Clarifying Tagging for Thailand National Parks and Protected Areas

Communities ประเทศไทย (Thailand)
1

While reviewing some national park data in OsmAnd, I noticed inconsistencies in how various protected areas are rendered. This led me to dig into the tagging practices, especially around leisure=nature_reserve, boundary=national_park, and boundary=protected_area.

We actually have a local tagging guideline here:
:point_right: WikiProject Thailand/Protected areas
However, many national parks and protected areas in Thailand don’t seem to follow it consistently, and the page itself might be outdated.

According to the global OSM wiki:

  • leisure=nature_reserve is meant for small, well-defined areas (often fenced or marked) managed by local/district law.
  • boundary=national_park should be used for administrative boundaries of officially designated national parks.
  • boundary=protected_area appears to be a newer, more general tag intended to cover all types of protected areas, including national parks, but it hasn’t yet gained enough rendering or community support to fully replace the more specific tags.
  • protect_class=* defines the level and purpose of protection for an area, following IUCN categories from strict reserves (1) to local or mixed-use protection (7).

:compass: Proposed Tagging Clarifications for Thailand:

:national_park: National Parks

  • boundary=national_park + protect_class=2

  • Use this instead of boundary=protected_area, as long as boundary=national_park is not deprecated.

  • Remove any leisure=nature_reserve tags.

  • Add:

    • operator=Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
    • operator:wikidata=Q5260416
    • name:en=* (if missing)

:elephant: Wildlife Sanctuaries

  • boundary=protected_area + protect_class=1

  • No change in tagging.

  • Add:

    • name:en=* (if missing)

  • Question: What is the correct operator for these areas?

:evergreen_tree: State Forests

  • boundary=protected_area + protect_class=4

  • Add:

    • name:en=* (if missing)

  • Question: Who manages or operates these? Possibly the Royal Forest Department?

:no_entry_sign: Non-Hunting Areas

  • boundary=protected_area + protect_class=4

  • Add:

    • name:en=* (if missing)

  • Question: What’s the appropriate operator here?

:herb: Local Nature Reserves (small, non-national areas)

  • leisure=nature_reserve + protect_class=7

  • Remove boundary=protected_area or boundary=national_park.

  • Add:

    • name:en=* (if missing)

Does anyone have any objections, suggestions, or additional input—especially regarding the correct operator tags?

If there’s consensus, I’ll begin cleaning up tagging for national parks and adding missing English names and operator info where appropriate. I will also update the wiki.

This topic has also been discussed in older threads, such as: Thailand National Parks – OSM Community Forum

2

There are 4 types of areas managed by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation:

  • National Parks (protect_class=2)
  • Wildlife Sanctuaries (protect_class=1)
  • Forest Parks (protect_class=3)
  • Non-hunting Areas (protect_class=4)

(Not sure what the mentioned “State Forests” and “Local Nature Reserves” refer to.)

I remembered that I had already mapped all of these areas to OSM. However, it is possible that it was altered later or that there was an issue. You can modify it if it appears to be incorrect.

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3

Do you know if the level of protection implies any specific access restrictions? I assume it’s up to each park to define them. At least in some wildlife reserves in northern Thailand, there are villages and roads, and I’ve never seen any signs indicating restrictions in those areas.

4

They are distinguished by purpose rather than restriction. Btw, the purpose may have an indirect effect on the restriction; for example, wildlife sanctuaries are more difficult to access than national parks. By legislation, I believe the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has the authority to approve or deny access to each area. However, this is another matter. Each area may have distinct rules.

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5

I can’t find the examples I originally saw, but I remember coming across several archaeological or historical sites—probably UNESCO-listed—that were tagged with boundary=protected_area. That struck me as odd, since I couldn’t find any mention of this tagging practice in the OSM wiki guidelines for historic=archaeological_site.

A few examples I noted:

6

A historical park, managed by the Fine Arts Department, could be a protected area with protect_class=22.

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