Khao Sok National Park

Khao Sok National Park protects 739 square kilometers of rainforest in Surat Thani province, on Thailand's southern peninsula between the Andaman and Gulf coasts. Geologists estimate the forest itself is around 160 million years old — older than the Amazon and largely untouched by the last Ice Age — which is part of why the canopy here holds such an unusual density of plant and animal life packed into a relatively small area. Limestone karst peaks, some rising past 900 meters, push straight up through the tree line, a legacy of the same tectonic uplift that shaped the Himalayas.

The park splits into two very different halves. Around Khao Sok Village on the western side, trails wind through jungle where langurs, hornbills, and, with luck, wild elephants move through the undergrowth, and the Sok River is calm enough for half-day bamboo rafting or kayaking. About an hour further east, Cheow Lan Lake fills a valley that was flooded in the 1980s when the Ratchaprapha Dam went up — its turquoise water threads between karst islands often compared to Guilin or Halong Bay, with limestone caves and floating bungalows as the only overnight option on the water itself.

Most travelers pick one half or combine both over two to three days: a day of trekking near the village, then a boat transfer out to the lake for a night on a floating raft house. Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed, but early mornings on the lake and dusk on the jungle trails give the best odds — along with a working pair of binoculars.

We operate tours to this amazing place, Picking up/Drop off - anywhere in Thailand!