Backpacking Khao Sok
Khao Sok is the bit of Thailand nobody puts on a poster, and it is the bit most people end up describing first when they get home. It is rainforest that has been standing for 160 million years, older than the Amazon, with limestone cliffs pushing straight up out of it.
At the centre is Cheow Lan Lake: 165 square kilometres of green water with karst towers rising hundreds of metres out of it. You sleep on it, in a raft house tied to the rock, with no electricity and no signal. At six in the morning you take a kayak out and there is mist on the water and gibbons somewhere in the trees, and that is the moment people talk about.
Everywhere else in the south is beaches and boats. This is the opposite, and putting it in the middle of your route is the single best structural decision you can make.
Why Khao Sok is popular with backpackers
- One of the oldest rainforests on the planet
- Sleeping in a floating hut on the lake, which nowhere else offers
- A real chance of gibbons, hornbills and monitor lizards
- Kayaking at sunrise with nobody else on the water
- Jungle treks, caves and waterfalls within walking distance
- It breaks up the island-hopping before it all blurs together
Best time to visit Khao Sok
Khao Sok sits between the two coasts and catches rain from both, which makes it one of the wettest places in Thailand. That is exactly why the forest is this thick.
It sounds backwards, but you will see the most animals in the rainy season. The forest is properly awake, the waterfalls are running and the lake is at its greenest. Just accept that your feet will be wet for three days.
Backpacker budget: around €22 a day
- €7hostel bed
- €2local meal
- €1.50beer
- €5scooter per day
Guide prices from our own days in Khao Sok. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best hostels in Khao Sok
Coco Khao Sok Hostel
Closest thing the village has to a backpacker hub, and a short walk from the park entrance. Mountain views from the hammocks and a steady stream of people arranging the same lake trip, which makes finding others to go with easy.
Chillax Khaosok Hostel
Cheap, quiet, and does both dorms and private rooms, which is handy if you want one proper night’s sleep either side of the lake. The staff will sort your Cheow Lan trip for you.
Nahm Khao Sok
Newer, smaller and better looking than it needs to be, with good coffee, which after two nights in a hut with no power you will appreciate more than you expect.
Best things to do in Khao Sok
Our own pick
Overnight on Cheow Lan Lake
Two days on the lake with Rungfah Farm Stay: longtail boat out, a jungle trek, and a night in a floating raft house. You go out on safari twice, at dusk and again just after dawn, while the day-trip boats are still two hours away.
See the two day tripOur partner in Khao Sok
Our own pick
Two days camping in the jungle
Into the rainforest with Khao Sok Natureskills: a hammock under a tarp, dinner cooked inside bamboo over an open fire, and a night safari with a guide who knows exactly where to point the torch.
See the jungle campingOur partner in Khao Sok
Our own pick
Cooking over open fire on the farm
You can do a Thai cooking class anywhere. Cooking in bamboo over an open fire on Rungfah's organic farm, with herbs you pull out of the ground yourself, you cannot. Four dishes, half a day.
See the cooking classOur partner in Khao Sok
Other things worth a morning:
- The Emerald Pool and the hot springs
- Kayaking on the Sok river
- Dawn safari on the lake, which is when the animals are out
- Swimming under a jungle waterfall
- Bamboo rafting downriver
- Spotting gibbons and hornbills, usually by ear first
- Sunset boat trip on Cheow Lan Lake
Best area for backpackers
Khao Sok Village
There is one village and everyone stays in it, right next to the national park entrance. That is the whole decision.
It is one street of cafés, small restaurants and tour shops, with jungle pressing in on both sides. The pace is slow, everyone is comparing lake trips, and by nine in the evening it is quiet because everyone is up at six.
Good to know about Khao Sok Village
- Two minutes from the park entrance
- Every hostel books the same tours, so compare rather than accept the first
- Relaxed jungle atmosphere, and very little nightlife
- Plenty of solo travellers doing the same trips as you
- Everything walkable, because there is only one road
- The obvious base for Cheow Lan Lake
Khao Sok is not about going out. It is about being asleep by ten and on a boat at seven.
How to plan your days in Khao Sok
Two nights minimum: one in the village and one on the lake. Anything less and you are just passing through.
Into the national park. Follow the river trail in, with a real chance of gibbons, hornbills and, if you are very lucky, a tapir. Swim in one of the pools on the way.
Tonight: eat in the village and listen to the forest start up after dark.
Cheow Lan Lake. Two hours out by longtail between limestone towers hundreds of metres high. You sleep in a floating hut with no power, and you kayak at sunrise.
Tonight: on the raft, with nothing but the sound of the water. Bring a torch.
Caves or tubing. Nam Talu cave is partly wading through water, with a guide, and it is an experience, but only outside the rainy season. Prefer something gentler? Float down the Sok river on a rubber ring.
Tonight: onward to Krabi, Phuket or across to the Gulf coast.
Food and drink in Khao Sok
One street, so you eat at your accommodation or at one of the shacks along the road. That sounds limited and it is, and the food is still good and costs almost nothing.
On the lake you eat what the cook on the raft makes: usually a couple of curries and fried fish, shared at one long table with whoever else is out there. It is a better dinner than it has any right to be.
What to eat here:
Getting there and onward
Khao Sok sits halfway between the Andaman coast and the Gulf coast, which makes it the obvious stop on the way from Krabi to Koh Tao, or the other way round.
Getting there. Two hours by minibus from Surat Thani, three from Krabi, four and a half from Phuket. Nearly every hostel arranges the transfer for you.
Around the village. One street, ten minutes end to end. For the waterfalls and the lake you either rent a scooter or go with a tour.
Onward. For the Gulf islands go via Surat Thani and the boat. For the Andaman coast, straight on by minibus to Krabi or Phuket.
- MinibusSurat Thani 2 hrs · Krabi 3 hrs · Phuket 4.5 hrs
- LongtailOut to the floating huts, about 2 hrs
- ScooterFrom about €5 a day
- OnwardVia Surat Thani to Koh Tao, Phangan and Samui
- TrainSurat Thani to Bangkok, about 9 hrs
Staying safe in Khao Sok
The park is safe, but this is genuine jungle: no signal, no lighting, and trails that turn slick within minutes of rain.
- Take a guide for the longer trails, and always for the caves
- Use repellent with DEET. Dengue is present here
- Bring enough cash. There is no ATM and no signal on the lake
- Wear shoes with grip. Flip-flops do not survive a jungle path
- Enter Nam Talu cave during the rainy season. People have died there in flash floods
- Head into the park alone without telling anyone where you are going
- Leave food out in your hut. The macaques know exactly where it is
- Assume you can charge anything on the lake. Most rafts only have power in the evening
Rebels on the Road tip
If you have the time at all, book a night on Cheow Lan Lake. Waking up on a floating hut in the middle of that water, with the cliffs going straight up around you and mist on the surface, is the thing people describe first when they get home from Thailand. The day trip shows you the same lake with fifty other boats on it.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Khao Sok?
Two to three. Two nights is the minimum that lets you sleep on the lake, and that is the whole point of coming.
Is Khao Sok expensive?
The village is cheap, around €22 a day. The lake trips cost more than a normal day out, and they are the best money you will spend in Thailand.
Is Khao Sok safe for backpackers?
Very. The risks here are weather and terrain rather than people: wet trails, flash floods in the caves and no phone signal on the lake.
Day trip or overnight on Cheow Lan Lake?
Overnight, by a distance. The day boats all arrive and leave at the same time, and the two hours before and after them are when the lake is at its best.
Will you actually see wildlife?
Monkeys, hornbills and monitor lizards are near certain. Gibbons you usually hear before you see. Wild elephants happen, but do not plan a trip around it.
Is Khao Sok good for solo travellers?
Yes, because everyone books the same two or three trips. You will have a boat full of new people by the end of your first morning.
Do you need to be fit?
Not really. Most tours are fine for beginners. The jungle walks get hot and muddy rather than steep, and the lake is all boat and kayak.
Can you swim in Cheow Lan Lake?
Yes, and you will. The water is clean and warm, and every trip stops so people can jump off the boat or off the raft house.
Do you need a guide in the national park?
For the short river trail, no. For anything longer, and for the caves, yes. A guide also roughly triples what you actually spot.
Is there nightlife in Khao Sok?
No, and that is the point. A beer at the hostel, then bed, because everything good here happens before eight in the morning.
