A First Timer’s Adventure in Spectacular Khao Sok National Park
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A gecko perches nonchalantly on the wooden wall of my treehouse digs. It’s frozen and silent…for now.
But I know it’s only a matter of time before it moves.
Where?
Since I can’t reasonably ask it to leave so I can go to sleep secure in the knowledge it won’t scamper across my face in the middle of the night, I decide to become one with the gecko.
It’s not as if I have much choice.
When you’re staying in a treehouse on the edge of Khao Sok National Park in southern Thailand, wildlife encounters are not optional.
Which, of course, is exactly as it should be.
I had never heard of Khao Sok until I started researching places to visit in Thailand. Within about ten minutes of Googling, I understood why it appears on virtually every top-ten list of things to do in the country.
Khao Sok ticks every box: ancient rainforest, dramatic limestone karsts, an otherworldly lake straight out of a fantasy novel, and wildlife ranging from gibbons to hornbills to vipers.
My daughter, Julia, and I spent four days and three nights here: two nights in a treehouse at Our Jungle House, close to the tiny town of Khao Sok on the edge of Khao Sok National Park, and one unforgettable night on a floating raft house on Cheow Lan Lake.
All transfers, meals, and activities were included in a package that turned out to be one of the best-organized experiences of our entire Thailand trip.
Here’s everything you need to know to help you decide if Khao Sok belongs on your itinerary.
Spoiler alert: it does.
Table of Contents
- Khao Sok National Park Quick Facts
- Getting to Khao Sok: From Chiang Mai to the Jungle
- Day 1: Our Jungle House: Treehouses, Geckos, and a Snake in a Tree
- Day 2: Paddling a Jungle Stream, Bamboo Cooking, and a Jungle Night Walk
- Day 3: Jungle Hike and Skimming Across the One of the World’s Most Breathtaking Lakes
- Is Khao Sok Worth It?
- Practical Notes for Planning Your Khao Sok Visit
- Planning Your Khao Sok Visit
- Keep Exploring Thailand with Artsy Traveler
Khao Sok National Park Quick Facts
- Location: Surat Thani Province, southern Thailand
- Nearest town: Khao Sok village: tiny with one main street of mostly souvenir shops and cafés
- Getting there: Fly to Surat Thani, then private transfer or minivan (roughly 2 hours)
- Where we stayed: Our Jungle House (treehouses and bungalows on the jungle creek) for two nights, and at Keereewarin raft house on Cheow Lan Lake for one night
- How long to stay: Minimum 3 nights and 4 days
- What’s included in a package: Transfers, meals, and activities; confirm details when booking
- Activities: River canoe tour, bamboo cooking demonstration, night safari, jungle hike, cave visit, lake wildlife cruise, kayaking
- Fitness level required: Low to moderate; most activities are manageable with average mobility
- Best time to go: November to February (cool season); avoid June to October (rainy season)
- Bring: Cash to pay for the balance on the package, long trousers and closed-toe shoes, dry bag, sunscreen, insect repellent, telephoto lens if you have one
- Don’t expect: Five-star comfort; accommodations are comfortable but basic
- Wildlife spotted: Gibbons, hornbill, vipers, lizards, spiders
Getting to Khao Sok: From Chiang Mai to the Jungle
The easiest way to get to Khao Sok is to fly to Surat Thani and then take a transfer. If you book a package with Our Jungle House, all transfers are included.
We flew to Surat Thani from Chiang Mai the morning after our epic two-day hill tribe tour with Thailand Hilltribe Holidays, which had been, to put it mildly, emotionally intense.
A driver picked us up for the two-hour drive to Our Jungle House, where we spent the first two nights of our three-night, four-day adventure.
We stopped en route at a large 7-Eleven, mostly frequented by locals rather than tourists so the prices were even lower than the already-bargain-priced 7-Elevens we’d encountered elsewhere in Thailand.
The chain is everywhere in Thailand and worth knowing about: clean, cheap, and stocked with snacks, toiletries, and everything else you might need before disappearing into the jungle for a few days.
Day 1: Our Jungle House: Treehouses, Geckos, and a Snake in a Tree
Our Jungle House announces itself with a breezy open-air lobby and the sound of a jungle creek running somewhere nearby.
The friendly staff show us to our treehouse, which is elevated a full storey above ground and connected to the world below by a wooden staircase.
The treehouse feels like something out of an old film set in colonial Africa. A large mesh enclosure fills the gap between the top of the walls and the eaves and is designed to keep out monkeys and snakes. What it cannot keep out are smaller residents such as insects and geckos.
The grounds are lovely: jungle foliage, the babbling creek, winding pathways. The restaurant is open to the elements and serves a Thai-ish menu pitched toward Western palates. Wi-Fi is available only in the restaurant and bar.
Our first afternoon is blissfully unscheduled. I sit on the verandah with my laptop while the jungle rustles around me. Later, a massage therapist works on my injured arm with gentle pressure and a fragrant healing oil.
Julia discovers a bicycle that, when pedaled, activates a fountain.
Before bed, I take one of my favorite photographs of the entire trip: Julia crocheting behind the mosquito net, the white gauze and soft light giving the whole composition the quality of a Renaissance painting.
Day 2: Paddling a Jungle Stream, Bamboo Cooking, and a Jungle Night Walk
The next morning begins with the Khao Sok River Canoe Tour, which I approach with mild apprehension, given my sprained wrist.
Canoe Excursion
The apprehension evaporates immediately upon learning that the tour involves sitting in a kayak while a guide does all the paddling.
That’s my kind of canoe tour.
The early light washes across still water that mirrors soaring limestone cliffs and a tangle of jungle so dense and green it looks painted.
I settle back and give myself over to enjoying the peaceful immediacy of the moment.
Nothing is required of me but to listen to the gentle lapping of the wake and birdsong from somewhere deep in the canopy while watching the slow slide of the jungle past the bow.
The guide points out a large lizard basking on a sun-warmed rock with the studied casualness of someone who knows they look good.
We pull onto a small beach and meet another couple who turns out to be from Saskatchewan, the first Canadians we’ve encountered on the trip. The four of us sit in a shaded clearing while the guides make hot chocolate boiled in bamboo stalks over an open fire.
This canoeing activity is perfect for visitors who want a gently-paced experience. For those craving more adventure, Our Jungle House offers several active adventures. Check their website for options.
Bamboo Cooking Demonstration
In the late afternoon, we watch one of the guides prepare an entire meal in bamboo stalks roasted over an open fire.
While dinner cooks, we wander down to the river, where a guide points out a snake coiled high in the branches of a tree. When asked if it’s poisonous, he nods with the casual air of someone who finds this unremarkable. It comes down at night to hunt in the river, he adds helpfully.
Julia gets a photo with her telephoto lens.
Our bamboo cooked dinner is served in the open-air restaurant as the jungle settles into evening. The food is hearty and delicious; after dinner we have our first encounter with monkeys. Several of them cavort just meters away.
The Night Safari: In Search of a King Cobra
I am excited about the nighttime jungle walk, and then somewhat less excited when we arrive at the entrance to Khao Sok National Park and join a sizable crowd of other visitors all going on the same walk, albeit with different guides.
We head off into the jungle and our guide excitedly reveals that he spotted a King Cobra in this exact stretch of jungle the previous night and is determined to find it again.
He sweeps his flashlight along the riverbank with the focus of a man on a mission. The jungle presses in on both sides, hot and alive with rustling. I watch my feet and wonder if the thin material of my pants is enough to withstand a cobra bite.
I’m pretty sure it’s not.
After some time, the guide concedes defeat, and I can’t say I’m sorry. He shows us the video he took of the cobra (and he was a big’un) swimming in the river. I’m not sure why, but the concept of a cobra swimming is even more terrifying than one coiled on land.
I don’t think I’ll be swimming in a jungle stream anytime soon.
We walk deeper into the jungle and leave behind the other tour groups, which improves things considerably. The guide’s flashlight catches a viper suspended in the canopy, apparently unbothered by the audience below.
We see lizards, spiders, and various other creatures going about their nocturnal business.
Is the jungle night walk worth doing?
Yes! We didn’t see an enormous amount of wildlife, but there is something primordial about moving through dense jungle in the dark, when the lights go off and the darkness presses in and the rustling could be anything.
This level of primeval spookiness isn’t something you’ll encounter every day.
Day 3: Jungle Hike and Skimming Across the One of the World’s Most Breathtaking Lakes
Our four days in Khao Sok include a one-night stay at a raft house on Cheow Lan Lake and a full day on the lake.
What an experience! I hesitate to gush, but honestly? Every minute was incredible.
The lake covers roughly 165 square kilometers and is surrounded by some of the oldest rainforest on Earth. Towering limestone karsts rise straight out of the water, their sheer faces draped in jungle greenery, their reflections doubled in the surface below.
Cheow Lan Lake is entirely man-made. In 1987, the Ratchaprapha Dam flooded a vast inland valley within Khao Sok National Park, displacing approximately 385 families. During the flooding, over 1,300 animals were captured and relocated, though not all survived.
Getting There: Jungle Hike
The morning of our lake day begins early. We settle our bill for the entire four-day experience at Our Jungle House in cash (bring plenty), and are driven to the start of a two-hour jungle hike alongside the river.
We also meet the eight people we’ll spend the next day and night with: a couple from Malta, two young women from Portugal, a mother and teenage daughter from Switzerland, two women from France, and a cheerful man from northern England. It is the kind of random international assembly that only happens on group tours in spectacular places, and it works immediately.
The trail along the river is rough in places but manageable even for me with my injured arm, and people are generously helpful when the footing gets tricky. The scenery is beyond spectacular, particularly the rocks overhanging the trail at dramatic angles. The river runs green and clear below.
Bamboo Raft and Sleepy Bats
We hike to a launching point and board a wide bamboo raft for one of the most sedate river experiences I’ve ever had. We sit upright on wooden chairs bolted to the bamboo and watch the jungle gently slide past.
Along the way, we stop to hike to a cave where sleepy bats dot the rocky ceiling. I’m not sorry they don’t wake up to do some precision swooping.
Lunch is at a riverside spot where we are the only group. The food is good. The view is better.
Speeding Across the Lake
A van collects us from lunch and delivers us to the lakeshore, where a longtail boat waits. We climb in for our trip across the lake to the Raft house.
The landscape surrounding Cheow Lan Lake is described as unworldly and awe-inspiring.
That’s an understatement.
Within minutes I have run out of adjectives to describe the incredible and ever-changing views of water, mountains, and sky. Everywhere I look is a scene fresh out of a fantasy movie, more perfect than anything CGI could cook up.
The pilot slows down and putters into an area known as the most photographed spot on Cheow Lan Lake. This is the Guilin Viewpoint, otherwise known as Three Rock Viewpoint or Three Brothers Rock. It’s a stunning formation of three limestone cliffs that rise with dramatic nonchalance from the deep green waters of the lake.
Everyone takes a turn crawling up to the bow of the longtail boat and having their picture taken.
Guilin Viewpoint with its towering cliffs is definitely one of those spots that earns its reputation.
Arrival at the Keereewarin Raft House
The longtail slows and we putter toward a row of peaked wooden structures floating in the calm waters.
We clamber out of the boat and are directed to our home for the night. A portion of the floor is glass, so you can look down into the green water below.
The bed is a thin mattress on a slightly raised platform. The shower and toilet are just outside the door. Step off the wide front verandah and you drop straight into the lake.
Julia does this approximately thirty seconds after we arrive. Most of our group follows. I watch from the verandah, tempted but unwilling to test whether my arm can manage the ladder back up.
Evening Wildlife Cruise
As the light softens toward evening, we pile back into the boat and go looking for animals. Our guide spots gibbons gamboling in the treetops, and we are treated to the show put on by a large hornbill.
Julia gets some excellent pictures with her telephoto lens.
We return to the raft house as sunset flames the sky and turns the clouds into towering pink confections.
Dinner on the Raft
Our group gathers for dinner at one long table while the only other group staying at the raft house is at another table. The food is basic and quite good given that it has been cooked on a lake an hour’s boat ride from the nearest shop.
Night falls over the lake and the stars blaze across a dark sky. We go to bed early mostly because there’s not much else to do.
Dawn on the Lake
We are up at 6 for an early-morning cruise. The water is a sheet of silver glass, the sky pale pink.
Again, we spot birds and enjoy the calm of a place that seems a million miles away from the troubles of the world. We see a few other longtail boats, but most of the time we’re alone on the lake.
Back at the raft house, after a simple breakfast, Julia takes out a kayak and paddles the lake until her arms give out. I sit with my coffee and write and take pictures.
Our group gathers at tables next to the restaurant. I play cards with a few of them as we wait for the boat back. With no Wi-Fi to keep us all silo-ed, it’s a nice treat to be able to go analog for a while and get to know my fellow travelers.
Is Khao Sok Worth It?
Without reservation, yes.
Khao Sok is one of those places that operates on multiple registers simultaneously.
It’s physically spectacular in a way that surprises you, even when you’ve seen the photographs.
Walking through jungle that has been continuously alive for 160 million years does something to your perspective that I can’t entirely explain.
Also the combination of treehouse stay and raft house night covers both modes of the experience: jungle-close and intimate at Our Jungle House, panoramic and otherworldly on the lake. Both experiences belong on your itinerary.
Practical Notes for Planning Your Khao Sok Visit
Bring cash. The entire cost of the package is payable in cash at checkout, so make sure you come prepared.
Book a package that includes time in one of the jungle resorts near Khao Sok and an overnight stay in a raft house. Doing one without the other is doing half a thing.
The activities at Our Jungle House range from gentle (the canoe tour, the cooking demonstration) to more demanding (hiking, caving). My sprained wrist took most options off the table, but I still enjoyed a full and wonderful two days.
This is not a trip that requires peak fitness, but a reasonable level of fitness is desirable. If you’re not able to walk for a few hours, get on and off a bobbing longtail boat, and sleep on a mat on the floor, then the Khao Sok experience may not be for you.
Wildlife sightings are not guaranteed. The King Cobra was a no-show. The gibbon appearance was brief. The hornbill put on a spectacular show, as did the monkeys at Our Jungle House. The gecko in my bathroom was a constant.
Go in cool season (November to February) if you can. The days are warm rather than brutal, and the early mornings on the lake are close to perfect.
Julia and I left Khao Sok for the beaches of Ao Nang, which felt like a different country entirely. I kept thinking about the lake for days afterward. I’m still thinking about it now.
Looking for a guided option? If you’d prefer a day trip or guided group tour rather than booking a multi-day package independently, GetYourGuide has a good range of Khao Sok options including lake tours and night safaris.
Planning Your Khao Sok Visit
Our Jungle House: Treehouses, bungalows, and jungle creek cabins on the edge of Khao Sok National Park. For the best value and experience, book a package that includes activities.
The raft house on Cheow Lan Lake: Book as part of your package through your accommodation or a local operator.
Getting there: Fly to Surat Thani, then arrange a private transfer or minivan to Khao Sok town. The transfer was included in the package we purchased directly from Our Jungle House.
How long to stay: A minimum of three nights gives you two days at the jungle base and one night on the lake.
What to bring: Cash (plenty), long trousers and closed-toe shoes for the night walk and jungle hike, a dry bag for the lake, sunscreen, and insect repellent. A telephoto lens if you have one; Julia’s earned its keep here more than anywhere else on the trip.
Keep Exploring Thailand with Artsy Traveler
- Why I Got Up at 4:30 AM in Chiang Mai (And Why You Should Too): the sunrise tour you have to take in Chiang Mai
- How to See Elephants in Chiang Mai Without Guilt: Sunshine for Elephants Review: an amazing elephant experience that is ethical and sustainable
- How to Visit Elephants Ethically in Chiang Mai: A guide to choosing an ethical elephant experience in Chiang Mai
- Thailand Hilltribe Holidays: Two Intense Days and A Lifetime Memory: Two intense days in northern Thailand that will change you
- 3 Days in Bangkok: The Ultimate Culture & Food Itinerary: my three-day itinerary for a first timer’s visit to Bangkok
- Jim Thompson House Museum: why it’s one of Bangkok’s most fascinating cultural visits
- Chef’s Tour Bangkok: the Chinatown food tour that changed how I ordered food for the rest of my trip
- Bangkok Temple Tour + River of Kings: Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and why a guide made all the difference
- Penthai Theatre Bangkok: the most distinctive cultural dinner show I found in the city
- Ayutthaya Day Trip: why a small-group tour is the easiest, most rewarding way to see the ruins
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