Khao Yai

Khao Yai National Park, Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Khao Yai translates as Big Mountain - and it is. It is Thailand's first national park (established in 1962) and it's third largest, located in the Sankamphaeng mountain range. It is known for its lush monsoon forests, it's waterfalls such as Haew Suwat (featured in the film The Beach), and it's diverse wildlife including wild elephants, gibbons and porcupines. And it is here I found myself in 2006 with 82 school children, trekking through the jungle. It was jaw droppingly magnificent - I was a teacher but part of me had become Indiana Jones embarking on an intrepid adventure!

Beautiful and stunning as it is, the dangers in the forest must not be underestimated - from rampaging wild elephants to a rogue crocodile. Famously, in 2016, two tourists went missing for three days. They had wandered off the trail and survived on bamboo shoots and creek water.

How could I not be inspired to paint 'Khao Yai'?