition in December 2026," and its Instagram account carries the same message in Thai. As of late August 2026 the site names December 2026 and nothing more — no start date, no end date, no ticket price, no opening hours.
Primo Piazza and Palio: the two European villages
Primo Piazza is a compact replica of a hillside Italian village — cobbles, terracotta, a bell tower — built around paddocks of alpacas, sheep and donkeys, with a handful of animal feed usually included in the ticket. It is listed as open daily 09:00–18:00 with last entry around 17:30; those hours come from aggregator listings, not from the venue, and no weekly closing day is published anywhere.
The honest verdict: it is a photograph, not a day out. Most people walk it in 30 to 60 minutes, and the whole experience is feeding animals and taking pictures against the buildings. Children under about ten enjoy it; adults travelling without children will find it thin for the money. Arrive at opening, before the crowds.
Prices are inconsistent: 2026 English listings give 200 THB adult and 100 THB child, several Thai listings still show 100 and 50 THB, and one describes separate foreigner and Thai rates.
Palio Khao Yai, at km 17, is the harder truth. It was a Tuscan-styled shopping village of cobbled alleys and terracotta shopfronts, and most travel sites still list it as a live attraction. It closed on 22 March 2020 and has not reopened as one. Thai business coverage reported the operator winding it up and seeking new investment; reviews through 2024 and into 2026 describe shuttered units and an empty piazza. A supermarket and a bank at the frontage still trade.
Chokchai Farm: the one that earns its ticket with children
Chokchai Farm is a working dairy that has run guided farm tours for decades, and it is the one attraction here that genuinely delivers for families. The tour is a tractor-tram circuit with a milking-parlour demonstration, hands-on cow milking, animal feeding, a cowboy show with horses and sheepdogs, and farm-made ice cream at the end. It runs two to two and a half hours — longer than everything else in this chapter combined.
Two practical points. It is on Highway 2 at km 159–160, a separate leg of the day rather than a stop on the strip. And the tour is conducted in Thai: an English handbook is provided and guides often make an effort when foreigners are aboard, but reviewers report guides who translate generously and guides who speak none. The hands-on activities carry it regardless, which is why it still works with young children.
Tours are listed at 10:00 and 14:00 Tuesday to Friday, roughly every 20 minutes at weekends and on public holidays, and not at all on Mondays except public holidays. Book ahead for weekends, and ring before driving out on a Monday or for a specific departure — the timetable above comes from listing sites rather than the farm. Published prices vary widely: circulating figures for the guided tour run from about 150 to 300 THB per adult, and a cheaper drive-in entry with per-activity charges also exists.
The rest of the strip
Bonanza Exotic Zoo — listed at 150 THB adult, 80 THB for children 100–140 cm, free under 100 cm, open 09:00–17:00. A private exotic-animal collection on a 700 m circular walkway: white lions, red pandas, giraffes, meerkats, wallabies, feed usually included. It is small, and a collection rather than a conservation zoo. Anyone who has seen a good open zoo elsewhere in Thailand will find it modest; a five-year-old who wants to hand-feed a giraffe will not.
Scenical World — listed at 10:00 to 18:00, last redemption 17:00, closed Wednesdays. A genuine theme park with a water park, a rides area and a children's zone, and by a wide margin the most expensive thing on the strip: day passes are listed around 1,250 THB (about US$38) for adults and 850 THB for children over 100 cm. Worth it only if a water park is why you came. The Wednesday closure is the detail to confirm, because it is the one that can lose a family a day.
Sheep Land and the sheep farms — half a dozen near-identical sheep and alpaca farms now sit along Thanarat Road charging roughly 40 to 120 THB, most including a tray of feed. Sheep Land itself, around km 4, is the oldest name, but every source describing it is a decade old and its current trading status could not be confirmed. Pimsuk Farm at km 12 is one live alternative. Pick one: they are interchangeable, and visiting three is a way to spend a morning seeing nothing new.
Midwinter Green — a red-brick, castle-styled manor in landscaped grounds, with a restaurant that has drawn Michelin Guide recognition, a bar-lounge, a cafe and a seasonal market running daily from about mid-October to mid-February, reported at 10:00–22:00. There is no entrance fee because it is not an attraction: it is somewhere to eat, at a quoted 400 to 800 THB a head, with grounds you can walk afterwards. Outside the market season the grounds and restaurant are the whole visit, so check the dates before making it the reason for the drive.
Who each place suits, and what to skip
With children under about ten, Chokchai Farm comes first and comfortably; add one sheep or alpaca farm, Primo Piazza if the weather is kind, and Scenical World only if the children want a water park and you have a full day for it. Photographers and couples get Primo Piazza early in the morning and Midwinter Green for a meal, and that is the whole list. Anyone with a single day in Khao Yai should skip the strip altogether: one day is not enough for the national park and the built attractions both, and the park is the reason the region is on a map.
Skip outright: Palio, until something reopens there. The second and third sheep farm. Bonanza, if you have seen a real zoo. Scenical World, unless a water park is specifically what you want. And do not schedule Jim Thompson Farm unless its dates are confirmed for the year you travel.
The strip's weakness is that nothing on it takes long, yet the venues sit 5 to 15 minutes apart, so a day built from five of them is mostly car parks. Two stops plus a meal is a realistic half-day. For how these fit around the park and the vineyards, see Khao Yai Itineraries.
Frequently asked questions
When is Jim Thompson Farm open?
It opens for a short season and, since 2025, only every other year. The farm did not open at all in 2025; its official site says the tour returns in December 2026 on a biennial schedule, with no dates, prices or hours published as of late August 2026. Historically the season ran about five weeks from early December to early January.
Is Primo Piazza worth visiting?
It depends who you are. It is a small Italian-styled village with alpacas and sheep that most visitors walk in 30 to 60 minutes, and the experience is feeding animals and taking photographs. Families with young children and people who want the pictures get their money's worth. Anyone else will find it brief and fairly expensive.
Is Palio Khao Yai still open?
Not as the shopping village the listings describe. It closed in March 2020 and has not reopened as a trading attraction; recent visitors report empty shopfronts and an unmaintained piazza, though a supermarket and a bank at the entrance still operate. You can walk the lanes and photograph the architecture for free, but there is nothing to shop or browse.
Is Chokchai Farm good for kids?
Yes — it is the strongest family attraction in the Khao Yai area. The two-hour guided tour includes cow milking, animal feeding and a cowboy show, and children respond to it well. Note that it sits on Highway 2 rather than Thanarat Road, that tours run in Thai with variable English, and that Mondays have no tours except public holidays.
What is there to do in Khao Yai besides the national park?
Two vineyards with proper tours, a dairy farm with a guided tour, several themed villages and animal farms along Thanarat Road, a theme park and a private zoo. Almost all of it is built rather than natural, and almost all of it takes an hour or less. The vineyards and Chokchai Farm are the exceptions worth real time.
Related
- Previous chapter: Khao Yai Wine Country: PB Valley, GranMonte and the New Latitude
- Next chapter: Eating, Sleeping and Practical Khao Yai
- The strip, the park gate and the vineyards lie in three different directions from Pak Chong, and with a single day the strip is the one to drop. Chapter 8 sets out which pairings actually fit a day.
Last updated: 2026-08-29. Route timing and road notes come from Smile Taxi Service drivers who run Khao Yai tours weekly.