One of the best places to see nature and animals in Thailand is at the Khao Sok National Park, which is not too far from Phuket and Krabi.
We spent 3 days at Khao Sok and had a blast. The turquoise lake is really nice, and it’s easy to see animals in the park. We even saw wild elephants!
The best way to experience Khao Sok is to spend several days at the park, exploring the lake by boat, trekking to see animals and caves in the jungle, and staying at least one night in a floating bungalow on the lake.
In this travel guide, I’ll explain how to visit Khao Sok with or without a tour, and all of the top things to see and do there!
Dusky leaf monkey & yellow baby
How Many Days To Spend At Khao Sok
The first thing to figure out is how much time you want to spend at the park.
Here are your options:
- Day Trip – You can do a day trip to Khao Sok from a touristy area like Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak, or Surat Thani. This is the quickest and easiest option, but you won’t have as much time to see the park. It’s too short, in my opinion.
- Package Tour (2-4 days) – This is another easy option because it includes everything: transport, guide, meals, and lodging. This may be a good option for some people, because it’s convenient and it gives you enough time to see the main highlights of the park.
- Stay In Khlong Sok Village – This option gives you the most flexibility and it’s also more cost efficient. By basing yourself directly at the Khlong Sok village near the park, you can stay as long as you like, and do excursions for the things that interest you most. It’s the best way to visit the park if you’re not limited on time.
Based on our experience, you need at least two days in the Khao Sok area to really make the most of it, and three or four days is better.
Drone pic of Cheow Lan Lake
Longtail boat ride
Best Khao Sok Tours
GetYourGuide has 2 day tours to Khao Sok from Phuket or Khao Lak that include hotel pickup and drop-off, meals, accommodation, and tours in the park.
Or, if you’re really limited on time, they also have 1 day tours to Khao Sok from Phuket, Krabi, or Khao Lak.
Alternatively, if you’re staying in Khlong Sok village directly by the park, they have day tours to the lake, jungle trekking, elephant tours, and more.
We’ve used GetYourGuide for lots of tours and activities around the world, and they’re great. Highly recommended!
How To Get To Khao Sok National Park
• From Phuket
It’s easy to get to Khao Sok independently if you don’t want to use a tour package.
From Phuket, you can get to Khlong Sok village by public bus, shared minivan, or private taxi.
The bus has 5 departures per day, and it’s a 4 hour ride. The minivan has up to 8 departures per day, and the ride takes anywhere from 2.5 to 4.5 hours, depending on where you start in Phuket. A taxi ride will take 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
You can check the schedules and book tickets for any of these online here.
Minivan
Van seats
We got a private taxi and had a good experience. They brought us from the Phuket airport to Khao Lak, where we stayed for a few days, and then from Khao Lak to Khao Sok National Park. Everything went smoothly.
After we were finished at Khao Sok, we took a shared minivan back to Phuket, which was arranged by our hotel in Khlong Sok.
• From Krabi
From Krabi, you can get to Khlong Sok by minivan or taxi. There’s no big bus.
They have lots of minivan departures every day from either Ao Nang or Krabi town, and the ride takes about 3 to 4 hours. You can book here.
• From Khao Lak
From Khao Lak, you can get to Khlong Sok by bus, minivan, or taxi.
The bus ride takes about 2 hours, while the minivan or taxi ride is a little over 1 hour. You can book here.
Bus seats
• From Surat Thani
From Surat Thani, you can get to Khlong Sok by bus, minivan, or taxi. This is the closest airport and starting point for visiting the park.
The bus ride takes about 2 to 3 hours, while the minivan is 2 to 2.5 hours. A taxi takes 1.5 to 2 hours. You can book any of these here.
• From Bangkok
From Bangkok, the quickest option would be to fly or take a train to Surat Thani, and then get ground transport to Khlong Sok from there.
Getting Around In The Khao Sok Area
Once you reach Khlong Sok village, there are several ways to get around. You can arrange tours of the park through your hotel or one of the local agencies, or you can do some things independently like we did.
Many of the hotels in Khlong Sok are located within walking distance of the national park entrance (map here), so it’s easy to do the jungle trekking. For transport outside the village, we rented a motorbike through our hotel.
The lake access is a 1 hour drive from the village and the main park headquarters, and it can only be explored by longtail boat, so your options are more limited there. You can see it without a tour, but you’ll still need a boat guy.
Fingers of the lake
Another leaf monkey
If you’re on a tight budget and want to visit the lake as cheaply as possible, you can do a day trip without booking a tour package.
Wake up early in the morning and drive to the main harbor, the Ratchaprapha Marina, and you can hire a private or shared longtail boat on the spot.
We did that one time and there were big crowds by late morning. Waiting in line for a boat was chaotic and it wasted hours we could’ve spent in the park, so I’d only recommend this if you can get there before 9 AM.
The boat prices start at around 1,700 baht (~$50 USD) for a 2 hour private tour, which can be pretty reasonable if you share it with friends. Two hours is really not long enough, though, so you’ll probably want to negotiate and pay extra so you can have more time on the lake.
This is one of the most economical ways to visit the lake, because Khao Sok is a bit overpriced compared to other places in Thailand. That’s just the way it is.
Boat on Cheow Lan Lake
Massive cliffs
Best Things To See & Do In Khao Sok National Park
• Cheow Lan Lake
One of the main attractions of the park is the Cheow Lan Lake. It’s a nice turquoise lake surrounded by limestone mountains, with caves and islands to explore.
Boat tours on the lake will normally take you to an iconic spot called Khao Sam Kler, where 3 pointy rock formations stick out of the water, seeming to float.
Usually they’ll also take you to at least one cave, which you can walk through with flashlights. The cave we visited had impressive stalactites and great views of the lake, almost like a picture frame.
Here’s where we went ashore to see a cave
Pra Kie Phet cave
In the evening, we got back on the boat and did a little side excursion to look for wild elephants.
We were lucky to see a mother and baby elephant feeding by the edge of the lake, close enough to take pictures from our boat!
We also spotted two hornbill birds in the treetops, near our floating bungalow.
Wild elephants!
• Lake Bungalows
One of the great things about the lake is that there are floating bungalows where you can stay overnight and wake up to see the mist and sunrise on the lake.
There are lots of these floating bungalows scattered around different areas of the lake, and they range in price and quality. Some of the high end places are beautiful, like Panvaree Resort.
Even the most basic lake hotels are pretty comfortable, with mattresses, showers, flush toilets, fans, and electric outlets powered by solar. We stayed at Keeree Tara Rafthouse, which was a bit run down, but it had all of these necessities, so we didn’t mind.
Most importantly, all of the lake bungalows have amazing views of the national park. You should spend at least one night on the lake. It’s a great experience!
Floating bungalows on the Cheow Lan Lake (© Panvaree Resort)
• Wildlife Trekking
When we arrived at Khlong Sok, the very first thing we did was trekking to see animals in the jungle. You can do this in a half day, so it’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon at the park.
The trekking is not very hard, and families can do it. There’s a wide dirt path, almost like a road, with jungle on both sides.
Occasionally you might dip into the jungle to get a closer look at some animals, waterfalls, or other things.
Dusky leaf monkeys
You can do short hiking in the park without a guide, but for longer treks past 3 kilometers, they require you to hire a guide. You’d have to be sneaky to get around this rule.
It’s kind of annoying to be forced to hire a guide, but I will admit they can be helpful for navigation, taking pictures, and spotting animals that you might not otherwise notice.
We saw monkeys and macaques, lizards, pit vipers, tarantulas, and more. It was especially fun seeing the dusky leaf monkeys with their bright yellow babies.
The animals were usually close enough to snap some great pictures, although it helps to have a bit of zoom on your camera.
You can see giant rafflesia flowers in Khao Sok from December to March, and if you’re lucky, you might also see gibbons, tapirs, sun bears, clouded leopards, and other rare animals.
Wagler’s pit viper
• Night Trekking
Night trekking with a flashlight is another good way to see wildlife at Khao Sok National Park.
The jungle comes alive after dark, and the animals are even more active than during the daytime.
A guide is always required for night trekking, which kind of makes sense, because there are venomous snakes and other things to watch out for in the jungle.
Tarantula nest
• Elephant Sanctuary
Khao Sok has an elephant sanctuary where you can bathe the elephants, feed them, and take pictures with them.
I know it’s best to see animals in the wild if possible, but not everyone has that opportunity.
At a sanctuary like this, you can interact with elephants up close, and the money benefits conservation for these wonderful animals.
Book Now: Elephant Sanctuary Tour From Khlong Sok / From Khao Lak
Suggested Itinerary
Here’s a suggested itinerary you can follow for your visit to Khao Sok National Park. This is pretty similar to what we did for our trip.
- Day 1: Arrive in Thailand, and transfer to Khlong Sok village from Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak, or Surat Thani. Check into your hotel in Khlong Sok and then spend the afternoon trekking to see animals at the jungle near the village.
- Day 2: Drive to Ratchaprapha Marina and then take a longtail boat to your hotel on the lake. After check-in and lunch, go for a swim or kayak in the lake, and then join a boat tour to see the iconic 3 peaks, explore a limestone cave, and hopefully see some wild animals. Eat dinner at your lake bungalow and then spend the night there.
- Day 3: Wake up to sunrise on the lake, and go on an early morning boat safari to try to see more animals. After breakfast at the hotel, take a boat back to Ratchaprapha Marina, and then drive back to Khlong Sok village. Spend the evening relaxing in town, or do a night safari to see wildlife.
- Day 4: Do some other activities in the Khlong Sok area, like visiting the elephant sanctuary and going bamboo rafting on the river, then transfer back to Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak, or Surat Thani to continue your travels in Thailand.
On a sunny day, the water looks turquoise.
Morning reflection
Entrance Fee
There’s a national park fee you have to pay per person, depending on which area of Khao Sok you visit.
- Lake (Adults): 300 baht (~$9)
- Lake (Kids 3-14): 150 baht
- Jungle (Adults): 200 baht (~$6)
- Jungle (Kids 3-14): 100 baht
These fees are current as of 2024, but may go up over time since the place is so popular.
The park fee is only payable by cash. However, some tours include it in the total price, so that may save you from needing to use cash for it.
Note that if you pay the park fee in the evening and go night trekking, for example, then your ticket is still valid for the next day, so hold onto it.
Similarly, you only have to pay the park fee once for your lake tour, even if you spend multiple days on the lake.
Wild macaque
Other Tips For Khao Sok Park
- What To Bring: For the boat tours, a waterproof bag or phone pouch is a good idea to protect your electronics. A power bank is also handy for charging your phone, since the electricity is only available in the evening at the lake houses.
- Extra Luggage: If you have any big luggage, you can store it at your hotel in Khlong Sok village while you go on the boat tour. That’s what we did. The longtail boats usually have room for it if you absolutely need to bring it, but it’s more convenient to leave it at the village.
- Phone Service: Just so you know, most of the lake houses in Khao Sok don’t have reliable WiFi or even cell phone service. Be prepared to go without it.
- Drones: The Thai government doesn’t allow drones to be flown anywhere at Khao Sok since it’s a national park. However, there are lots of places you can fly legally outside the park while still capturing the limestone mountains, and you may be able to do a little bit of droning inside the park if you’re discreet about it and choose a safe place to fly.
- Mosquitoes: Khao Sok is considered low risk for malaria, and I haven’t heard of any confirmed cases here recently, but you should still be careful. Wear repellent when you’re outside of the room, and keep a fan running when you sleep. We didn’t take malaria pills.
Crossing a bamboo branch
The 3 peaks of Khao Sok lake
Other Tips For Khlong Sok Village
- Hotels: There are lots of comfortable hotels in Khlong Sok village near the park. These range from budget to luxury. We stayed at Khao-Sok Bed and Breakfast, and had a good experience. The owners were friendly, and they were able to arrange a tour, shuttle, and motorbike rental for us with competitive prices.
- Restaurants: The village is loaded with restaurants, cafes, and Thai street food within walking distance of the hotels. You won’t have any trouble finding somewhere great to eat.
- Credit Cards: A lot of the hotels and restaurants in Khlong Sok don’t accept credit cards, so you’ll want to bring plenty of cash.
- ATM: There are multiple ATMs in the Khlong Sok village if you run out of cash and need to withdraw more.
Rafflesia sign at the park entrance
When To Visit Khao Sok
Like the rest of southern Thailand, the weather is warm and humid at Khao Sok all year long. It follows basically the same weather pattern as Phuket, although it’s wetter in general.
The dry season is from December to April, so that’s the best time to visit if you can. You’re more likely to have bright and sunny weather in those months.
The wet season is from May to October. Even though there’s a higher chance of rain in those months, you can still visit and have a good experience.
Happy travels!
Is Khao Sok Worth It?
Khao Sok is more expensive than other tourist attractions in Thailand, but I still think it’s worth visiting.
I personally enjoyed the scenery of the Phi Phi islands more than Khao Sok, but Phi Phi is so overrun with crowds it kind of dampens the experience. Khao Sok is big and spread out, so it never felt as crowded as something like Maya Bay.
The scenery is nice, the animals are great, and staying in a bungalow on the lake is a fun and unique experience. Overall, I really liked it.
Another amazing part of the lake
More Thailand Travel Guides
Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed this travel guide for Khao Sok National Park in Thailand.
Don’t forget to check out my other travel guides for Thailand and the rest of the Phuket area!
