A ministry has planned to apply for a new Guinness World Record for the longest petrified log after realising the piece found in Tak province 18 years ago was longer than the current record holder in China.
The log, found in the Doi Soi Malai National Park in the western province in 2003, was 72.22m long, equivalent to the height of a 20-storey building, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
It suggested the original tree towered to more than 100m in a wet tropical forest in ancient times.
The petrified wood, aged at least 120,000 years old, was of the Thong Bueng tree species (kempas) commonly found in rainforests in the South of Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, permanent secretary Jatuporn Burutphat said on Tuesday.
The world's record now is the piece found in Qitai in Northwest China’s Xinjiang region, which is 38m long, he said.
While visiting the park early this year, minister Varawut Silpa-archa learned about the log and encouraged officials to apply for the Guinness World Record.
(Photo: The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment)