The article presents the results of a comparative study of the development and growth of thermokarst ponds on abandoned fields vis‐à‐vis those in undisturbed forest in an area of moderately ice‐rich sediments on the Lena‐Amgin interfluve in Central Yakutia. Field observations over the period 1976–1985 were augmented by analysis of aerial photos flown in 1952 and by interviews with local residents. Over the decade of observation, no new thermokarst ponds appeared in the undisturbed forest, whereas 7 appeared in the abandoned fields. The rates of widening of the ponds in the abandoned fields were several times greater than those in the undisturbed forest. Particularly rapid expansion of the thermokarst ponds coincided with particularly moist years.