Khao Sok Lake

An essential visit if you travel to the south of Thailand, you may think that it will be a bit crowded when you arrive at the port and see the number of boats there are. But then in your accommodation you are with very few people.

We did the 2d/1n tour and it was very nice.

Beautiful lake with some good highlights. Fairly calm (even during storms) and not really necessary to book a guide. Would rather take a taxi there and get the boat trip yourself. You will need at least 2-3 hours on a boat to discover some places.

Gorgeous! We paid 1600 baths for the excursion and it's really worth it, the water is a magnificent blue

Wonderful experience! And good guide An

We booked online from NL and the contact was fine. Meet the guide upon arrival, paperwork is completed (park entry), and your journey begins on the right side of the reservoir at the central pier where you depart by longtail boat to your cottage. We have chosen to book a private tour, the advantage of this is that you have your own boat and guide and can fill in the time yourself, depending on the weather and possibility. Of course you can also travel in a group, the personal experience is slightly different. We booked the Modern Comfort tour and our overnight stay was at the Phae Saichol location.

As said, the location is really beautiful. In the middle of the lake, surrounded by karst mountains, there are a few locations with a number of floating houses, of which Phae Saichol is the second to last in terms of sailing distance. Is that an advantage/disadvantage? We thought it was an advantage because if you want to spot wildlife it is good if the environment is as quiet as possible, but more about that later.
The Phae Saichol complex is spacious, there is a central building with dining facilities and the houses are attached to it to the left and right.
Don't expect excessive luxury and keep in mind that you are in the middle of a lake. Electricity is therefore only available from around 6 o'clock in the evening (when they turn on the generator). Don't expect a bathroom with a walk-in shower, or a bedroom with a king-size bed, everything is really basic, but in our opinion good to fine for 1 night. The mattresses are (too) hard for us Europeans, Asian people will have a preference for this.
The view from your room is of course magnificent. Within 4 steps you are in the water, don't forget to put on your life jacket, it is over 40 meters (!) deep and floating with a vest on is really pure relaxation

Phae Saichol is quite far from the pier. As mentioned, we think that is an advantage if you have also come here to see wildlife. Why? The (noisy) longtail boats sail in and out every day. Large groups of tourists and private tours who spend 1 or 2 nights somewhere on the lake, and around it also the boats with 'day people' who only sail the lake for a jungle tour or boat safari. Together that is a whole lot of boats and indirectly also a lot of noise.
In the evenings (even before dusk) is the time to go on the water and look for elephants. Try to imagine all those boats that go out and search…. 1 big noisy gang and the elephants stay nicely hidden in the jungle
The advantage of the location of Phae Saichol is therefore very favorable, because it is so north on the lake, the jungle is very close and you are on the water with a few other boats at the most.

The chance to see some wildlife is really a matter of luck. You have no guarantees, it's searching, listening, looking, and twiddling your thumbs. In an area of ​​more than 165 square kilometers (!) you are not in charge and you are at the mercy of your guide and the captain. We were really lucky that during this period (I am writing this on August 9,2023) a herd had been spotted around our location for a number of weeks, carrying a number of baby elephants. Because the little ones cannot yet walk the great distances, they stay longer at a location. But then again, the area where we sailed around was also bizarrely large. Nevertheless, with a lot of patience and good knowledge, guide An was able to find the group. 5 large and 4 small ones showed themselves while pulling down one bamboo bush / tree after another (see video) What an experience to see that in the wild!
In the end we didn't do the evening tour, we also stayed longer on the lake with the elephants, but the huge downpour (see other video) also made it too muddy / slippery to walk the jungle tour.

To sum up: wonderful experience that we can recommend to everyone!

Wonderful experience! And good guide An

We booked online from NL and the contact was excellent. Upon arrival, you will meet the guide, the paperwork will be completed (park entrance), and your journey starts on the right side of the reservoir at the central pier where you leave for your house by longtail boat. We have chosen to book a private tour, the advantage of this is that you have your own boat and guide and can choose your own time depending on the weather and options. Of course you can also travel in a group, but the personal experience will be slightly different. We booked the Modern Comfort tour and our overnight stay was at the Phae Saichol location.

As mentioned, the location is really beautiful. In the middle of the lake, surrounded by karst mountains, there are a few locations with a number of floating houses, of which Phae Saichol is the second to last in terms of distance to sail. Is that an advantage/disadvantage? We thought it was an advantage because if you want to spot wildlife it is good if the area is as quiet as possible, but more about that later.
The Phae Saichol complex is spacious, there is a central building with dining facilities and the houses are attached to the left and right.
Don't expect excessive luxury and keep in mind that you are in the middle of a lake. Electricity is therefore only available from about 6 o'clock in the evening (when they turn on the generator). Don't expect a bathroom with a walk-in shower, or a bedroom with a king-size bed, everything is really basic but in our opinion good to fine for 1 night. The mattresses are (too) hard for us Europeans, Asian people will prefer this.
The view from your room is of course magnificent. Within 4 steps you will be in the water, don't forget to put on your life jacket, it is over 40 meters (!) deep and floating with a vest on is really pure relaxation

Phae Saichol is quite a distance from the pier. As mentioned, we think this is an advantage if you also came here to see wildlife. Why? The (noisy) longtail boats sail back and forth every day. Large groups of tourists and private tours who come to spend 1 or 2 nights somewhere on the lake, and around that also the boats with 'day trippers' who sail the lake alone for a jungle tour or boat safari. All together that is a lot of boats and indirectly a lot of noise.
In the evenings (before dusk) is the time to go on the water and look for elephants. Try to imagine all those boats sailing out and searching. 1 big noisy gang and the elephants remain nicely hidden in the jungle
The advantage of Phae Saichol's location is very favourable, because it is so far north on the lake, the jungle is very close and you are on the water with at most a few other boats.

The chance to see some wildlife is really a matter of luck. You have no guarantees, it's just searching, listening, watching, and twiddling your thumbs. In an area of ​​over 165 square kilometers (!) you are not in control and you are at the mercy of your guide and the captain. We were really lucky that during this period (I am writing this on August 9,2023) a herd had been spotted around our location for a number of weeks, carrying a number of baby elephants. Because the little ones cannot yet walk long distances, they stay at one location longer. But then again, the area we sailed around was also bizarrely large. Nevertheless, with a lot of patience and good knowledge, guide An was able to find the group. 5 large and 4 small ones showed themselves as they pulled down one bamboo bush/tree after another (see video) What an experience to see that in the wild!
We ultimately did not do the evening tour, we also stayed longer on the lake with the elephants, but the enormous downpour (see other video) also made it too muddy/slippery to do the jungle tour.

In summary: a wonderful experience that we can recommend to everyone!

An essential visit if you travel to the south of Thailand, you may think that it will be a little crowded when you arrive at the port and see the number of boats there are. But then in your accommodation you are with very few people.

We took the 2d/1n tour and it was very nice.

We opt for 3 days 2 night khao sok classic private tour. One of the best experience.

Started by a long tail boat bring us around to see the beautiful rock mountains, followed by a little tracking in a rural island.

Oh, and not to mention we stay in a bungalow on the lake and it’s very 70s community

I booked the two days, one night group tour on the lake.
I was absolutely surprised by the organization of the different program points of the tour. Since I booked really spontaneously, they made it possible for me, to join the group, where my friend was already booked in.
The team made a great job in organizing the transport from Surat Thani airport to the office, as well as my trip to Khao lake afterwards.

Looking on the tour itself:
Yeah, time on the lake was just incredible. We had the opportunity to stop whenever they were animals spotted. The guys were super nice and explaining and sharing their experience. There was enough food for everybody, and I was surprised about the great taste of the local food, you could choose between being vegetarian or vegan as well.
Because of the heavy rains in the evening, we didn’t see the sunset. But that was totally fine.

What I would be different next time:
I would prefer to stay longer, and bring more clothes to change.

If you are looking for a hand free experience in Khao sok, then I would strongly recommend Khao sok lake tours. We were a family of 5 with one child. They made the whole experience very smooth and hassle free!

We were picked up from airport, to office (where we stored excess luggage overnight) & then to cheow lan lake pier. Our guide escorted us to our private longtail boat which was awaiting us at the pier. We were in the boat for around an hour during which we went to the famous backdrop beautiful photography spots before arriving to our floating bungalow resort. We chose the superior bungalow (Phuphawaree) which was fantastic. The beds were very big and rooms were clean (just beware of ants attacking any uncovered food though).
Would definitely recommend you pack light as these bungalow rooms generally arent very spacious to accomodate unnecessary luggage. Each bungalow had a kayak to use at any time you wish. Our wildlife spotting and hike were brilliant but unfortunately as it was raining we didnt manage to see many animals upclose. Did see some elephants munching!
All your meals are taken care of as part of the package. At our request, our guide took us to a seafood restaurant (by the hanging bridge) for our departure lunch which was absolutely lovely. Special thanks to Xhein our guide!
After finishing our unforgettable experience at Khao Sok, our driver transferred us to our hotel in Krabi.

From Bangkok we flew to Surat Thani and drove about an hour to the booking agency office. We booked a 2 day group tour with Khao Sok Lake Tours which was awesome! If you need to travel to and from the airports they’ll arrange the rides and include it in the total. Including an hour trip from Surat Thani and then being dropped off two hours away in Phuket with our stay for two it was around 320 USD. With our payment we received our meals (practically all you can eat) and transport/lodging as well as the daily group tours. The rooms are simple but sufficient to enjoy the overall experience. This bundled package gave us the opportunity to enjoy our time since there were no additional costs. Depending on the season they will take you on different tours as well as evening and morning boat safaris. If you get to partake in the water cave tour like us you’ll be in for a strenuous yet incredibly unique experience. The staff was great and very knowledgeable and always made sure we were attended to. They even offer rentals of some equipment such as shoes, dry bags, and headlamps to ensure we were safe during our tours. This is run by locals and truly is an authentic experience. We will definitely be back here again and hopefully for multiple nights next time!
- @wanderingwithustwo

Overall it is a beautiful experience staying one or more nights in khaosok lake and at least one night on the lake, but the communication with the company is not so good, they don't give you the name of the hotel, directions and so on. Inside the national park, everything was ok. Coming and going was the "fun" part.

Stunning scenery. Our guide named M was incredible with his educational and high energy tours. Three kids loved the jungle walk, bar cave, and swimming in the open lake

Floating bungalows, elephants, gibbons, clan water, stunning views, great food and fantastic staff. Quite pricey if you want to stay longer but worth it.
I recommend private tours.

It is a tour agency, not Khao Sok lake. For those going to Chiew Lan lake in Khao Sok, just continue down the road for another 10km. You can purchase the Boat ticket (300baht), National Park Fee (300baht) and Pier fee (20baht) at the pier.

Must do when you are in Khao Sok! Don't expect too much luxary, but it's a great experiance. Hiking, swimming, on a longtail boot looking for wildlife.great food, excellent service from the employees! Very happy we did this!

Went on the bamboo bliss. It was poring rain all day, which was a bit sad, because we could not hike to the view point. But we still saw so much of this incredible place. We even saw a an elephant. Food and accommodation where good too. There are however a lot of animals (lizards, frogs and ants) on the raft. There was also something on one of the matrices that attracted around a hundert ants.

Tour was fantastic, lake is beautiful, good amount of activities for 2-day trip (night and morning boat trips, jungle hike, caves), well organised.

The Lake is beautiful. The color and the land mass is amazing to see. We booked a tour for 2 days and 1 night through a tour company (not the national park because they made that impossible unless you're Thai). The tour was alright, just we went in late October and got caught in the rain on a hike so we had to turn around. We didn't see many animals on our boat safari. The water is clean at the moment but oil from the boats are starting to coat it.

We wanted to do something different in Thailand for a birthday surprise - and this was just the trip! Nick was amazingly helpful and even hand delivered (to Phuket!) a present we had left at their office. Our guide, Ning, really made our stay with his knowledge and great sense of humour, he even found us a surprise birthday cake! I recommend hiring your own guide as you can go at your own pace and really savour the experience. A great family trip in nature with no wifi!

I had an incredible experience on the lake that Nick and company arranged. The raft house we stayed at was as far from the pier as possible, but it paid off when we saw an elephant and a family of gibbons the next morning. Everyone was super friendly and helpful and visiting the lake was the highlight of my month-long trip to SE Asia.