Independent guide · Southern Thailand
Khao Sok National Park, the independent guide
Rainforest, limestone karst and Cheow Lan Lake in Surat Thani province: what the park is, what it costs, where to sleep and which tour to choose.
- Ratings read on GetYourGuide
- Independent, no paid placement
- Figures checked in September 2026
A rainforest, a lake and two entrances
Khao Sok National Park is a protected rainforest in Surat Thani province, southern Thailand. It is known for its limestone karst scenery and for Cheow Lan Lake, a reservoir where many visitors spend a night in floating bungalows.
It was created in 1980 and belongs to the Khlong Saeng – Khao Sok forest complex, a group of 12 protected areas covering 5,316 km². Fees, seasons and routes are time-sensitive: confirm them with an official source before you go.
739 km²
Area of the national park
1980
Year the park was created
165 km²
Water surface of Cheow Lan Lake
Field notes
A night in the forest, hour by hour
Khao Sok does not stop at sunset. The gate closes in the late afternoon, the last day-trippers take the road back to the village, and the forest changes register: the cicadas hand the night over to the frogs, and the river gets louder because there is nothing left to compete with it.
What follows is one night inside the park, from the 5 p.m. light on the limestone to the first gibbon call before six. Nothing here is staged — the species are the ones the park's own reference lists, and the hours are the hours you would actually live.
What your body notices first
You hear
Rain on the canopy, then the drip pattern on the leaves below it. After dark the frogs take the register the cicadas leave empty.
You smell
Wet leaf litter — the smell of a forest that never fully dries out. It is strongest in the half hour after rain.
You feel
Air that holds its heat. Nights sit near 22 °C in the cool months, and everything you brought stays very slightly damp.
From 17:00 to 06:00
One night, hour by hour. Long trails, night safaris and caves all require a guide in Khao Sok — the park's own reference is clear about it.
17:00
Published opening hours run to about 5 p.m. and vary by zone and season. Under the canopy the light goes early: the trail you walked at noon now reads as shade.
18:30
Dusk. The cicadas thin out and the first frogs start up from the river. Stand still for a minute and you can feel the air follow the light down.
20:00
The forest floor goes active: frogs on leaves, hunts in the leaf litter, snakes in low branches. This is guide territory, and it is when a night walk pays for itself.
23:00
If rain is coming, it arrives as sound first — a roar crossing the canopy towards you, minutes before a drop lands.
04:30
The darkest and coolest hour. Almost nothing calls. The river is the only thing holding the silence open.
05:30
First light, and then the duet: lar gibbons calling across the valley. The park's reference lists them among Khao Sok's primates.
06:00
Mist sits in the valley, the canopy starts the day, and the first boats head out on Cheow Lan Lake.
The forest does not go silent at night. It only changes voice.
Take it further
Two places decide the shape of a Khao Sok trip: the Khao Sok National Park side, where you walk under the canopy, and the separate Cheow Lan Lake entrance, where the same forest stands in water. If your dates are still open, when to come changes what the forest is doing while you are in it.
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How many days do you need?
One, two or three days that combine the forest, the lake and a night on the water, with the night on the raft described step by step.
Where to go in Khao Sok
VillageKhao Sok Village
The land-side base of the park, on Route 401
RiverSok River
A river inside the national park
LakeCheow Lan Lake
More than 100 islands among limestone peaks
ViewpointKri Sorn Viewpoint
A viewpoint on the lake
CaveDiamond Cave
A cave named in many lake tours
DamRatchaprapha Dam
The dam that created the lake, in service since 1987
Village, jungle or the lake
Your base decides how much of the park you see. The village is the land side; the lake is a separate zone with its own entrance, and the only place to sleep on the water.
- Floating raft houses on Cheow Lan Lake
- Guesthouses and lodges around the village of Khao Sok
- Overnight tours that bundle the night, meals and boat
- Every area compared on one page
Khao Sok: quick answers
In Surat Thani province, southern Thailand. The village of Khao Sok is on Route 401 between Surat Thani and Takua Pa, and the park entrance is at kilometre 109.
Read the park guideForeigners paid 300 THB (adult) and 150 THB (child) in September 2026, for a ticket valid 24 hours. The lake is a separate zone with its own fees. Confirm the price on arrival.
Fees and hoursThe dry season, from January to March or April, is the easiest for trails. The rainy season runs from late April to early December, and the quietest months are May, June, September and October.
Season by seasonBy road: about 1 h 45 to 2 h 30 by minivan from Surat Thani, 2 h 30 to 3 h 30 from Krabi and 4 to 5 hours by shared minivan from Phuket.
All routesYes, on a day boat trip. The lake has its own entrance, roughly 65–67 km from the village, so plan it apart from a forest walk.
Cheow Lan Lake guideOnly the first stretch of trail, up to the Bang Hua Raet waterfall about 3 km from the headquarters, can be walked alone. Long hikes, night safaris and caves need a guide.
Things to do
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