KHAO SOK NATIONAL PARK
Khao Sok National Park is one of Thailand’s not so hidden treasures. However, for those wanting to venture a little off the beaten path, Khao Sok is generally one of the first suggestions to come up.
When you Google Khao Sok National Park, you’ll immediately be inundated with photos of longtail boats, giant limestone cliffs, and the brightest of bright blue water. As pretty as these photos are, they still don’t compare to the magic of seeing the national park in person.
Khao Sok National Park is located in the south of Thailand. Close to the more popular islands of Koh Tao, Koh Samui, and Koh Phangan, this park tends to be overlooked.
But don’t be one of those people!
I had been avoiding coming here for so long because it was so inconvenient to get to, but now that I’ve been there, I’m mad it took me so long to eventually get there!
In this guide, I’ll tell you everything I did while visiting the park as well as a few of the activities I sadly missed out on. I visited right when the national parks opened and there were very few tourists around. While that would normally be a great thing, it also meant that as a solo traveler, I had to wait to see if enough people wanted to do the tours I was interested in.
But that being said, I was lucky enough to do everything I wanted to in the park and left with no regrets.
ABOUT KHAO SOK NATIONAL PARK
Khao Sok National Park is really divided into two main sections, Klong Sok and Cheow Larn Lake. Klong Sok is the headquarters of the park is located. Most of the resorts and restaurants are located here, as well as the entrance to the main part of the park as well.
Cheow Larn Lake is about an hour away from the Klong Sok and is where you will go to see the infamous lake.
Fun fact: Cheow Larn Lake is a man-made lake built as a source of electricity for the country. The whole entire thing is a whopping 185 square kilometers.
Each day in Khao Sok National Park is 300 baht.
*As of this posting, there are only 1 day passes. However, if you do the night safari and then the overnight on the lake the day after, you’ll almost get a full 48 hours off of the one ticket.
HOW TO GET THERE
Getting to Khao Sok National Park can be one of the trickiest things about traveling to this gorgeous park.
The easiest way to get to Khao Sok National Park is by land by minibus. These minibusses come from many of the popular surrounding areas: Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak, and Surat Thani.
My journey looked like this: Fly from Chiang Mai to Surat Thani airport. Then, take a minibus from there to the Surat Thani bus station in town. Board a minibus heading towards Khao Sok National Park.
If you are flying, the Surat Thani airport is the easiest airport to fly into the get to the park. However, if you are coming from Phuket or Krabi, it’s worth just looking into a minibus to take you directly to Khao Sok. It’ll be much cheaper for around the same amount of travel time.
WHEN TO VISIT
Planning when to visit can also be a bit tricky. Since the park lies in the middle of the peninsula of Thailand, it receives rain from both sides. Since it is the jungle, it’s common for the park to receive a little bit of rain every day, but it won’t rain enough to ruin your trip.
THE WET SEASON: May to October
During this time, activities might be limited due to the rain. So make sure that you can plan accordingly. This is also high time for leeches in the park.
**When I visited in June, it was quite dry. The cave we visited had no water and we were told it is normally flooded. There were also a few waterfalls that were a bit dry at the time as well. Buuuut there were still quite a few leeches on some of the hikes so be careful out there!
THE DRY SEASON: November to April
While it might rain for an hour or so each day, most if not everything in the park will be open.
HOW LONG SHOULD YOU STAY
While this largely depends on the amount of time you have in Thailand, I think think that the minimum should be 2 nights total (including the overnight on the lake). However, I think the fully get the best experience possible, 4 nights would be a good amount of time to see a little of everything while you’re there.
If you’re an avid trekker or hiker, this can be extended by 1 or 2 more nights.
WHERE TO STAY
Klong Sok has a variety of different places to stay for all budgets. When I was there, I stayed at Coco Hostel and really enjoyed myself. It was fairly cheap and I only paid 200 baht a night!!
**Due to travel restrictions, I ended up being the only person in the hostel, but based on other reviews it seems like it’s usually fully booked.
I met some other people who were staying at the Khao Sok Jasmine Garden Resort and Khao Sok Riverside Resort and also had a good time.
THINGS TO DO
Visiting Cheow Larn Lake isn’t the only thing to do in Khao Sok National Park. It is the jungle after all. This is one of the only parks in Thailand where wild elephants and still known to roam around. Spend a few extra days in the park and get your adventure on!
- Night Safari
The night safari was honestly one of the best things that I did while I stayed at the park. At around 7 pm, meet your guide and trek into the jungle looking for all the wild creatures in the jungle. If you’re lucky, you’ll see monkeys, snakes, lizards, tons of spiders, and even an Asian Golden Cat.
- Cooking Class
You might have taken cooking classes in Chiang Mai or Bangkok, but these cooking classes will teach you how cook things “jungle style” over an open fire and with local ingredients. Some of them can even be found in the jungle itself.
- Jungle Trekking
Take yourself to the park during the day and walk along some of the trails. There are tons of waterfalls you can go looking for in the jungle. If you’re lucky you’ll be able to see the monkeys hanging out at the top of the canopy.
- Thai Massage
After a long day of trekking through the jungle, there’s nothing better than getting a nice massage to end your day.
- Bamboo Rafting
Sit in a bamboo raft and look for the wild animals hidden among the trees. Bamboo rafting depends on the water level at the time, so check to see if it is being offered at the time of your visit.
- Trek to find the Rafflesia flower
This is one of the more popular activities in Khao Sok National Park. It’s home to one of the largest flowers in the world, the Rafflesia, which only blooms for a short portion of the year.
- Watching the sunset at The 99km Coffee House Khao Sok
Located along the 401 high way, the cafe is perfectly situated to watch the sunset as it goes down behind the mountains. However, you’ll either need a car or motorbike to get there as it isn’t walkable from town.
VISITING CHEOW LARN LAKE
There are three different ways to visit the lake, however, I believe that only one is the best option. Let’s look at the different options
By Yourself
This is the cheapest way to see the lake and make sure you are able to explore and stay as long as you want.
Rent a motorbike and then drive yourself to the Ratchaprapa dam. (I know the map says “permanently closed” but it’s not. I was just there) From here you can hire a private longtail boat to take you where you want (decide this beforehand) or find some other people to share the boat.
From my research, it’s about 2,000 baht for the private boat.
**At the time of posting, this option was not currently available due to travel restrictions, but is still a good idea to keep in mind when tourism starts to open up in Thailand again.
Day Tour
Virtually every single hostel or hotel will offer this tour. It’s a full day that starts around 8:30 am and goes till around 5:30. (Different tours will vary in return times but this is an all-day adventure.)
The tour includes a ride in a longtail boat around the lake, jungle trekking/or cave exploration, lunch, and kayaking/canoeing around the lake.
All the tours vary in cost from about 1,500 baht to 4,500 baht. While this isn’t the tour I took, I heard good things about the packages from Smiley Bungalow Tours and Green Andaman Travel.
Overnight Tour
Personally, I think that this is the best way to see the lake Khao Sok National Park. While seeing the lake during the day is incredible all on its own. There’s just something that hits different about waking up on the water.
And if you’re really lucky, at night, once the power goes out, you’ll be able to see the milky way from your bungalow.
The overnight tours include everything that the day tours include plus a little extra. While the activities will vary, they tend to include activities like treks to waterfalls, cave exploration, and even tubing!
There are about 20 groups of floating bungalows around the lake varying from pretty basic (just a bamboo hut with a mattress, blanket, and pillow) to fancy enough to forget that you don’t have cell service for the night.
There are also overnight tours that include 2 nights instead of one so you aren’t as rushed to do all the activities.
The cheapest package that I’ve seen is 2,500 baht per person all the way up to 6,000 per night.
One additional thing to think about it that if there is enough space at the bungalow you’re staying at, sometimes companies will allow you to tack on an extra night to your stay to relax around the lake.
Rough Itinerary for the Overnight
Day One:
8:45 Pick up begins
9:45ish Quick stop at a local market to pick up any last things you might need. (snacks, drinks, etc)
10:30ish Arrive at the Ratchaprapa dam. Stop and take photos
11:00 Arrive at the pier. Buy tickets. Get on the long tail boat
12:15ish Arrive at the bungalows and get settled in and have lunch
2:00 Set off for an afternoon adventure: trekking to waterfalls or to a viewpoint. Mini night safari on the way back to see some animals from the water
7:00ish Get back to the bungalows for dinner and have the rest of the night to yourself
Day Two:
6:00 Wake up for the sunrise
6:30 Set off for your morning safari to look for more animals like monkeys and hornbills
8:00 Come back and eat breakfast
9:15 Morning adventure to either more trekking or cave exploration
11:30 Drive along the lake more and find a spot for lunch and swimming
12:30 Head back to the dam to catch the minibus back to town
3:00ish Arrive back in Klong Sok
***Note: As of right now, there is no WIFI on the lake. Take this time to enjoy the break from your phone. Right now, AIS is the only service provider that has any signal on the lake. And that is even a bit spotty most of the time.
THINGS TO BRING
- -Hiking shoes or sandals: While proper hiking boots aren’t necessary, any sort of sneaker would be good here. However, keep in mind that it might also be muddy where you will be going. Hiking sandals like Chacos or Keens would be great for this. Just be wary of leeches
- -On the hike on the first day, I opted out because I only had plastic Birkenstocks and didn’t want to risk my feet while I walked on the rocks.
- -Bug Repellant: Khao Sok National Park is a bit rampant with mosquitos being that it is a rainforest and is quite humid all of the time
- -Rain jacket or poncho: Keep yourself dry when an unexpected storm decides to roll in
- -Dry bag: These are great when you go canoeing or kayaking for keeping your valuables dry
- -Playing cards: Once evening hits, this is a fun and easy way to keep yourself entertained with your friends
- -Sunglasses: because….sun
- -Sunscreen: because once again… sun
- -Swimsuit
- -Waterbottle: all the bungalows will have a place for you to refill your bottle in the kitchen area
- -Powerbank: power will generally only run from 6-10 pm every day. If you run out of juice before then you’ll have some backup power!
- -Kindle: because…entertainment
- -Clothes that you don’t mind getting wet or muddy: trust me on this one.
I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
If you are planning a trip to Khao Sok, what questions do you have about planning your trip? Drop them below and I’ll do my best to answer them!
If you still need a bit more convincing, check out my Khao Sok Trailer from my YouTube channel!
ARE YOU PLANNING A TRIP TO THAILAND?
Check out these posts about planning your next trip!
30 Photos to Inspire Your Next Trip to Thailand
