A night on Cheow Lan Lake in Khao Sok

If you only do one thing in Khao Sok, make it this one. Not the day trip. The night.

Over two days you cross Cheow Lan Lake in a longtail boat, under limestone walls that come straight out of the water like something a set designer would have been told to tone down. You walk into the rainforest with a guide, you go looking for animals twice, and you sleep on a floating raft house tied to the cliffs.

No resort, no air conditioning, no street outside. Just water, jungle and, in the morning, mist sitting on the surface while the gibbons start up somewhere behind you.

The trip belongs to Rungfah Farm Stay, the local family who also run the cooking class on their farm. You book it through Seek Sophie, the platform they sell their spots on.

Sleeping on a floating raft house

This is the bit people remember. A simple wooden hut on a platform, tied to the rock, with the lake directly under your floor.

Be honest with yourself about what that means: thin mattresses, shared bathrooms, no aircon and no wifi. Nobody is pretending otherwise, and that is exactly why it works. You are sleeping inside a national park, not next to one.

The moment that sells it comes the next morning anyway. You step out of the hut straight onto the deck, the mist is still hanging between the cliffs, the water has not moved yet, and for about twenty minutes the whole lake belongs to the four or five people staying out there. The day boats are still two hours away in Khao Sok Village.

Out on the longtail boat

A good chunk of these two days is spent on the water. The longtail takes you deeper into the park, past forest that grows right down to the waterline and rock walls that are genuinely vertical.

You stop in a few places along the way, but the boat ride is the thing. This is the Khao Sok that is on every photo you have seen, except you are in the middle of it with the engine noise and the spray instead of looking at it on a phone.

Trekking into the jungle

You do not stay on the water the whole time. With a local guide you head into the rainforest on foot, through trees that are much bigger than they look in pictures and a soundtrack that never stops.

Depending on the weather and the water level you also visit a cave or a waterfall, so the route changes from day to day.

Wear shoes you do not mind destroying and accept that you are going to get filthy. The paths are wet, slippery and muddy, especially after rain. That is not a complaint, it is the deal.

Looking for wildlife, twice

Khao Sok is full of animals, and you go looking for them twice: once late in the afternoon on day one, once early on day two.

Hornbills, gibbons, langurs, macaques and otters all live out here. With a serious amount of luck a wild elephant turns up at the water’s edge. It is wildlife, so what you actually see is different every single trip, and anyone who promises you a list is selling something.

Even when the animals stay hidden, the dawn safari earns its place. Moving across a flat lake at six in the morning with mist on the water and gibbons calling from the ridge is the reason you stayed the night instead of doing the day trip.

Swimming and kayaking

Between the organised bits there is time to do nothing at all, which you will need.

Jump off the deck straight into the lake. Take a kayak and paddle between the towers. Lie on the platform and watch the light change. Once the day boats head back to the pier the whole place goes quiet, and you are still there.

What is included

• One night in a basic floating raft house
• Longtail boat across Cheow Lan Lake
• Jungle trek
• A cave or a waterfall, depending on conditions
• Wildlife safari at dusk
• Wildlife safari at dawn
• Swimming and kayaking
• Meals and drinking water
• Local guide
• Return transport between Khao Sok Village and Ratchaprapha pier

You are picked up in Khao Sok and dropped back there afterwards.

What to bring

You are out for one night, so leave the big backpack at your guesthouse and take a small one. A dry bag is worth its weight out here, because you spend most of two days on or next to water.

Beyond that: swimwear, a towel, toiletries, sunscreen, proper shoes, flip flops or water shoes, any medication you need, and a power bank. Charging out on the lake is limited and the generator does not run all night.

Why we send people here

There are several ways to see Cheow Lan Lake and only one of them puts you there after dark.

What this trip gets right is that it covers the whole thing without you organising any of it: transport from the village, the boat, the food, the guide, the walking and the bed. You turn up in Khao Sok Village and somebody else handles the rest.

In two days you get four different versions of the same park. You cross it by boat, you walk into it, you go looking for its animals twice, and you swim in it. The day trip gives you one of those, with fifty other boats in shot.

Good to know before you commit: the huts are basic and the night is warm. If you need a proper bed and a working shower, do the day trip and sleep in the village instead. If you can hand over one night of comfort, this is the best thing in southern Thailand.

Book your night on the lake

Jungle, wildlife, longtail boats, a trek and a bed in the middle of the water, in two days.

See and book the two day Cheow Lan Lake trip

What is the one thing people wish they had known?

Set an alarm. However well or badly you sleep, get up for the dawn safari, because that hour is the entire reason you paid for the overnight instead of the day trip. Mist on the water, no engines except yours, gibbons on the ridge. People who skip it come back and tell you the lake was nice.

Second thing: if the sky is clear, go and stand outside at night. There is almost no light out there, so on a good night you get an absurd number of stars and sometimes the Milky Way. Nobody tells you this, and half the group is asleep by nine.

And bring cash for the park fee, around ฿540 per person. It is not in the price, it is not payable by card, and there is no machine on the lake.