This geopark is mostly located in the LamTakhong river basin on the southwestern margin of the Khorat Plateau in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in northeast Thailand. Deciduous dipterocarp forests are the dominant forest type in the area. It covers an area of 3,167 km2 with a population about 741,000 people (2018).

Celebrating Earth heritage

The unique geological feature of the region is the diversity and abundance of fossils ranging in age from 16 million to 10 000 years. A large range of dinosaurs and other animal fossils like ancient elephants have been found in Mueang District. Petrified wood has also been discovered in sand and gravel deposits both in the Chaloem Phra Kiat and Mueang districts of Nakhon Ratchasima. This has prompted Khorat UNESCO Global Geopark to consider itself the Paleontopolis (City of Ancient Life) of the world. Khorat has also been internationally recognized in the scientific names of new vertebrate fossil species discovered in the geopark, such as Khoratosuchus jintasakuli (a crocodile) and Sirindhorna khoratensis (a dinosaur).

The geoparks is underlain by Mesozoic rocks of the Khorat Group, and Maha Sarakham and Phu Thok formations, consisting of sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone, shale, claystone, and rock salt. The rising of the Himalayas 65 to 55 million years ago caused lifting and folding of the rock layers of the Khorat Group to form a plateau and basin. Alternating layers of more and less resistant rock has resulted in the formation of two rows of cuestas in the western and southwestern geopark region. In the centre, the Early Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation has yielded numerous reptile fossils, including three new species of iguanodont dinosaurs, and new species each of carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur, crocodile and turtle. In the east, fluvial sediments from the Neogene to the Quaternary have yielded three rare species of fossil mammals, an ancient orangutan, an anthracothere, and a hornless rhinoceros, as well as species of fossil plants. Ten genera of ancient elephants have been recovered out of 55 genera known worldwide, as well as more than 20 other mammal species as well as abundant fossil wood, fruits, seeds, and pollen have also been recovered, including 15 mammal species from one 2-hectare site. The great diversity of mammalian fossils from the Miocene to Pleistocene is considered the main geological highlight of the geopark. Khorat Geopark is known as “Cuesta and Fossil Land” because of the parallel ranges of cuestas and its numerous fossils.

Sustaining local communities

The unique culture of the area is called the Thai Khorat Cultura. Khorat is known for the Khorat language, people and music. The major economic activity is agriculture, with cultivation of rice, cassava, and sugar cane and raising of cattle, pigs, and chickens. Nakhon Ratchasima is a regional highway and railway transportation center. In the city center of Nakhon Ratchasima and the surrounding district cities, the majority of the population is engaged in industry, commerce, and services.