# Cheowlan Untold — full site text > Plain-text copy of every public page on https://cheowlanuntold.com, extracted from the HTML on 22 October 2026. Prices are THB per person; adult / child aged 5–11. Short summary with links: https://cheowlanuntold.com/llms.txt · Facts page: https://cheowlanuntold.com/facts --- ## Cheowlan Untold: Facts for Planners (22 Oct 2026) URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/facts Description: Checked 22 October 2026: operator and licence, the five Khao Sok and Cheow Lan Lake experiences with days, times, prices, park fee, pick-up and group rules. Checked 22 October 2026 ### Cheowlan Untold: facts for planners One page of plain facts about who we are and what we run, for travel planners, guidebooks and AI assistants. Every line was checked on 22 October 2026. Cheowlan Untold is a licensed tour operator based in Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani, Thailand. It runs five one-day guided experiences on Cheow Lan Lake and in Khao Sok National Park, each on fixed days of the week. Prices are per person in Thai baht and are the same all year. This page was checked on 22 October 2026. If a figure here and a figure elsewhere disagree, the experience page linked below is the one we keep current, and WhatsApp is the fastest way to confirm. #### Operator The operator is Cheowlan Untold. Cheowlan Untold holds Tourism Authority of Thailand tour operator licence 44/00518, valid from 16 March 2026 to 15 March 2028. The registered office is 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani 84230, Thailand. The base is Ban Ta Khun district, Surat Thani province, on the Cheowlan side of Khao Sok National Park, near Ratchaprapha Pier. The website is cheowlanuntold.com. Bookings are made on the website and paid by card in Thai baht. #### The five experiences Each experience is a single day. Each runs on fixed weekdays at a fixed time. Child prices apply to children aged 5–11. ##### The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of is a full day on Cheow Lan Lake by wooden longtail boat. It runs every day of the week, 09:30 to 16:00. The price is 3,800 THB per adult and 2,900 THB per child aged 5–11. The Khao Sok National Park fee of 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child is not included; it is paid in cash at the gate. Hotel pick-up and drop-off in Khao Sok and on the Cheowlan side are included. It is a boat day. ##### The Khao Sok Way The Khao Sok Way is an afternoon of ethical elephant care followed by cooking in a mountain kitchen. It runs on Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday, 12:00 to 18:30. The price is 7,900 THB per adult and 5,900 THB per child aged 5–11. No national park fee applies. Hotel pick-up and drop-off in Khao Sok and on the Cheowlan side are included. ##### Life Around Cheowlan Life Around Cheowlan is a village afternoon with a banana-leaf lunch, a bamboo raft, the Tor Tao turtle forest and sunset above Ratchaprapha Dam. It runs on Monday and Thursday, 12:00 to 18:30. The price is 5,900 THB per adult and 4,400 THB per child aged 5–11. No national park fee applies. Hotel pick-up and drop-off in Khao Sok and on the Cheowlan side are included. ##### The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking is a guided jungle trek to a waterfall, a bamboo lunch, and about an hour of tubing on the Sok River. It runs on Tuesday and Friday, 09:30 to 17:30. The price is 5,900 THB per adult and 4,400 THB per child aged 5–11. The Khao Sok National Park fee of 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child is not included; it is paid in cash at the gate. Hotel pick-up and drop-off in Khao Sok and on the Cheowlan side are included. ##### Before the World Wakes Before the World Wakes is a two-hour sunrise boat on Cheow Lan Lake. It runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 06:30 to 08:30. The price is 2,500 THB per adult and 1,900 THB per child aged 5–11. The Khao Sok National Park fee of 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child is not included; it is paid in cash at the gate. Pick-up is on the Cheowlan side. Guests staying elsewhere, including Khao Sok town, meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. It is a boat day. #### Group rules The minimum booking is 2 guests. The maximum group size is 15 guests per departure. The minimum age is 5. Guests under 18 travel with an adult. Bookings close at 16:00 Bangkok time on the day before the experience. A guest can book one experience per day. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of and Before the World Wakes are both boat days. They are never booked on two consecutive days; a land day sits between them. Included on every experience: a local English-speaking guide, the activities and equipment listed, the meals listed, drinking water and accident insurance. Not included: the Khao Sok National Park entrance fee of 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, paid in cash at the gate on each day inside the park. It applies to The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking and Before the World Wakes. The Khao Sok Way and Life Around Cheowlan stay outside the park and carry no fee. Days run in every season. Rain does not cancel a day. #### Cancellation Cancellation 10 or more days before the experience date is free, with a 100% refund. Cancellation 3 to 9 days before the experience date receives a 50% refund. Cancellation under 3 days before the experience date, or a no-show, receives no refund. Date changes are free 10 or more days before the experience date, subject to availability. Full terms are on the policies page. #### Contact WhatsApp: +66 92 547 4862. Email: cheowlanuntold@gmail.com. Website: cheowlanuntold.com. Booking page: cheowlanuntold.com/book. A machine-readable summary of the site is at /llms.txt, and the full text of every page is at /llms-full.txt. Checked 22 October 2026. --- ## Cheow Lan Lake & Khao Sok Tours | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/ Description: Cheow Lan Lake & Khao Sok tours: five fixed-day experiences — lake boat day, ethical elephants, jungle trek, village, sunrise boat. Hotel pick-up included. Cheow Lan Lake · Khao Sok National Park ### Some places you visit. Some places stay with you. Five one-day tours on Cheow Lan Lake and in Khao Sok, on fixed days every week · 2,500–7,900 THB per adult Cheowlan Untold · five signature experiences #### Same days, every week. Cheowlan Untold is a licensed tour operator with five experiences, some out on Cheow Lan Lake, also called Khao Sok Lake, and some in Khao Sok. Three of them keep fixed weekdays, so a given weekday always brings the same one. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of goes out daily, and Before the World Wakes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. ##### The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of Full day on the lake by longtail boat: the Three Brothers, a cave, lunch on a raft house, swim and kayak The Cheowlan you came all this way to see. ##### The Khao Sok Way Afternoon at an ethical elephant camp (no riding, no chains) and a mountain-kitchen dinner Khao Sok, the keepers’ way. ##### Life Around Cheowlan Village lunch, bamboo raft on the waterways, forest walk and a sunset viewpoint The village, the river, the forest behind it. ##### The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek to a waterfall, cooking in bamboo, river tubing home A day your legs will remember. ##### Before the World Wakes Two-hour sunrise boat on the lake, back at the pier by 08:30 Cheow Lan as the mist lifts. Which of our days fit your dates #### Tell us when, we tell you what runs. Put in your arrival and departure and we list every day of your stay with the experiences that run on that weekday. Each one links to its page. One experience per day; we never put two boat days back to back; Before the World Wakes picks up on the Cheowlan side only (others meet at Ratchaprapha Pier 06:20) Cheowlan · Every day Cheowlan · Every day · 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM #### The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of Full day on the lake by longtail boat: the Three Brothers, a cave, lunch on a raft house, swim and kayak The Cheowlan you came all this way to see. This is Cheowlan as the photographs show it, except now you are in it. Emerald water so vivid it seems painted on until your hand is in it. Sheer limestone walls climbing out of the lake. Caves tucked out of sight, a forest you reach by boat, and a light that turns every head on the boat. First time on Cheowlan? Start with this day. It is the lake you pictured on the way here, and the real thing still catches you off guard. The view the postcards of Cheowlan were made from. At a Glance This day suits you if… - It’s your first time on Cheow Lan Lake - The classic view is the one you’re after - The family is coming too - You’d like a whole day out on the water Pictures from the day Your Day 9:30 AM ##### Across Emerald Water A wooden long-tail pushes off with someone from the village at the tiller. Limestone climbs on every side, and the engine fills your ears. 10:30 AM ##### The Three Brothers The first stop. Three peaks stand shoulder to shoulder, grouped so neatly they look placed there on purpose. 11:15 AM ##### A Cave Out in the Lake After the open water all morning, the cave air hits you cold. The rock walls glitter, as if someone had thrown a handful of diamonds at them. 12:00 PM ##### The Forest Inside the Lake The boat is the one way in. A waterfall waits at the entrance like a doorman, and past it the forest closes in, thick with trees and water, which feels impossible for something sitting inside a lake. 1:00 PM ##### On the Water Lunch is at a raft house out on the lake, and from there the clock stops being ours. Some take a kayak out, some settle in with a book, some are in the water straight off the deck. The view keeps looking edited, however long you stare at it. About lunch Lunch is simple everyday Thai food, cooked by people from the village on the raft house — a home kitchen on the water, not a restaurant. What’s included Hotel pick-up & drop-off (Khao Sok & Cheowlan areas) · Lunch · A local guide who speaks English · Your long-tail boat · Kayaks · Insurance · Drinking water Not included: Khao Sok National Park entrance fee: 340/170 THB adult/child, cash at the gate, not included. Have the cash with you. Bring Hat · Sandals · Swimsuit · Sunscreen · Camera You’ll leave with… You’ll see why this lake gets talked about. Khao Sok · Afternoon Khao Sok · Afternoon · 12:00 PM – 6:30 PM #### The Khao Sok Way Afternoon at an ethical elephant camp (no riding, no chains) and a mountain-kitchen dinner Khao Sok, the keepers’ way. Not quite an elephant experience. Not quite a cooking class either. For one afternoon you step inside Khao Sok’s old way of living. Your hours follow the keepers’ own: vitamin balls pounded by hand and fed to the elephants, a walk down to the river beside them, and their dung turned into sheets of paper by your own hands. The people with you know every elephant by name, and not one of the elephants is ever ridden or chained. Later a narrow road climbs to a kitchen high in the mountains, surrounded by the garden it cooks from. Some days show you a place. This one lets you in. At a Glance This day suits you if… - You want time with elephants with no riding and no chains - Cooking appeals more than watching - Animal welfare matters to you - The people matter to you as much as the place Why the day is priced as it is What the price buys is the length of the day. Your day in Khao Sok begins with lunch and finishes with the dinner you cook, and the elephants fill much of what lies between. Six and a half hours, start to finish. In at midday, out after dinner. In between you keep the keepers’ hours — vitamin balls pounded by hand, the walk to the river, elephant dung made into paper. After that, up to the mountain kitchen, where you cook your own Southern Thai dinner. What the 7,900 covers - Pick-up at your hotel, and the ride back - 12:00 PM to 6:30 PM — six and a half hours - Two meals: a Thai lunch when you get there, then the dinner you make - Local English-speaking guide - Feeding, walking, mud and river, alongside the keepers - Dung paper, seed balls, and a herbal inhaler you keep - Southern Thai cooking, and dinner - Drinking water and insurance - This day carries no national park fee Lines we don’t cross Never ridden. Never chained. Never performing. No one climbs onto an elephant’s back, and no elephant is made to perform. Your afternoon is spent next to the people who call each of them by name, sharing their ordinary daily work. Want a day with no elephants in it? The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of goes out every morning, and Life Around Cheowlan on Mondays and Thursdays. Neither one comes near an elephant. Pictures from the day Your Day 12:00 PM ##### Into the Mountains Picked up at your hotel, you ride up the road into Khao Sok as the valleys widen and the air feels different. There’s a drink ready on arrival, then lunch — Thai dishes, fruit, and drinks for as long as the heat calls for them. 1:00 PM ##### Before You Meet Them First, fifteen minutes sitting down, before any introductions. Where Thailand’s domesticated elephants come from, what looking after one really takes, and the signs of a healthy elephant, and of an unhappy one. Those few minutes shape everything after. 1:30 PM ##### Working Alongside Them There is no riding at any point and no chains — what there is, is work. You prepare their food, roll vitamin balls in your palms and hand them over. A walk follows, because walking helps it all go through. Mud gets mixed and worked into their skin as sunblock. Then they wade into the river on their own to cool off, and afterwards stand under the big rain shower. 3:00 PM ##### Dung, Seeds and a Green Tube Elephant dung is mostly that morning’s forest, and you turn it into paper. You roll seed balls and plant them, helping the forest they depend on grow back. Last, you put together a Thai herbal inhaler to keep — the little green tube in the handbag of every Thai grandmother. 4:00 PM ##### The Mountain Kitchen Mist drifts over the valley most afternoons, and in the middle of it is a Thai kitchen hut. Dinner reaches your nose before you reach the door. You gather ingredients from the garden all around it and cook the old way — a stone mortar, a clay pot, an open fire, rice done in a bamboo tube. And then you sit and eat your own cooking. What’s included Ethical time with elephants · Thai lunch when you arrive · Southern Thai cooking · The dinner you cook · English-speaking local guide · Hotel pick-up & drop-off · Insurance · Drinking water Bring Sunscreen · Camera · Comfortable shoes · Clothes that can take some mud You’ll leave with… An afternoon spent alongside the keepers. Cheowlan · Mon & Thu Cheowlan · Mon & Thu · 12:00 PM – 6:30 PM #### Life Around Cheowlan Village lunch, bamboo raft on the waterways, forest walk and a sunset viewpoint The village, the river, the forest behind it. From a boat, Cheowlan is water and cliffs. This afternoon turns you round to face everything that surrounds it. Lunch comes first, eaten the village way: spread on banana leaves along one long shared table. Next, a bamboo raft carries you down the waterways people here use every day — this is the village that relocated when the dam filled and Cheowlan came into being. Then into the forest the villagers have named Turtle, after a giant turtle they say lives inside it — ancient rainforest that our guide puts at millions of years old. You finish on a hill with the dam and the village in one frame, and watch the sun set over the pair of them. The lake’s story keeps going past the shoreline. At a Glance This day suits you if… - You’ve done the lake and wonder what surrounds it - A village interests you more than a checklist of sights - You want to eat as the locals do - A walk in real rainforest sounds good Pictures from the day Your Day 12:00 PM ##### Banana-Leaf Lunch The day opens with a village-style meal. Our cook sets it out on banana leaves by the river — Southern Thai food, served in Thai dishes, the plates we are keenest for you to taste. 1:30 PM ##### By Raft Through the Village Birds, monkeys, now and then someone from the village washing at the bank: that is the view from a bamboo raft drifting the waterways of the village that resettled here as the lake formed. You pass rocks standing up mid-river and the old steel suspension bridge villagers built between two homes. 3:00 PM ##### Turtle Forest Tucked inside Cheowlan, this forest stays cool whatever the heat outside, and light comes down from overhead in shafts. Our guide dates it in the millions of years. The trees are enormous, the village still gathers herbs here for medicine and the kitchen, and there is a cave so intact that, standing in it, you see why people once made their homes like this. The name comes from a giant turtle villagers say lives here, and some people have seen it. 5:30 PM ##### Sunset Over Dam and Village A short drive up, and the dam and its village fit into one frame. The village shrinks to a handful of roofs; the forest you were deep inside an hour ago runs to the horizon. Then the sun sets over the lot, and the day slides off your shoulders. What’s included Lunch by the river · Bamboo raft · A walk in the rainforest · The sunset viewpoint · English-speaking local guide · Hotel pick-up & drop-off · Water to drink · Insurance Bring Walking shoes · Hat · Camera · Sunscreen · Swimwear plus dry clothes, if a swim from the raft appeals You’ll leave with… A feel for the people, forest and customs around the lake. Khao Sok · Full day Khao Sok · Full day · 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM #### The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek to a waterfall, cooking in bamboo, river tubing home A day your legs will remember. This day is hard work, and we would rather say so up front. It’s three kilometres out and three kilometres back — and the stretch between is the whole point. Waterfalls, and a river that halts you mid-stride. Monkeys in the canopy and, if luck is with you, elephants far off. Deep in the forest a wooden hut stands on the riverbank, and you cook there in the trekkers’ tradition — bamboo, a fire, and little more. Not luxury. Rainforest, and every metre of it earned. At a Glance This day suits you if… - Six kilometres on foot in a day sounds fine to you - You have stamina to spare - You like a view you had to walk for - You want a day worth retelling Pictures from the day Your Day 9:30 AM ##### Into the Rainforest Your guide leads you on foot far into Khao Sok: three kilometres of waterfalls, wildlife and streams that are there to be waded. 1:00 PM ##### The Riverside Hut A wooden hut at the river’s edge. Lunch goes into bamboo over an open fire — plain, earned, and good because of it. 3:30 PM ##### Float It Home Then an inner tube and the Khao Sok river take you back, legs spent, the current doing the work of bringing you home. Two forests, two different days On Life Around Cheowlan, the forest is what you study — who lives in it, what grows in it, what the village still gathers from it. You don’t walk far; you look closely. On this day, the walking is the point. Three kilometres there and three back, river and waterfalls all along, and a hut at the far end where you cook. Of the two, this is the physically demanding one, and we say so plainly. Come if being worn out doesn’t bother you. What’s included Trek & tubing · Lunch cooked on a bamboo fire · A guide from the area who speaks English · Hotel pick-up & drop-off · Insurance · Drinking water Not included: Khao Sok National Park entrance fee. It is cash only, paid at the park — 340 THB an adult and 170 THB a child, so bring it along. Bring Trekking shoes · Waterproof pouch for your phone · Swimwear · Clothes that dry fast · Sunscreen You’ll leave with… Soaked shoes, aching legs, and a story you’ll keep telling. Cheowlan · A special morning Cheowlan · Fri–Sun · 6:30 AM – 8:30 AM #### Before the World Wakes Two-hour sunrise boat on the lake, back at the pier by 08:30 Cheow Lan as the mist lifts. Mist creeps along the limestone, and with every minute the first light redraws the view. Here is Cheowlan in the first hour of the day. It sits outside the signature experiences and is sold separately — an early start for anyone already sleeping close to the lake. Worth knowing: if The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of is also on your list, book it on a different day, and not the day before or after. Both put you on a boat on the same lake. Out on the water while Cheowlan is waking. At a Glance Good to know - Early and short — you’re back by 08:30 - Not on the same day as The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, or the day before or after - Pick-up on the Cheowlan side, or meet the boat at the pier at 06:20 - The morning is then free, so plan the rest of your day yourself Your Morning 6:30 AM ##### Leaving in the Grey We pick you up at your door on the Cheowlan side, and you’re on the lake while everything is still grey, mist sliding over the rock. 7:00 AM ##### Three Brothers, Lit Up Light reaches the Three Brothers one minute at a time, and you are there for each of those minutes. 7:45 AM ##### Feeding the Fish Scatter feed under a raft house floating on the lake, and hundreds of the fish living beneath it come up at once. 8:30 AM ##### The Rest Is Yours Back by half past eight, breakfast still ahead, and the whole day yours to spend however you like, or not at all. What’s included Hotel pick-up & drop-off (Cheowlan area) · Fish feeding at a raft house · Long-tail boat · English-speaking local guide · Insurance · Drinking water Not included: Khao Sok National Park entrance fee — cash at the park: adults 340 THB, children 170 THB. Carry it with you that morning. Bring Something warm to wear · Camera · A soft spot for early starts Moments From the Morning You’ll leave with… Cheowlan’s first hour, seen before the world wakes. Plan your stay #### Each weekday belongs to one experience, week in, week out. On Mon & Thu it’s Life Around Cheowlan; on Sun, Wed & Sat, The Khao Sok Way; on Tue & Fri, Adventure. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of goes out daily, and Before the World Wakes each Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Pick your dates and your week has already planned itself. ① ##### Check the weekday A weekday never changes its experience. The schedule is just below; the calendar shows exact dates. ② ##### Pick your days Tap whichever dates suit you. A stay of a few days lines up several different experiences on its own. ③ ##### We pick you up One hotel for the whole trip is fine. Pick-up from it is included every day, whichever of the two areas it is in. Wondering how long to spend here? How many days do you need in Khao Sok? — a straight answer, plus what every additional day gives you. Curious what lies beneath the lake? Before it was a lake, it was a valley — the dam, the relocated village, and the grandfather who saw it all. Thinking about the weather? The best time to visit, month by month — actual rainfall numbers, what shifts and what stays put. The weekly schedule ##### Mon & Thu Life Around Cheowlan — Cheowlan, afternoon ##### Sun, Wed & Sat The Khao Sok Way — Khao Sok, afternoon ##### Tue & Fri The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking — Khao Sok, full day Next to the weekly rhythm run two more: The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, daily, and Before the World Wakes, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. We book one experience per day, and these two never on back-to-back days, since both put you on a boat on the same lake. Khao Sok or Cheowlan? Two bases, one national park These are two separate places, and it helps to know that before you arrive. Khao Sok is the river town in the jungle: cafés, a night market, limestone hanging over the roofs. Cheowlan is the lake: green water among limestone, and the boat is how you get around it. Roughly 45 minutes lie between them, and you don’t have to pick both — base yourself in either, and every experience starts with us collecting you from your hotel. Hotel pick-up in either zone on four of the five experiences; Before the World Wakes collects on the Cheowlan side only, or meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20 · the map is illustrative, not to scale ##### If you sleep in Khao Sok Mornings start in a riverside town: breakfast is a stroll away, cliffs loom above, the jungle presses in at every edge. After dark there are cafés, a night market, and fellow travellers to swap stories with. Feels like: a little town inside the rainforest. Choose it if you want things going on right outside your door — bearing in mind the lake is roughly 45 minutes off on boat days. ##### If you sleep on the Cheowlan side Your bed is in the village the lake brought into being. As the dam rose, the valley’s families climbed up here and started over — and now it is warm and easygoing, a place of modest lodgings and garden stays, rubber trees, mornings at the temple, and neighbours who wave. Above it all rise the limestone mountains of Ratchaprapha; there’s a viewpoint with the entire lake spread below, and the pier is only minutes off. Feels like: being welcomed into a village rather than passing through a town. Choose it if you’re after warmth, everyday village life and the water close by — plus this is the one side the dawn boat, Before the World Wakes, picks up from. Either way, we pick you up at your hotel — the dawn boat, Before the World Wakes, from the Cheowlan side only. Our own choice, though? Sleep on the Cheowlan side. Your mornings start right outside the door, and the dawn boat, Before the World Wakes, picks up on that side. When a day crosses to the other zone, the 45-minute drive counts as part of it: fruit stalls, rubber plantations, limestone walls, a road winding from one world into the next. Getting here #### Chapter one starts on the road in. Off an island ferry, out of a beach town, or landing in Surat Thani on a red-eye — whichever it is, a driver will be there holding your name. The vehicle is private and air-conditioned, and it makes no stops for anyone else. On the way in you pass fruit stands, rubber plantations and limestone walls, and the drive is part of the trip. The times listed are to the Khao Sok side. The Cheowlan pier sits around 45 minutes closer if you set out from Surat Thani or the islands, and roughly 45 minutes further if you set out from the west coast. From Surat Thani & the islands From the west coast Further afield Between the two zones Request your transfer Let us know your starting point. An email comes back, normally within a few hours, with your driver confirmed and a secure link for payment. All prices are in THB and are per private vehicle, one way — not per head — to the Khao Sok or the Cheowlan side, depending on where you’re staying. A car takes up to 4 guests; a van takes up to 12 plus luggage, so a bigger group pays less per person. Book a day ahead at minimum, and further ahead if you arrive at dawn or late at night. All routes and journey times, plus help choosing between Khao Sok and Cheowlan: How to get to Khao Sok. The Calendar #### The week runs to a set pattern. Find where your dates land. How booking works Tap a day to see which experience runs, then book inside the secure window, where you choose date, travellers and children. Planning several days? Open The Chapters — it puts all five experiences on a single page: drop each in the cart 🛒 and check out once. Grab a screenshot of the month and share it with your travel companions. Who is behind this Cheowlan Untold is a licensed inbound tour operator (TAT licence 44/00518, valid to 15 March 2028), registered at 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani — the village beside the dam on the Cheowlan side. The people at the tiller and on the trail are from here. Every departure is a shared group of 15 at most, and a person answers the WhatsApp: +66 92 547 4862 · cheowlanuntold@gmail.com. Before you go #### Pick the days. The rest is on us. Q: Is hotel pick-up included? A: Yes — for hotels on the Cheowlan side or in Khao Sok, we collect you at the door and bring you back. The one exception is Before the World Wakes, which collects on the Cheowlan side only; from anywhere else, meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. Just tell us your hotel's name once you have booked. Coming from Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak, Surat Thani or the islands means a private transfer, charged per vehicle: see Getting here. Q: How does the weekly schedule work? A: Three of the experiences are tied to set weekdays, and that never changes from one week to the next. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of goes out daily; Before the World Wakes goes out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. The calendar has the exact dates. Q: Do I have to stay several days? A: No. One day is fine, and so is every day you can spare. Two to four days lets you see both the Cheowlan side and Khao Sok. Q: What's included? A: Your hotel transfers, an English-speaking local guide, the activities and their equipment, the meals listed for each day, drinking water and insurance. The national park entrance fee is not included: on the experiences that go into Khao Sok National Park (Dawn, Dreams and Adventure) you pay it in cash at the park — 340 THB for each adult, 170 THB for each child. Q: Is it good for kids? A: Children need to be at least 5. Ages 5–11 pay the child price: 2,900 THB for The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, 5,900 for The Khao Sok Way, 4,400 for Life Around Cheowlan and for The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, 1,900 for Before the World Wakes. Anyone under 18 travels with an adult. Q: What happens after I book? A: Inside 24 hours you will hear from us with your pick-up time at the hotel, your guide's name and phone number, and a packing list. A person answers that number. Q: Is there a minimum number of guests? A: Yes: each booking needs two guests. Prices are per person, and once you pick a date the calendar adds up your group's total. On your own? Book two seats, and the day is exactly the same whether one or two of you come. Q: Can I pay cash on the day? A: No. Bookings are made here on the website and paid by card, in Thai baht; that payment secures your seats. The national park fee, paid at the gate, is the single thing you will need cash for that day. Q: What if it rains? A: We still go out. Rain mostly adds mist to the mountains, while the colour and level of the lake stay much the same. The tubing river is the exception: it clouds for about an hour, then clears. For the month-by-month picture: Best time to visit. Our boat · Cheow Lan Lake Book your journey #### We'll take care of the day. Transport, meals, local guides, equipment and all the small things between — sorted before you arrive. The one thing to carry is cash for the park fee on park days. Between pick-up and drop-off, you have nothing to organise. Meeting point We collect you from your hotel (Before the World Wakes: Cheowlan side, or the pier at 06:20). Pick-up time confirmed by email after you book. Getting there Bangkok → Surat Thani, 1h10 by air. Airport to pier, about an hour. Ask, and we'll send a driver. Talk to us Can’t decide on a day, or want to ask something first? Send us a WhatsApp and a person will reply. cheowlanuntold@gmail.com --- ## Cheow Lan Lake Day Tour (Khao Sok Lake): Price & Times URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/cheow-lan-lake-day-tour Description: Cheow Lan Lake day tour by wooden longtail, daily 09:30–16:00: Three Brothers, a cave, raft-house lunch, swim and kayaks. 3,800 THB + 340 THB park fee, cash. Every day · one full day on the water ### Cheow Lan Lake Day Tour, Khao Sok From a wooden longtail: limestone rising straight out of green water, a cave whose walls glitter, a forest the lake has folded inside itself — and lunch on a raft house you swim from afterwards. - WhenEvery day · 09:30–16:00 - Pick-upHotel pick-up included · Khao Sok side ~08:00 · back at Khao Sok-side hotels ~17:00 - GroupShared group · max 15 · min 2 per booking - Price3,800 THB adult · 2,900 THB child 5–11 - Park feePark fee 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included - CancelFree cancellation up to 10 days before - LicenceTAT licence 44/00518 Check dates & book TAT licence 44/00518 · Payment by Stripe · Pin replies personally Not sure about your dates? Ask Pin on WhatsApp See which days fit your dates Not travelling for a while? Email me which days run in my month Cheow Lan Lake — also written Chiew Larn or Cheow Larn, and often called Khao Sok Lake — sits inside Khao Sok National Park. Cheowlan Untold runs The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of there every day: a full-day Khao Sok lake tour in a wooden longtail, from 9.30am to 4.00pm. Pick-up starts around 8.00am from hotels on the Cheowlan side or the Khao Sok side. Adults pay 3,800 THB; children aged 5–11 pay 2,900 THB. The national park charges its own fee, in cash at the gate — 340 THB for each adult, 170 THB for each child. A booking needs at least two guests, a group never goes above 15, and the cut-off is 4.00pm on the day before. Cheow Lan Lake, all day, in a wooden longtail steered by someone from the village. Khao Sam Kloe, the Three Brothers. A cave where the rock glints as if someone spilled diamonds over it. A forest tucked inside the lake, a waterfall at the way in. And a floating raft house where lunch, a swim and a kayak fill a few long hours. Daily from 9:30 until 16:00. 3,800 THB per adult, with 340 THB due in cash at the national park gate. Within the first twenty minutes the cliffs part and the colour under the hull changes — a deep jade you keep leaning over the side to check. Ask the people who live here what the lake feels like and the answer is about the mountains, the sky and the water meeting in one place. #### Who is at the tiller Your boat is a wooden longtail. The man steering it was raised on this water, and it shows — in what he wears, in the way he swings the boat round, in how he reads where the lake runs shallow. The day is built around him. #### How the hours run | Time | What happens | ~8:00 | Collected from your hotel on either side, Khao Sok or Cheowlan — hotels on the Cheowlan side sit 45 minutes nearer the pier | 9:30 | Ratchaprapha Pier: pay the park fee in cash and board the boat | ~10:30 | Khao Sam Kloe, the Three Brothers | ~11:15 | The cave | ~12:00 | The forest tucked inside the lake | ~13:00 | Lunch on a floating raft house. Simple everyday Thai food, cooked by people from the village on the raft house — a home kitchen on the water, not a restaurant. Afterwards swim, take a kayak, or stay on the deck. | 16:00 | The pier, then the drive back to your hotel Weather and the water level can reorder the stops. None of them is dropped. #### Khao Sam Kloe (เขาสามเกลอ), the Three Brothers Three limestone peaks grouped so neatly you half expect to find whoever placed them there. We call it nature hanging its own exhibition. You probably knew this view before you knew where it was; it is the photograph that sends people looking for Cheow Lan. It has a name, and now you have it. #### The cave One step in and the air turns cold. Give your eyes a minute and the walls begin to sparkle: mineral in the rock picking up light thrown off the lake, like diamond flung across stone. A camera flattens it to nothing, so it is one to see with your own eyes. #### The forest hidden inside the lake The boat brings you to its edge, where a waterfall stands at the way in. Think of it as a welcome waterfall; that is exactly how arriving there feels. Beyond it are water sources, and trunks so wide that talk stops while everyone looks up. A forest like this, inside a lake. #### The raft house: lunch, a swim, a kayak Lunch is served on a bamboo raft house afloat on the lake, and the green you were looking at over your plate is the green you are in five minutes later. Paddle off in a kayak, or carry a book out to the deck and stay put. #### Half day or full day on Cheow Lan Lake? The full day is this tour: The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, every day from 09:30 to 16:00. The short one is Before the World Wakes: two hours at first light, 06:30–08:30, Friday to Sunday, from the Cheowlan side. Both happen on one and the same lake. Same cliffs, same water, separated by nothing but a few hours on the clock. The day tour covers it all: the Three Brothers, the cave and the forest, a long stop at the raft house and a swim. The dawn boat is about first light: mist hanging on the limestone while the sky brightens, and you are ashore again with the day barely begun. It costs 2,500 THB per person. Either one earns its place in your week. If you want both, we book them on separate days with a day between, never back to back. #### The full cost, in one table | Adult | Child 5–11 | You pay us | 3,800 THB | 2,900 THB | Cash at the park gate | 340 THB | 170 THB | Total | 4,140 THB | 3,070 THB The park fee is not included in our price: the gate takes cash and no cards, so carry it in Thai baht. The rest is covered by your booking — hotel transfers there and back, the boat, a local guide who speaks English, lunch, drinking water, kayaks and insurance. #### Is this the right day for you? If Cheow Lan Lake gets one day of your trip, this is the tour we built for that day. It is a shared group day, 15 guests at the very most, and whoever you end up with becomes part of the story. Couples, families and solo travellers all fit in just as easily. Not a swimmer? Life jackets travel on board for anyone getting into the water by the raft house, and the deck is right there for anyone who would rather stay dry. Each booking needs two guests or more, and closes at 4:00pm the day before. Planning the rest of your week? How many days you actually need in Khao Sok lays out every weekly departure and what each one costs. And ten minutes of reading tells you what lies under the boat before you set out: Before it was a lake, it was a valley. Who is behind this. Cheowlan Untold is a licensed inbound tour operator (TAT licence 44/00518, valid to 15 March 2028), registered at 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani — the village beside the dam on the Cheowlan side. The people at the tiller and on the trail are from here. Every departure is a shared group of 15 at most, and a person answers the WhatsApp: +66 92 547 4862 · cheowlanuntold@gmail.com. #### The details - RunsEvery day - Hours9.30am – 4.00pm; hotel pick-up from around 8.00am - Price3,800 THB per adult · 2,900 THB per child aged 5–11 - Group size15 guests maximum - GroupsFifteen guests is the ceiling for any departure, everyone on the same fixed day and paying the same per head. Eight or more of you? Email the date before you pay and we will confirm the boat first. - Pick-upIncluded from hotels on either side, Cheowlan or Khao Sok. Cheowlan-side hotels are 45 minutes nearer the pier, so if you are still deciding where to stay, choose that side. - ChildrenMinimum age 5. Ages 5–11 pay 2,900 THB. Anyone under 18 comes with an adult. - Park feeNot in the price: paid in cash at the gate, 340 THB adult / 170 THB child · how the fee works - IncludesHotel transfers both ways, a wooden longtail boat, a local guide who speaks English, lunch at the raft house, drinking water, kayaks, insurance - BringPark cash (340 THB per adult), swimwear, a towel, sunscreen, and a dry bag if you own one - Book by4.00pm on the day before · at least 2 guests - CancellationFree cancellation and free date change 10 days or more before · 50% refund 3–9 days before · no refund less than 3 days before. Full policy. - Licensed & insured: TAT licence 44/00518 · every guest covered by accident insurance #### Before you ask Q: Do I need to bring cash for the park fee? A: Yes, in Thai baht. The gate takes cash and nothing else: 340 THB for an adult, 170 THB for a child. That fee is the one thing outside your booking; the rest is already covered. Q: What should I expect from lunch on the raft house? A: Simple everyday Thai food, cooked by people from the village on the raft house — a home kitchen on the water, not a restaurant. Q: Lake day or sunrise boat — which should I book? A: The day tour if you want the full lake: the Three Brothers, the cave, the forest inside the lake, lunch on the raft house, a swim and the kayaks, 09:30–16:00 every day. The sunrise boat is two hours at first light, Friday to Sunday, 06:30–08:30. If you want both, book them with a day between. Q: Will there be other guests on the day? A: Yes. This is a shared group of 15 guests at most, and the other travellers in it become part of the day. Pick-up is included from hotels on both sides, Khao Sok and Cheowlan. Q: Will there be other boats on the lake? A: Yes. It is a popular lake, so expect other boats out on the water too. Your own boat is a wooden longtail with a shared group of 15 guests at most, steered by someone from the village, and the raft house stop gives a few long hours for lunch, a swim and the kayaks. Q: Can you swim in Cheow Lan Lake? A: Yes. The swim comes at the lunch stop: after eating, you lower yourself into the lake off the floating raft house. Life jackets travel on board for anyone who wants one, and the deck is right there if you would rather stay dry. Bring swimwear and a towel; a dry bag helps if you own one. Q: Is kayaking included? A: Yes, kayaks are included in the 3,800 THB price. They wait at the raft house where lunch is served, so after eating you can paddle off across the green water or carry a book out to the deck instead. The only cost outside your booking is the park fee: 340 THB per adult, in cash. Q: I am not a confident swimmer. Can I still get in? A: Yes. Strap on one of the life jackets we carry and lower yourself in off the raft house. If the water does not appeal, the deck is a perfectly good place to spend that time. Q: Where do we sleep after the tour? A: On land. This is a day trip: by early evening you are at your hotel again, on the side of Khao Sok you picked. Q: What is the booking cutoff? A: Bookings close at 4.00pm on the day before the tour, and each one needs at least two guests. Free cancellation and free date change 10 days or more before; 50% refund 3–9 days before; no refund less than 3 days before. Prices are per person: 3,800 THB per adult, 2,900 per child aged 5–11. Q: What happens if it rains? A: We go out regardless. Rain here is an afternoon visitor that never stays long, and the lake wears it in a way all its own. Should the route change at all, we tell you ahead of time. Q: How many guests does a booking need? A: Two. Every price is per person, and the calendar does the maths once you pick a date: 7,600 THB for two adults. Solo travellers simply book two seats; one guest or two, it is the same boat and the same guide. Coming on your own? Bookings start at two guests, so take two seats. Nothing about the day shrinks for a party of one: same boat, same guide. --- ## Ethical Elephant Experience in Khao Sok — The Khao Sok Way URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/khao-sok-elephant-experience Description: An ethical elephant care afternoon in Khao Sok, then cooking in a mountain kitchen. Never ridden or chained. Sun, Wed & Sat, 12:00. 7,900 THB, no park fee. Sun, Wed & Sat · 12:00–18:30 · 7,900 THB ### The Khao Sok Way — An Ethical Elephant Care Afternoon Thirteen hands-on moments with the elephants, then a meal you cook yourself in a mountain valley where mist usually settles by evening. Six and a half hours, start to finish. Never ridden, never chained. - Sun, Wed & Sat · 12:00–18:30 - 7,900 THB adult · 5,900 THB child 5–11 - Hotel pick-up included - No park fee - Shared group, max 15 · min 2 per booking - ACES Silver certified until June 2027 · never ridden · never chained - Free cancellation up to 10 days before - TAT licence 44/00518 TAT licence 44/00518 · Payment by Stripe · Pin replies personally Not sure about your dates? Ask Pin on WhatsApp See which days fit your dates Not travelling for a while? Email me which days run in my month Cheowlan Untold runs The Khao Sok Way, an ethical elephant experience in Khao Sok: an afternoon caring for elephants, with no riding and no chains, finished with cooking in a mountain kitchen. Departures are on Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday from 12.00pm until 6.30pm, and we collect you from your hotel whether you are staying around Khao Sok or over on the Cheowlan side. Adults pay 7,900 THB, children aged 5–11 pay 5,900 THB, with no national park fee on top. Each booking needs at least two guests, a group never goes above 15, and bookings close at 4.00pm the day before. Thirteen things with the elephants, in order. After that, a kitchen in a misty valley and a dinner you make yourself. This day costs 7,900 THB. Here is what it covers, in the order it happens. The afternoon lasts six and a half hours, door to door. Into that go two meals, a short documentary, thirteen separate things done with the elephants and, to close, a cooking session up in the mountains. It is not a visit. For one afternoon you keep the elephants’ hours: their meal, their walk, their mud, their river. #### From pick-up to drop-off We collect you at midday from your hotel, Khao Sok side or Cheowlan side, and have you back there by 6:30pm. | Time | What happens | 12:00 | Collected from your hotel | ~12:30 | A drink on arrival, then Thai lunch with fruit and free-flowing drinks | ~13:15 | A short film about elephants raised in human care: their health, how they are looked after, and how this camp runs | ~13:45 | With the elephants: making their food, feeding, the walk, the mud, the river, the shower | ~15:30 | Making a herbal inhaler and dung paper, then planting seed balls in the forest | 16:00 | Up to the mountain kitchen: gather from the garden, cook, eat | 18:30 | Dropped back at your hotel #### All thirteen, one after another Nothing here is shortened for the page. This is the programme. - A welcome drink, first thing, to shake off the drive. - Lunch, Thai style — a full meal with fruit, plus unlimited drinks. - A short film on domesticated elephants. It covers what an elephant’s body asks for, how to tell good care from poor care, and why an animal raised among people cannot just be set free. Fifteen minutes long, and you will watch everything after it differently. - Making their food, and shaping vitamin balls with your hands. For a while you are the elephants’ kitchen staff, preparing the meal they are about to eat. - Feeding time. Food in your open hand, a trunk reaching for it. Keep a camera free for this. - A walk together. It is not a scenic stroll — an elephant has to move after a meal, so the walk is for their digestion and you simply go along. - Time to just watch them in their own surroundings, getting on with nothing much, which is when you see who they really are. - The mud spa. You press handfuls of mud into their skin yourself. For the elephant it does the work of sunscreen, insect repellent and skin cream at once; for you it is the photograph you will want to keep. - The river. They wade in on their own to cool off, and you follow them into the water. - The rain shower. Water pours down from above and they stand beneath it, plainly pleased. - Making a Thai herbal inhaler — ya dom, the small tube almost every Thai person keeps on them. You keep the one you make. - Turning elephant dung into paper. Clean, and mostly grass the elephant has already digested, it ends up as an actual page you can hold. An odd thing to carry home: something to write on that was once lunch. - Seed balls, rolled and planted in the forest, so there is food growing for the elephants who follow. #### Up to the valley kitchen: cooking in the mountains At four o’clock you say goodbye to the elephants and drive uphill to a Thai kitchen hut in a valley. Mist has usually settled by that hour. The smell of cooking reaches you before the hut comes into view. A garden grows around the hut, and your ingredients come out of it, picked by you. It sounds minor, but this is where Thai cooking begins: as things growing in the soil. Then the fire is lit and you cook the old way. You learn which pot does what, which pan, and why the rice is packed into a piece of bamboo. Dinner is whatever you made, eaten in the valley while the evening comes in. #### An ethical elephant afternoon: no riding, no chains The whole day is designed around it. To be ridden, an elephant first has to be forced to tolerate a human on its back, with everything that forcing involves. None of the thirteen activities asks for that. Each is part of an ordinary elephant day anyway — food, a walk, mud, water — and you are simply near enough to join in. Riding and chains have no part in this day. If the stories you have seen about elephant tourism in Thailand make you hesitate to book anything at all, test this afternoon with your toughest questions. We would sooner settle them before you book than leave you wondering on the day. ##### The mud spa and the river bath: why they stay in An elephant cares for its skin with mud and water. Mud keeps off the sun and the insects; the river brings its temperature down. Once a day, every elephant gets its mud and its river as part of its usual rhythm, and the afternoon is timed to that. The elephants bathe on their own schedule: you fit into their routine, not they into yours. On certification: the camp is ACES Silver certified (Asian Captive Elephant Standards) until June 2027, and holds the GAP standard for elephant care set by Thailand’s Department of Livestock Development. Ask, and we will send both certificates before you book. ##### About the word “sanctuary” It is the word people type into a search bar, so here is a straight answer. On its own, a sign saying “sanctuary” proves very little; what matters is what happens behind it. Three questions settle it. Any riding? No. Any show — painting, football, tricks? No. Any chains or hooks? No. Going by those three answers, the word fits here, and the family caring for these elephants look after them like their own. Even so, judge the afternoon by the thirteen things listed above, not by what any sign says. #### When this is the wrong day for you Say all you want is a quick elephant photo between other plans. This day costs 7,900 THB and takes six and a half hours, and much of that afternoon would be time you never wanted. We would rather say so plainly before you book. Children do well here — nearly everything is done with their own hands, and the mud tends to win them over fast. Ages 5 to 11 pay 5,900 THB. Pack spare clothes and shoes that are happy in a river: you leave muddy and wet. #### Which days it runs You can join The Khao Sok Way on a Sunday, Wednesday or Saturday. This day stays outside the national park, which means no 340 THB gate fee is added — 7,900 is all you pay. Planning more than one day in the area? How many days you actually need in Khao Sok sets out the whole week’s timetable alongside a plain cost table. Curious what lies under the lake? Read Before it was a lake, it was a valley. Who is behind this. Cheowlan Untold is a licensed inbound tour operator (TAT licence 44/00518, valid to 15 March 2028), registered at 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani — the village beside the dam on the Cheowlan side. The people at the tiller and on the trail are from here. Every departure is a shared group of 15 at most, and a person answers the WhatsApp: +66 92 547 4862 · cheowlanuntold@gmail.com. #### The practical part - RunsSunday, Wednesday & Saturday - Hours12.00pm – 6.30pm - PriceAdults 7,900 THB · ages 5–11 5,900 THB - Group size15 guests at most - GroupsOne departure takes up to 15 guests, all at the same per-person price and on the same fixed day. If your group is 8 or more, email us the date first and we will confirm the departure before you pay. - Pick-upIncluded from hotels on both sides: Khao Sok and Cheowlan. - ChildrenMinimum age 5. Ages 5–11 pay 5,900 THB. Anyone under 18 must travel with an adult. - Park feeNone — the day stays outside the national park - IncludesReturn hotel transfers, a welcome drink, Thai lunch, every one of the thirteen elephant activities, the cooking session at the mountain kitchen plus the meal you make there, drinking water, an English-speaking guide and insurance - BringClothes you can get muddy in, something to change into, sandals or river shoes - Book by4.00pm the day before - CancellationFree cancellation and free date change 10 days or more before · 50% refund 3–9 days before · no refund less than 3 days before. Full policy. - Licensed & insured: TAT licence 44/00518 · every guest covered by accident insurance #### Questions people ask Q: Is this a real elephant sanctuary? A: No riding, no shows (painting, football, tricks) and no chains or hooks, so on those answers the word fits; the family caring for these elephants look after them like their own. On its own the word “sanctuary” proves very little, so judge the afternoon by the thirteen things on this page, not by what a sign says. Q: Is there any elephant riding? A: None, ever, and no chains either. The afternoon is spent caring for them and keeping them company: making their food, feeding them, walking alongside, the mud, the river, the shower, and after that dung paper and seed balls planted out in the forest. Q: Do the mud and the river actually help the elephants? A: Yes. For an elephant, mud keeps off the sun and the insects, and the river brings its temperature down. Once a day, every elephant gets its mud and its river, within its usual rhythm, and you join in with that. The camp is ACES Silver certified (Asian Captive Elephant Standards) until June 2027. Q: How much is the Khao Sok elephant experience? A: 7,900 THB per adult and 5,900 THB per child aged 5 to 11, with no national park fee on top. It runs every Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday: pick-up from your hotel at 12:00, back by 18:30. That pays for two meals, a short documentary, thirteen hands-on activities alongside the elephants and cooking in a mountain kitchen to finish. Q: Do we eat twice? A: Yes, twice. Thai lunch is ready when you arrive. At four o’clock comes the second meal, the one you cook yourself at the mountain kitchen and eat on the spot, filling enough that you can skip dinner later. Q: Is this suitable for children? A: Yes. Almost the whole afternoon is done with your hands — food, mud, water — and children take to that. Ages 5 to 11 pay 5,900 THB, and every child needs an adult with them. Q: Is there a park fee to pay in cash? A: No. Nothing on this day happens inside the national park, so there is no park fee to pay. 7,900 THB is the full amount. Q: What should I wear? A: Wear clothes you do not mind covering in mud, bring a complete change, and choose shoes or sandals that can go into a river. You will end up in it. Q: What if it rains? A: Rain or shine, the afternoon goes ahead. Elephants shrug off a downpour, and so does the mud spa. Should any part of the plan change, you will hear it from us ahead of time. Q: Where do you pick up from? A: From any hotel, Khao Sok side or Cheowlan side, there and back, at no extra cost. Pick-up from your hotel is at 12:00 and you are back by 18:30, every Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. The 7,900 THB price covers the transfers both ways, with no national park fee on top. Q: How many guests do we need to book? A: At least two per booking. Prices are per person; pick a date and the calendar adds up your group total — 15,800 THB for two adults. On your own? Book two seats. One guest or two, it is the same guide and the same pick-up. Coming on your own? Bookings start at two guests, so reserve two seats. Whether there are one or two of you, the guide and pick-up stay the same, and your afternoon runs exactly as it would for anyone else. --- ## Cheow Lan Village Tour: Bamboo Rafting & Sunset URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/cheow-lan-village-tour Description: Cheow Lan village tour with bamboo rafting: local life, a forest cave and sunset over Ratchaprapha Dam. Mon & Thu 12:00–18:30, 5,900 THB, no park fee. Village afternoons · Mon & Thu ### Life Around Cheowlan — The Village Tour A riverside lunch served on banana leaves, a bamboo raft through the village’s back channels, a forest named for a turtle — then sundown on a hilltop, with the dam and its village side by side below you. - WhenMon & Thu · 12:00–18:30 - Pick-upHotel pick-up included - GroupShared group · max 15 · min 2 per booking - Price5,900 THB adult · 4,400 THB child 5–11 - Park feeNo park fee - CancelFree cancellation up to 10 days before - LicenceTAT licence 44/00518 Check dates & book TAT licence 44/00518 · Payment by Stripe · Pin replies personally Not sure about your dates? Ask Pin on WhatsApp See which days fit your dates Not travelling for a while? Email me which days run in my month Cheowlan Untold runs Life Around Cheowlan, a village afternoon on the shore of Cheow Lan Lake in Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani, every Monday and Thursday from 12.00pm until 6.30pm. We collect you from your hotel whether you are staying on the Cheowlan side or the Khao Sok side. Adults pay 5,900 THB; ages 5–11 pay 4,400 THB; there is no national park fee to add. Each booking needs at least two guests, a departure never goes above 15, and bookings close at 4.00pm the day before. Cheow Lan’s story, told on dry land. You eat first, at the river, off banana leaves. A bamboo raft carries you along the waterways the village calls its own. Then into a forest the villagers named Turtle. The afternoon ends up on a hill at sunset, the dam and the village it made sharing one frame. Monday and Thursday only. 5,900 THB, with no park fee on top — the whole afternoon stays outside the national park. Our other days look at the water. This afternoon looks at the families who made a life along its edge. In the 1980s the Ratchaprapha Dam filled, and the valley’s 385 families had to move out of it. They were handed land further uphill and started again there. In time they became the people who drive the lake’s boats, guide its visitors and host its guests. Ten minutes with the full history before you arrive is time well spent. You spend the afternoon inside that village: eating at its river, drifting along its channels, walking into the forest at its back. #### How the afternoon runs We collect you from your hotel, whichever side you are staying on. Lunch comes first. | Time | What happens | 12:00 | Hotel pick-up; lunch on banana leaves at the river | 13:30 | Poled by bamboo raft through the village channels | 15:00 | Into the Turtle forest: huge trees, village herbs, a cave | 17:30 | Sunset from the viewpoint, dam and village below | 18:30 | Back at your hotel #### We start at the table Our own cook sets a long table at the river’s edge and covers it with banana leaves in place of plates. The food is southern Thai, cooked the Thai way — nothing toned down for visitors, just the dishes we want you to taste. We put lunch at the start on purpose. You come in hot off the road, and before anything else you are sitting in the shade beside running water, eating a proper meal. The rest of the afternoon feels different for it. #### Bamboo rafting through the village’s channels Next comes water, though not the water on the postcards. The raft follows narrow green channels that run behind the houses, where everyday village life carries on. Someone bathing at the bank. Birds. Quite often, monkeys up in the branches. Someone pushes the raft along with a pole, at a slow pace, and slow is how you actually take it in. Rocks rise out of the middle of the river. Then comes the old steel suspension bridge, which the villagers put up to link the two halves of their own home — people photograph it and call it the heart-shaped bridge. Feel like swimming? Go in. Pack swimwear and a dry change of clothes. #### Tor Tao — a forest called Turtle Tucked in behind Cheowlan is a forest the village knows by a name of its own: Turtle. The name comes from a giant turtle the villagers say lives inside. People here have seen it. Whether you will, we cannot promise. By our guide’s reckoning the forest is millions of years old. The trees you can judge for yourself: they are enormous. Inside grow herbs the village still gathers, used in medicine and in the kitchen; the guide points out each one and tells you its use. These plants are why people from the village still come into this forest. Then a cave. All your life you have been told that people once lived in caves; inside this one, you no longer need to picture it. The day outside can be as hot as it likes — in here the air is cool, and light falls through a gap overhead as if the forest were holding a lamp above you. #### The sunset viewpoint above Ratchaprapha Dam A short drive uphill lays the whole story out below you in one sweep: the dam, and the village that exists because of it. Seen from up here, the village shrinks to almost nothing and the forest seems to run on for ever — the same forest you were walking through an hour earlier, with no idea how far it reached. Then the sun sinks over the two of them, and the heat of the day falls away from you. It is the closing moment of the afternoon, and the reason we would pick this day for ourselves. #### This afternoon, or the lake day? This, or the full day on the lake? They are two different things, not two takes on one idea. | Life Around Cheowlan | The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of | What it is | The village, its rivers, its forest | The big lake by boat | Runs | Mon & Thu, afternoon | Every day, 9:30–16:00 | On the water | Bamboo raft, village channels | Longtail boat, open lake | Park fee | None | 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included | Price | 5,900 THB | 3,800 THB Got two days? Do both. Only one, and you know people interest you more than scenery? Make it this one. #### Who will enjoy this afternoon Anyone who has wondered “what is everyday life really like out here?” Here is your answer, set down on a banana leaf. Nothing here is strenuous. In the forest you stroll rather than trek; for longer distances and real effort, look at The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, which runs Tuesday and Friday. On the river the water is shallow, the raft moves slowly under the pole, and a life jacket is yours if you would like one. Pack a hat and shoes made for walking, plus swimwear if the river tempts you. Groups top out at 15 guests. Planning the week? How many days you actually need in Khao Sok sets out the whole schedule, with a straight cost table that lists the park fee on its own line. Who is behind this. Cheowlan Untold is a licensed inbound tour operator (TAT licence 44/00518, valid to 15 March 2028), registered at 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani — the village beside the dam on the Cheowlan side. The people at the tiller and on the trail are from here. Every departure is a shared group of 15 at most, and a person answers the WhatsApp: +66 92 547 4862 · cheowlanuntold@gmail.com. #### The practical part - RunsMonday & Thursday - Hours12.00pm – 6.30pm - Price5,900 THB per adult · 4,400 THB per child aged 5–11 - Group size15 guests at most - GroupsOne departure takes up to 15 guests, all at the same per-person price on the same fixed day. Booking 8 or more? Then email us the date first, and we confirm the departure before any payment. - Pick-upIncluded from hotels on either side, Cheowlan or Khao Sok. - ChildrenMinimum age 5. Ages 5–11 pay 4,400 THB. Anyone under 18 must be with an adult. - Park feeNone; the route stays outside the national park - IncludesReturn hotel transfers, a local guide who speaks English, riverside lunch on banana leaves, the bamboo raft, Turtle forest and its cave, sunset viewpoint, drinking water and insurance - BringA hat, sunscreen and walking shoes; swimwear and dry clothes if you plan to swim - Book by4.00pm the day before - Cancellation10 or more days ahead: cancel or change the date free · 3–9 days ahead: 50% refund · under 3 days: no refund. Full policy. - Licensed & insured: Accident insurance covers every guest · TAT licence 44/00518 #### Questions people ask Q: Does this include a boat trip on the lake? A: No. This afternoon is the village half of Cheow Lan’s story — lunch on banana leaves at the river, a bamboo raft on the small channels, the forest behind the houses, then the sunset viewpoint. The big lake by wooden boat is The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, running daily. Q: Is lunch really first? A: It is. We collect you at midday and go straight to lunch by the river. After a hot drive you sit down and eat a proper meal before the rest of the afternoon begins. Q: Will we see the turtle? A: Very probably not. The forest takes its name from a giant turtle the village says lives there, and people here have seen it — we cannot promise you will. We would sooner say so now than watch you scan every tree for it all the way round. Q: Can non-swimmers do the bamboo rafting? A: Yes. The channels are shallow, the rafts are poled along slowly, and life jackets are on hand. You can swim if you like; nothing in the afternoon depends on it. Q: How hard is the forest walk? A: Not hard at all. Think of a stroll through the trees rather than a trek — level ground, plenty of shade, no rush, and a cave halfway. For distance and effort, choose The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking on Tuesdays and Fridays. Q: Is there a park fee to pay in cash? A: No. The afternoon stays outside the national park, so there is no park fee to pay. 5,900 THB per person covers it all. Q: Is it suitable for children? A: Yes. Ages 5 to 11 pay 4,400 THB, and nothing in the afternoon is strenuous. Each child must be with an adult. Q: Why is it called a resettlement village? A: Because the people in it were moved there. The dam filled during the 1980s and the lake formed; the valley’s villages relocated to its shore, and those families drive the lake’s boats and host its guests. In Thai it is Moo Ban Jat San, meaning the allocated village. Each of the 385 families was given 19 rai of rubber. Q: Is there a guest minimum per booking? A: Yes, two: each booking needs at least two guests. Pricing is per person, and once you pick a date the calendar totals it for your group — two adults come to 11,800 THB. On your own? Book two seats; one guest or two, the guide and the pick-up do not change. Travelling solo? Two guests is the minimum for every booking. Reserve two seats — one guest or two, it is the same guide and the same pick-up — and your afternoon goes exactly as everyone else’s does. --- ## Khao Sok Jungle Trek & Waterfall Hike | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/khao-sok-jungle-trekking-tubing Description: Khao Sok jungle trek and river tubing, Tue & Fri 9:30–17:30: 6 km return to a waterfall hut, bamboo lunch, then the Sok River. 5,900 THB + 340 THB park fee. Tuesdays & Fridays · on foot, then by river ### Khao Sok Jungle Trek & Waterfall Hike, then River Tubing Walk 3 km out to a waterfall and a forest hut, walk 3 km back, and let the Sok River bring you home. - WhenTuesday & Friday · 09:30–17:30 - Pick-upHotel pick-up included - GroupShared group · max 15 · min 2 per booking - Price5,900 THB adult · 4,400 THB child 5–11 - Park feePark fee 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included - CancelFree cancellation up to 10 days before - LicenceTAT licence 44/00518 Check dates & book TAT licence 44/00518 · Payment by Stripe · Pin replies personally Not sure about your dates? Ask Pin on WhatsApp See which days fit your dates Not travelling for a while? Email me which days run in my month Cheowlan Untold runs The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking every Tuesday and Friday from 9.30am until 5.30pm: a full day of jungle trekking and river tubing inside Khao Sok National Park. Hotel pick-up is included on both sides, Khao Sok and Cheowlan. The price is 5,900 THB per adult and 4,400 THB for children aged 5–11; the national park fee is extra and paid in cash at the gate (adults 340 THB, children 170 THB). Bookings need at least two guests, a group tops out at 15, and the cut-off is 4.00pm on the previous day. A trail that runs three kilometres into the forest and stops at a waterfall, with a hut standing beside it. There you cook lunch the way people walking these trails always have: inside lengths of bamboo. Then it’s three kilometres back on foot, and the Sok River floats you home beneath the canopy. Every Tuesday and Friday, 9:30–17:30. 5,900 THB per adult; park fee 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. Choose this day if you want to go to bed properly tired. Stepping into Khao Sok’s rainforest has nothing in common with a stroll through a park. Still, this day isn’t about looking around. It is about the walk itself: the distance, the heat, the roots underfoot, the rivers to cross, and at the end a place no road goes to. #### A guided hike to a waterfall hut The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking is a guided jungle trek inside Khao Sok National Park, 6 km in all. You walk 3 km out along the river to a hut beside a waterfall, eat a lunch cooked in bamboo, walk 3 km back, then go tubing home on the Sok River. #### Two forest days, two different ideas Two of our days head into the forest. They are separate ideas, not one day in two sizes. | The Khao Sok Adventure | Life Around Cheowlan | What it is | The trail is the point — a long one that takes effort | Seeing what the forest contains, and who calls it home | Distance | 3 km in, 3 km back | An easy walk | Runs | Tue & Fri, 9:30–17:30 | Mon & Thu, afternoon | Ends with | Tubing home on the Sok River | A sunset viewpoint | Park fee | 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included | None Want the trees but not the kilometres? Life Around Cheowlan is your day. Here in Thailand for the rainforest itself? Book this one. #### Into the forest on foot These are the trails your guide grew up on. For most of the distance the river keeps you company, with waterfalls strung along it. Elephants and monkeys live in this forest too. Seeing them comes down to luck, so we won’t promise it. On paper, three kilometres looks short. In this heat and over this ground it is another matter. The walking itself is straightforward, and you come through having earned the forest, not been beaten by it. Even so, this day is made for people who are fine with getting tired. #### Where the trail ends Around midday the trees open onto a hut, and beside it, a waterfall — the hut’s whole reason for being here. You stop. Half the walking is behind you. #### Lunch from a length of bamboo The cooking happens right at the hut: a fire, sections of bamboo, and the method used by the people who come and go through this forest. This isn’t a restaurant meal. What comes out of the bamboo is plain, made with the little kit that lives out here and nothing extra hauled in. Then you look up: a waterfall beside you, and the nearest road three kilometres behind you. That is the seasoning. #### The river does the last part After the three kilometres back out, you finish on the water with tubing on the Sok River. You lie back in a tube and let it carry you. Canopy overhead, water underneath, and the only job left is staying in the ring. A hard-working day that ends lying back in a river: the contrast is deliberate. Mainly here for the tubing? Our page on Khao Sok river tubing covers how it feels and where it sits in the day. #### Is it your kind of day? Fitness isn’t the test. Six kilometres of forest in tropical heat is, with a waterfall waiting at the halfway point. If ending the day worn out sounds good to you, this one is yours. If you’re after something easy, or the distance worries you, skip it. The lake day or the village day will suit you, and we’d happily send you there instead. By the end you will be wet, whatever you planned, so bring shoes that can take a soaking and a full set of dry clothes for afterwards. Working out your week? How long to give Khao Sok sets out the schedule alongside the costs. Heading onto the lake too? Spend ten minutes beforehand on the valley beneath the lake. Who is behind this. Cheowlan Untold is a licensed inbound tour operator (TAT licence 44/00518, valid to 15 March 2028), registered at 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani — the village beside the dam on the Cheowlan side. The people at the tiller and on the trail are from here. Every departure is a shared group of 15 at most, and a person answers the WhatsApp: +66 92 547 4862 · cheowlanuntold@gmail.com. #### The practical part - RunsTuesday & Friday - Hours9.30am – 5.30pm - DistanceForest trails: 3 km out, 3 km return - Price5,900 THB adult · 4,400 THB child aged 5–11 - Group sizeNever more than 15 guests - GroupsOne departure takes up to 15 guests, each paying the same per-person price, on the same fixed day. Coming as 8 or more? Send us your date by email and we’ll confirm the departure before you pay anything. - Pick-upIncluded. We collect you from your hotel, whether it’s on the Khao Sok side or the Cheowlan side. - ChildrenMinimum age 5. Ages 5–11 pay 4,400 THB. Anyone under 18 comes with an adult. - Park feeNot included: adults 340 THB, children 170 THB, cash only, at the gate · how the fee works - IncludesA local guide who speaks English, pick-up from your hotel and drop-off back there, lunch cooked in bamboo at the hut in the forest, tubing gear (what the tubing is like), drinking water, insurance - BringInsect repellent, a complete change of clothes, shoes you don’t mind soaking, and 340 THB in cash per adult - Book by4.00pm on the previous day · at least 2 guests - CancellationFree cancellation and free date change 10 days or more before · 50% refund 3–9 days before · no refund less than 3 days before. Full policy. - Licensed & insured: TAT licence 44/00518 · every guest covered by accident insurance #### Questions people ask Q: How hard is the trek, really? A: Forest trails, tropical heat, 3 km out and 3 km back. Nothing technical to climb; it’s straightforward walking. It still takes real effort: this is a demanding day. Worried about the distance? Book Life Around Cheowlan instead, on Mondays and Thursdays. Q: What should I wear for the Khao Sok trek? A: Wear shoes you don’t mind soaking: by the end of the day you will be wet, whatever you planned. Bring insect repellent, a complete change of dry clothes for afterwards, and the park fee in cash, 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child. Lunch, drinking water and the tubing gear, life jackets included, come with the day. Q: Isn’t this the same as the village forest walk? A: No. The village day is an easy walk to discover what the forest holds and who calls it home, with a cave, herbs and a sunset to finish. Here the distance is the point: six kilometres of real effort, a hut and a waterfall at the far end, then tubing home. Q: Will we see elephants? A: Sometimes. Wild elephants and monkeys both live here, and our guides know their usual spots, yet wildlife can never be guaranteed. If elephants are why you’re coming, The Khao Sok Way (Sunday, Wednesday or Saturday) gives you an afternoon with them. Q: What is the lunch like? A: Simple food from the fire, cooked inside bamboo at the forest hut with the little kit kept out there. You eat it with the waterfall right next to you and three kilometres of forest between you and the nearest road. Q: Is the park fee paid in cash? A: Yes. The gate takes cash only: 340 THB for each adult, 170 THB for each child. The rest is covered in the price. Q: Is the tubing safe? A: Yes. There’s no paddling, you simply float, and life jackets come with it. Of the whole day, this is the easy stretch. Q: Can children do this day? A: Children aged 5 to 11 pay 4,400 THB. Be honest with yourself, though, about six kilometres of trail in this heat. For young or reluctant walkers, pick the lake day or the village day. Q: What happens if it rains? A: We still go, and a rainforest in the rain is worth seeing. Should the river turn unsafe, the tubing is changed or dropped, and you hear from us beforehand. Q: How many guests does a booking need? A: Two at least. You pay per person; pick a date and the calendar adds up your group’s total (two adults come to 11,800 THB). On your own? Reserve two seats. One guest or two, it’s the same guide and the same pick-up. Travelling solo? Every booking is for at least two guests. Reserve two seats and the day goes ahead for you like any other: one guest or two, you get the same guide and the same pick-up. --- ## Cheow Lan Lake Sunrise Boat Tour, Khao Sok | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/cheow-lan-sunrise-tour Description: Cheow Lan Lake sunrise boat tour, Khao Sok: Fri–Sun, 06:30–08:30, pick-up on the Cheowlan side. Mist, then the Three Brothers at first light. 2,500 THB. First light · Fri, Sat & Sun ### Cheow Lan Lake Sunrise Boat Tour: Two Hours at First Light The boat pushes off at 6:30, while mist still sits low over the water and the limestone is only starting to take the light. - WhenFri, Sat & Sun · 06:30–08:30 - Pick-upPick-up on the Cheowlan side only; everyone else meets at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20 - GroupShared group · max 15 · min 2 per booking - Price2,500 THB adult · 1,900 THB child 5–11 - Park feePark fee 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included - CancelFree cancellation up to 10 days before - LicenceTAT licence 44/00518 Check dates & book TAT licence 44/00518 · Payment by Stripe · Pin replies personally Not sure about your dates? Ask Pin on WhatsApp See which days fit your dates Not travelling for a while? Email me which days run in my month Cheowlan Untold runs Before the World Wakes: two hours at sunrise on Cheow Lan Lake, also called Khao Sok Lake, inside Khao Sok National Park. Departures are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We collect guests from around 6.00am, from Cheowlan-side hotels only, and the boat is out on the lake from 6.30am until 8.30am. Adults pay 2,500 THB; children aged 5–11 pay 1,900 THB. The national park charges its own fee at the gate — 340 THB for adults, 170 THB for children, in cash. Each booking needs at least two guests, a departure takes 15 at most, and bookings close at 4.00pm the day before. Two hours on Cheow Lan Lake while the light is still finding its way in. The boat is out at 6:30. The Three Brothers come next, still wrapped in mist. Then a raft house, where you feed the fish. By 8:30 you are back, and the rest of the day is yours. #### A sunrise boat tour on Cheow Lan Lake, 06:30–08:30, Fri–Sun Cheow Lan Lake has a before-breakfast face. Mist sits on the water in loose bands. The cliffs arrive as silhouettes first, and their colours come in slowly behind them. This is a stand-alone morning: two hours, from the Cheowlan side. Pick-up on the Cheowlan side only, while it is still dark; everyone else meets at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. It is back by 8:30. #### Where the boat goes: the Three Brothers at first light The boat heads for Khao Sam Kloe, the Three Brothers — three limestone peaks grouped so neatly they look placed there on purpose. You reach them while the light is still coming up. Seen from the boat at this hour, half in mist, they look like a different place from the one in the daytime photographs. Next, the raft house, where you feed the fish. It is silly and small, and it is fun. #### The morning, step by step | Time | What happens | ~6:00 | We collect you from your Cheowlan-side hotel while it is still dark | 6:30 | Boat out. Mist over open water, limestone starting to catch the light | ~7:15 | Khao Sam Kloe — the Three Brothers at first light | ~7:45 | Raft house: feeding the fish | 8:30 | Back, in time for breakfast #### The full day, or two hours at first light The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of covers the same water later in the day, with a cave, a forest stop, lunch on a raft house, a swim and a kayak. We never book the two boat days back to back, so if you want both, keep a day between them. | Before the World Wakes | The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of | Hours | 06:30–08:30 | 09:30–16:00 | Runs | Fri, Sat & Sun | Every day | You get | Mist and first light, the Three Brothers, fish-feeding at a raft house | The Three Brothers, a cave, a forest stop, lunch on a raft house, a swim, a kayak | Off the water | Free from 08:30 | Back at the pier about 16:00 | Price | 2,500 THB adult · 1,900 THB child 5–11 | 3,800 THB adult · 2,900 THB child 5–11 | Park fee | 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included | 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included If first light is what you came for, choose the dawn boat. If you want the cave, the forest and lunch on a raft house too, choose the full day. #### Pick-up, or meet us at the pier Pick-up on the Cheowlan side only, from around six; everyone else meets at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. From Khao Sok town the drive is about 45 minutes. Cheowlan is the village by the dam, ten minutes away from the pier, with small lodgings and garden stays. Sleeping this close turns the start into a ten-minute ride. If you have not chosen a bed yet, that alone is a reason to choose one here. Before you head out, read the village's own story in Before it was a lake, it was a valley: the dam, 385 families who relocated, and a grandfather who was forty-five when it all began. #### What a 6am start actually feels like Pick-up happens in the dark, and the air on the water is cool until the sun is fully risen, so a light layer is worth bringing. Coffee waits until you are back. The boat is back at the pier at 8:30 and the rest of the day is yours. We run one experience per day, so if you want The Khao Sok Way or Life Around Cheowlan too, put it on another day. Who is behind this. Cheowlan Untold is a licensed inbound tour operator (TAT licence 44/00518, valid to 15 March 2028), registered at 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani — the village beside the dam on the Cheowlan side. The people at the tiller and on the trail are from here. Every departure is a shared group of 15 at most, and a person answers the WhatsApp: +66 92 547 4862 · cheowlanuntold@gmail.com. #### The details - RunsFriday, Saturday & Sunday - HoursOn the lake 6.30am – 8.30am · collection from around 6.00am - PriceAdults 2,500 THB · children aged 5–11 1,900 THB - ForGuests staying on either side of Khao Sok - Group size15 guests at most - GroupsOne departure takes up to 15 guests, each at the same per-person price, on the same fixed day. Groups of 8 or more: email us the date first and we confirm the boat before any payment. - Pick-upPick-up on the Cheowlan side only, around 6.00am; everyone else meets at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. Where to stay. - ChildrenMinimum age 5. Children aged 5–11 pay 1,900 THB. Anyone under 18 comes with an adult. - Park feeNot in the price: 340 THB adult / 170 THB child, paid in cash at the gate · how the fee works - IncludesHotel pick-up and drop-off on the Cheowlan side, a wooden longtail boat, a local guide who speaks English, drinking water, insurance - BringCash for the park (340 THB per adult), a camera, a light layer against the early chill - Book byBy 4.00pm on the previous day · at least 2 guests - Cancellation10 or more days before: free cancellation and free date change · 3–9 days before: 50% refund · less than 3 days before: no refund. Full policy. - Licensed & insured: TAT licence 44/00518 · every guest covered by accident insurance #### Questions people ask Q: Is the sunrise boat a stand-alone tour? A: Yes. It is a two-hour departure in its own right, leaving from the Cheowlan side and out on the water 06:30 to 08:30. You book just the morning. Pick-up on the Cheowlan side only, and we bring you back there; everyone else meets at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. Q: Sunrise boat or full lake day: which one? A: The sunrise boat for mist and first light on the limestone, off the water at 8:30 with the day still yours. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of takes the same water later: the cave, the forest stop, then lunch, a swim and a kayak at a raft house. Want both? Book separate days with a day between. Q: Can I join from Khao Sok town? A: Yes. Pick-up is on the Cheowlan side only, so from Khao Sok town you meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. The drive from town is about 45 minutes. Q: Is it cold? A: Fresh at 6:30, then warmer once the sun is up properly. Pack a light layer; it is only needed for the first half hour or so on the boat. Q: Is the park fee paid in cash? A: Yes, at the gate and only in cash: 340 THB for each adult, 170 THB for each child. Everything else is in the price. Q: Is two hours enough? A: Yes. The mist usually lifts by about nine, so two hours covers first light from start to finish. The boat is out at 06:30, passes the Three Brothers while they are still wrapped in mist, stops at a raft house where you feed the fish, and is back by 08:30 with the rest of the day yours. Q: Can I do another experience on the same day? A: We book one experience a day. The boat is back at 8:30 and the rest of that day is yours; put The Khao Sok Way or the full lake day on another day, and keep a land day between the two boat days. Q: What is the minimum group size? A: Each booking is for at least two guests. You pay per person, and once you choose a date the calendar does the sum: two adults come to 5,000 THB. Coming solo? Reserve two seats. One guest or two, it is the same boat and the same guide. Travelling solo? Bookings start at two guests. If you are travelling alone, take two seats. You get the full morning on the water, with nothing cut short. --- ## Things to Do in Khao Sok & Cheow Lan Lake | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/things-to-do-in-khao-sok Description: Things to do in Khao Sok: a Cheow Lan Lake boat day, sunrise boat, elephants, village afternoon and jungle trek. 2,500–7,900 THB, with the weekdays each runs. Planning your trip ### Things to do in Khao Sok Six days worth taking, what each one costs, and which days of the week they actually run — from people who live here. Six things in Khao Sok are worth a full day: a boat day on Cheow Lan Lake (every day, 3,800 THB), the sunrise boat (Fri–Sun, 2,500 THB), an ethical elephant afternoon (Sun, Wed, Sat, 7,900 THB), a village afternoon with bamboo rafting (Mon, Thu, 5,900 THB), a jungle trek with river tubing (Tue, Fri, 5,900 THB) and the story of the lake, which is free. Khao Sok is two places, about forty-five minutes apart, and almost nothing here is a half day. There is the jungle river town, and there is the lake behind the dam. Six things are worth a full day. Three of them run on fixed weekdays, so the order of your trip is decided by the calendar, not by you. #### Which of our days fit your dates Put in your arrival and departure and we list every day of your stay with the experiences that run on that weekday. Each one links to its page. One experience per day; we never put two boat days back to back; Before the World Wakes picks up on the Cheowlan side only (others meet at Ratchaprapha Pier 06:20) #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. Search this and you get lists. Canoeing, night safari, tubing, viewpoints, a cave, a waterfall — twenty items, no sense of scale, and no hint that half of them are on the wrong side of a mountain from the other half. So here is the version we would give a friend. What is genuinely worth a day, what it costs, what day of the week it runs, and which side of Khao Sok you have to be sleeping on to reach it before breakfast. #### First: the two halves Khao Sok is the river town. Rainforest at the door, cafes, a night market, limestone walls rising straight out of the treeline. This is where the trekking, the tubing and the elephants are. Cheowlan is the lake — Cheow Lan, which you will also see written Chiew Larn or Cheow Larn, held behind the Ratchaprapha Dam. This is where the boats are, the emerald water everybody has seen a photograph of, and the village that rebuilt itself when the valley filled. Forty-five minutes of road separates them. That gap matters, because it is what turns an ambitious two-day plan into a day spent in a van. If you are choosing where to sleep, sleep on the Cheowlan side: the mornings start at your doorstep, and the dawn boat picks up there. #### What to do in Khao Sok: six things worth a whole day ##### 1. A full day on the lake Longtail boat out through the limestone, a cave, lunch on a floating raft house, a swim in water that is the colour people accuse photographs of inventing. The day that made you search for this place. Every day · 09:30–16:00 · Cheowlan side · 3,800 THB (child 2,900) Park fee 340 THB adult / 170 child, cash at the gate. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of → ##### 2. The lake at first light Out at first light, when the mist is still sitting on the water. Past the Three Brothers, a stop at a raft house to feed the fish, and back before breakfast: two hours in all. Fri–Sun · 06:30–08:30 · Cheowlan side · 2,500 THB (child 1,900, minimum 2 people) Park fee applies. Pick-up on the Cheowlan side; from Khao Sok town, meet the boat at the pier at 06:20. Before the World Wakes → ##### 3. An afternoon with the elephants Never ridden, never chained. You spend the afternoon on the keeper’s side of the fence — preparing food, walking with them, watching them be elephants. Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00–18:30 · Khao Sok side · 7,900 THB (child 5,900) No park fee on this one. The Khao Sok Way → ##### 4. A day in the village the lake created The other half of Cheowlan: the families who moved when the water came, the rubber and the fruit gardens, lunch on banana leaves, a bamboo raft on the village waterways, and sunset from the viewpoint over the dam. Mon, Thu · 12:00–18:30 · Cheowlan side · 5,900 THB (child 4,400) No park fee on this one. Life Around Cheowlan → ##### 5. The rainforest floor, and the river Into the forest on foot with a guide who grew up in it, then down the river on a tube. It is 3 km on foot to a waterfall hut, lunch cooked in bamboo, 3 km back, and the Sok River home. Tue, Fri · 09:30–17:30 · Khao Sok side · 5,900 THB (child 4,400) Park fee 340 THB adult / 170 child, cash at the gate. The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking → ##### 6. Understanding what you are looking at Not a tour — a page. The lake is under forty years old, and the valley it covered had a village in it. Read this before you go out on the water and the whole day changes shape. Free · fifteen minutes · read it anywhere The story of the lake → #### All six side by side | Day | Runs | Time | Side | Adult | Child 5–11 | Lake day | Every day | 09:30–16:00 | Cheowlan | 3,800 | 2,900 | Sunrise boat | Fri, Sat, Sun | 06:30–08:30 | Cheowlan | 2,500 | 1,900 | Elephants | Sun, Wed, Sat | 12:00–18:30 | Khao Sok | 7,900 | 5,900 | Village day | Mon, Thu | 12:00–18:30 | Cheowlan | 5,900 | 4,400 | Trek & tubing | Tue, Fri | 09:30–17:30 | Khao Sok | 5,900 | 4,400 | The lake’s story | Any time | 15 min | — | Free | Free Prices are per person in THB and include hotel pick-up, your guide, meals where the day includes them, and insurance. Minimum two people per booking, never more than fifteen on a day, minimum age five, under-18s with an adult. #### The park fee: 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included Khao Sok National Park charges foreign visitors 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, paid in cash at the entrance. It is not included in our prices. It applies to the three days that go inside the park: the lake day, the sunrise boat and the trek. It does not apply to the elephants or the village day. Bring cash — there is no card machine at a national park gate. #### Two things we would rather you heard from us Lunch on the raft house is simple everyday Thai food. Rice, a curry, fried vegetables, fruit, cooked by people from the village on the raft — a home kitchen on the water, not a restaurant. Do not put the sunrise boat and the lake day on the same day, or on back-to-back days. On paper the sunrise ends at 08:30 and the lake day starts at 09:30, so it looks possible. We book one experience per day, and we keep the two boat days apart, with at least one day between them — they are different experiences, not a longer version of one. #### Fitting it into the days you actually have ##### One day Take the lake. It runs every morning, it needs no planning around the calendar, and it is the version of this place you came for. You will leave knowing there was more. ##### Two days The lake, plus whichever fixed-weekday experience your dates land on. This is the first point at which Khao Sok stops being a stop on the way to a beach. ##### Three to four days The lake, one inland day, the sunrise boat, and time that is not scheduled. Four days is right if the rainforest is the reason you came to Thailand at all. Because three of the six run on fixed weekdays and the sunrise boat runs Friday to Sunday, the honest way to plan is backwards: open the calendar, see what runs while you are here, and build the trip around that. Two hours of looking at dates saves the day you would otherwise spend in a van. If you are still deciding how long to stay, we wrote a longer answer: how many days you need in Khao Sok. If you are deciding when, the rainfall month by month is on the best time to visit. And if you are working out how to get here at all, the routes and real transfer prices are on getting to Khao Sok. #### Questions people ask before they book Q: What is the one thing to do if I only have a day? A: The full day on the lake. It runs every morning, so it does not depend on which day you arrive, and it is the version of Khao Sok that made you look this place up. The sunrise boat, Friday to Sunday, is a separate day, never the day before or after the lake day. Q: Do you offer day trips from Phuket, Krabi or Khao Lak? A: No. Those are two to three hours away each way, and a day trip means five or six hours in a vehicle for a few hours here. We run private transfers from all of them and publish the prices, but the experiences themselves start from Khao Sok or Cheowlan, and we would rather you slept a night than saw this place through a windscreen. Q: How much does a day in Khao Sok cost? A: Between 2,500 and 7,900 THB per person depending on the day, including hotel pick-up, guide, meals where the day includes them, and insurance. The three days that enter the national park add 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, cash at the gate. Nothing else. Q: Which side should I sleep on? A: The Cheowlan side, if the lake is why you are coming. The pier is minutes away, the mornings start at your doorstep and the dawn boat picks up only on that side; from anywhere else you meet it at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. The Khao Sok town side is better if you want cafes, a night market and life outside your door in the evening. Q: Can I do the elephants and the lake on the same day? A: No. The lake day runs 09:30 to 16:00 and the elephants start at 12:00, so they overlap. They need separate days. The lake runs every morning, the elephants only on Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, so line the elephants up first and put the lake on a day either side of it. Q: Is there anything to do in the evening? A: On the Khao Sok side, yes: the night market, the cafes, and the walk back through the forest. On the Cheowlan side, Life Around Cheowlan finishes at the sunset viewpoint above the dam on Mondays and Thursdays. Our days all end between 16:00 and 18:30, so the evening is yours either way. Q: Do any of these run in the rain? A: Yes. Rain does not cancel a day here — the boats still go out. If weather changes anything about your day we tell you in advance. Month-by-month rainfall is on the best time to visit Khao Sok. Q: How many people will be with me? A: Never more than fifteen per departure. Minimum two people per booking. Minimum age is five, and under-18s travel with an adult. Q: Do I need to book in advance? A: For the fixed-weekday days — the elephants, the village day and the trek — yes: each departure takes up to 15 guests, and these days run only two or three times a week, so book them first. The lake day runs every morning and is easier to add late. The calendar shows what is actually open on your dates. Travelling solo? Our minimum is two guests per booking. Book two seats — the guide, the pick-up and the day are the same for one or two — and the day runs for you as it does for everyone. --- ## How Many Days Do You Need in Khao Sok? | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/how-many-days-in-khao-sok Description: How many days in Khao Sok? Two is the minimum; three or four stops it feeling rushed. What each extra day adds, and whether Khao Sok is worth the drive. Planning your trip ### How many days do you need in Khao Sok? How many days in Khao Sok? The honest answer, from people who live on this lake and watch travellers arrive with too little time. Two days is the minimum. Three or four is where it stops feeling rushed. One day is possible, and it is still beautiful. You will just see one version of a place that has several. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. The number is the easy part. What actually matters is what each day gives you, because in Khao Sok the days are not interchangeable. #### Why the days are different from each other Khao Sok is two places about forty-five minutes apart. There is the jungle river town, wrapped in rainforest, with cafes and a night market and limestone rising above the rooftops. And there is the lake — Cheow Lan, which you will also see written Chiew Larn or Cheow Larn, and which sits behind the Ratchaprapha Dam — reached by boat, where a village rebuilt itself when the dam filled the valley. The experiences that live in each half do not overlap. A day on the water is nothing like an afternoon with the elephants, and neither resembles the forest. So an extra day here is not more of the same thing. It is a different thing entirely. #### What each day actually adds ##### One day You take the lake. Emerald water, limestone cliffs, a cave, lunch on a raft house, a swim. It is the image that made you search for this place, and it earns it. What you miss: the elephants, the village, the rainforest floor, and the lake at first light. ##### 2 days The lake, plus one afternoon inland. This is the first point at which Khao Sok stops feeling like a stop on the way to a beach. Two days is enough to leave satisfied. It is not enough to leave surprised. ##### 3 days The lake, the elephants, and the village and its forest. Three different halves of the same place, on three different days. This is the length we would choose ourselves. ##### Four or five days Add the trek — three kilometres in, three back, a river you cook beside — and, on a fifth day, one morning that starts at 6:30, at first light on the lake. One experience a day, so five days holds all five. Four days is when Khao Sok stops being somewhere you visited. #### The part that makes this easy to plan Every weekday here runs the same experience, every week. You do not have to build an itinerary or chase availability. You pick the days that fit your trip, and the days decide what you see. | Day | What runs | Where | Mon & Thu | Life Around Cheowlan — village rivers by bamboo raft, lunch on banana leaves, ancient rainforest | Cheowlan | Tue & Fri | The Khao Sok Adventure — jungle trek, waterfalls, bamboo-fire lunch, tubing home | Khao Sok | Sun, Wed & Sat | The Khao Sok Way — an afternoon keeper-side with the elephants, then the mountain kitchen | Khao Sok | Every day | The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of — the full day on the lake | Cheowlan | Fri – Sun | Before the World Wakes — the dawn boat, back by 8:30am | Cheowlan Stay three days and you will naturally see three different sides of this place, without planning a thing. Hotel pick-up is included on every one of them; the dawn boat picks up on the Cheowlan side, or you meet it at the pier at 06:20. #### What a trip here actually costs Here is what you pay us, what the national park collects from you in cash at the gate, and the two added together. Nothing else. | Day | You pay us | Cash at the park | Total | Before the World Wakes | 2,500 | 340 | 2,840 THB | The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of | 3,800 | 340 | 4,140 THB | Life Around Cheowlan | 5,900 | — | 5,900 THB | The Khao Sok Adventure | 5,900 | 340 | 6,240 THB | The Khao Sok Way | 7,900 | — | 7,900 THB Every price includes hotel pick-up and drop-off both ways (the dawn boat: Cheowlan side only, or meet it at the pier at 06:20), a local English-speaking guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance. The national park fee is 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, paid in cash at the gate, not included in our prices. Children aged 5–11 pay 1,900 THB (Before the World Wakes), 2,900 (The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of), 4,400 (Life Around Cheowlan, The Khao Sok Adventure) or 5,900 (The Khao Sok Way). ##### Before you add it up: choose one boat morning The dawn boat and the full lake day are the same water. Not similar — the same lake, the same cliffs, a few hours apart. Take one. Before the World Wakes is the dawn one. Mist across the limestone, first light changing the whole landscape minute by minute. You are back at the pier by 8:30, and the rest of that day is your own: we book one experience per day. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of is the complete one. A cave, the forest, far longer on the raft house, a swim. Both are worth the morning. If you want both, put at least one day between them; we do not book the two boat days back to back. So three days here is one boat day and two days inland — between 14,980 and 18,280 THB per adult, park fee included. #### Where you sleep changes how many days you need Khao Sok and Cheowlan are two different places, and it is worth knowing that before you book a room. Khao Sok is the jungle river town. Cafes, a night market, life outside your door — and the lake about forty-five minutes away on boat days. Cheowlan is the lake itself: small lodgings and garden stays in the village the lake created, the pier minutes away, and a viewpoint where the whole thing opens beneath you. If you are choosing, sleep on the Cheowlan side. The mornings begin at your doorstep, and the dawn boat picks up only on that side. #### Is Khao Sok worth it? Yes, if you give it two days or more. The five experiences here do not repeat each other: a full day on Cheow Lan Lake among the limestone, an afternoon with the elephants and the mountain kitchen, the village by bamboo raft with sunset from the viewpoint above the dam, a jungle trek that ends in river tubing, and the lake at first light. What it costs you is the road. Khao Sok is 1–1.5 hours from Khao Lak, 1.5–2 hours from Surat Thani airport, and 2.5–3 hours from Phuket or Krabi. Make that drive for a single night and the road outweighs the stay. Stay two or three nights and the road becomes the smaller part of the trip. To see how two to five days fall across the weekly schedule, the Khao Sok itinerary lays each one out day by day. #### What we would tell a friend Do not come for one night. Not because one night is not beautiful — it is — but because the drive here is long enough that a single night turns the whole thing into transit with a view in the middle. Three days is the number we would give someone we liked. Two if the trip is tight. Four if the rainforest is the reason you came to Thailand at all. #### Questions people ask before they book Q: Is one night in Khao Sok enough? A: It is enough to see the lake and nothing else. If your route allows only one night, take the full day on the water — but expect to wish you had given it another day. Q: Is Khao Sok worth it? A: Yes, if you give it at least two days. The five experiences here are all different: Cheow Lan Lake by longtail boat, elephants and a mountain kitchen, a village by bamboo raft, a jungle trek with river tubing, and a sunrise boat. By road it is 1–1.5 hours from Khao Lak, 1.5–2 from Surat Thani airport, 2.5–3 from Phuket or Krabi. Q: How many days do I need if I do not want to see elephants? A: Two or three. The lake day runs every morning and Life Around Cheowlan runs Mondays and Thursdays; neither goes anywhere near an elephant. The lake day fits any date; the village afternoon does not, so choose dates that include a Monday or a Thursday. Q: When should I go to Khao Sok? A: December to March is the dry season, and high season. May, June, September and October bring afternoon rain and the mist that makes the mornings what they are. Rain does not cancel a day here; we will tell you in advance what changes. The rainfall and rain-day figures for all twelve months are on one page: when to visit Khao Sok. Q: How do I get to Khao Sok? A: Surat Thani airport is 1.5 to 2 hours by road to the Khao Sok side, and about an hour to the Cheowlan pier. Khao Lak is 1 to 1.5 hours; Phuket and Krabi are 2.5 to 3. We run private transfers from all of them and publish the prices, so you can see the real cost before you commit. Q: What does a day actually cost? A: Between 2,500 and 7,900 THB per person depending on the day, with hotel pick-up, guide, meals and insurance included. The three experiences that enter the national park add the park fee, 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. Nothing else. --- ## Khao Sok Itinerary: 2 to 5-Day Plans | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/khao-sok-itinerary Description: Day-by-day 2 to 5-day Khao Sok itineraries, one experience a day, built on the fixed weekly schedule, with what each plan costs per person. Planning your trip ### Khao Sok itinerary Two, three, four and five-day plans built backwards from the schedule that actually exists — with what each one costs, per person, before you ask. Two days: the full day on the lake plus whichever fixed-weekday experience your dates land on, 9,700–11,700 THB per adult. Three days: 17,600 THB. Four days: 20,100 THB. Five days, all five experiences one a day: 26,000 THB per adult, plus the national park fee on the days inside the park. Four of our five days run on fixed weekdays. That means the week decides your itinerary, not the other way round. The lake day runs every morning. The elephants run Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. The village afternoon runs Monday and Thursday. The trek runs Tuesday and Friday. The sunrise boat runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Plan backwards from that and everything else falls into place. #### Which of our days fit your dates Put in your arrival and departure and we list every day of your stay with the experiences that run on that weekday. Each one links to its page. One experience per day; we never put two boat days back to back; Before the World Wakes picks up on the Cheowlan side only (others meet at Ratchaprapha Pier 06:20) #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. A Khao Sok itinerary is easy to write as a wish list: lake, elephants, trek, sunrise, cave — in that order, as though the order were yours to choose. It is not. We run five experiences: three of them run on fixed weekdays and the sunrise boat runs Friday to Sunday. Put them in the wrong sequence and you will spend an afternoon in a van crossing the forty-five minutes between the two halves of Khao Sok, or arrive on a Monday to find the sunrise boat does not run again until Friday. So this page does it the other way round. Here is the week as it actually is, then the plans that fit inside it. Jump to a 2-day, a 3-day, a 4-day or a 5-day Khao Sok itinerary. #### The week, as it actually runs | Day | Runs | Time | Side | Adult | Child 5–11 | Lake day | Every day | 09:30–16:00 | Cheowlan | 3,800 | 2,900 | Sunrise boat | Fri, Sat, Sun | 06:30–08:30 | Cheowlan | 2,500 | 1,900 | Elephants | Sun, Wed, Sat | 12:00–18:30 | Khao Sok | 7,900 | 5,900 | Village day | Mon, Thu | 12:00–18:30 | Cheowlan | 5,900 | 4,400 | Trek & tubing | Tue, Fri | 09:30–17:30 | Khao Sok | 5,900 | 4,400 Prices are per person in THB. Minimum two people per booking, never more than fifteen on a day, minimum age five, under-18s with an adult. The three days that go inside the national park — the lake day, the sunrise boat and the trek — add 340 THB per adult and 170 per child, cash at the gate. #### Two rules the schedule creates One experience a day. Each of the five takes most of a day once pick-up and the drive back are counted, so every plan below books one per day. The two days on the water — the lake day and the sunrise boat — never sit on consecutive days: there is always a land day between them. The sunrise boat picks up only on the Cheowlan side; from anywhere else you meet it at the pier at 06:20. It leaves at 06:30 from the lake. This should decide where you book your room, and it is why every plan below that includes the sunrise starts on the Cheowlan side. #### A 2-day Khao Sok itinerary: enough to know what you missed The lake day plus whichever fixed-weekday experience your dates land on. It is the shortest trip we would call worth the journey, and it works on any arrival day, because the lake runs every morning. ##### Arriving Sunday, Wednesday or Saturday Day one: the elephants, 12:00 to 18:30. Day two: the full day on the lake. 11,700 THB per adult · 8,800 per child Plus 340 / 170 park fee for the lake day. The dearest two-day pairing. ##### Arriving Monday or Thursday Day one: the village afternoon, 12:00 to 18:30. Day two: the full day on the lake. 9,700 THB per adult · 7,300 per child Plus 340 / 170 park fee for the lake day. Both days are on the Cheowlan side, so you never cross the mountain. ##### Arriving Tuesday or Friday Day one: the trek and tubing, 09:30 to 17:30. Day two: the full day on the lake. 9,700 THB per adult · 7,300 per child Plus 680 / 340 in park fees — both of these days go inside the park. #### A 3-day Khao Sok itinerary: both halves This three-day trip starts on a Saturday: the elephants on the Khao Sok side, then two days on the Cheowlan side. One experience a day. ##### Saturday The elephant afternoon from 12:00 — food preparation, walking with them, the river, and a Thai kitchen in a valley at four o’clock. Home by 18:30. ##### Sunday The full day on the lake. Longtail boat through the limestone, a cave, the forest, lunch on a raft house, then a swim and the kayaks. ##### Monday The village afternoon. Bamboo raft, the turtle forest, and sunset from the viewpoint, with the dam and the village below. An easy afternoon. 17,600 THB per adult · 13,200 per child, plus 340 / 170 national park fee for the lake day. Want the sunrise boat inside three days? Start on a Friday: the sunrise boat on Friday, the elephants on Saturday, the lake day on Sunday. That is 14,200 THB per adult and 10,700 per child, plus 680 / 340 in park fees, with the elephant day sitting between the two days on the water. #### A 4-day Khao Sok itinerary: four of the five Starting Friday: ##### Friday The sunrise boat, out at 06:30 and back by 08:30. The rest of the day is yours. ##### Saturday The elephants. ##### Sunday The full day on the lake. ##### Monday The village afternoon — which means the morning is yours. 20,100 THB per adult · 15,100 per child, plus 680 / 340 in national park fees. The trek is the one left out; a fifth day brings it in. #### A 5-day Khao Sok itinerary: all five Five days holds everything we run, one a day. Starting Saturday: ##### Saturday The sunrise boat, back on land by 08:30. ##### Sunday The elephants. ##### Monday The village afternoon. ##### Tuesday The trek and tubing: 3 km on foot through the jungle to a waterfall, 3 km back, then the Sok River home on a tube. ##### Wednesday The full day on the lake. 26,000 THB per adult · 19,500 per child, plus 1,020 / 510 in national park fees. That is every experience we run, one a day, with the two days on the water kept apart. #### If you start on another day Every arrival day can hold all five in five days. Here is the order for each, one experience a day, with a land day always between the lake day and the sunrise boat. | First day | The five days, in order | Monday | Lake, trek, elephants, village, sunrise | Tuesday | Lake, elephants, village, trek, sunrise | Wednesday | Lake, village, trek, sunrise, elephants | Thursday | Lake, trek, sunrise, elephants, village | Friday | Lake, elephants, sunrise, village, trek | Saturday | Sunrise, elephants, village, trek, lake | Sunday | Sunrise, village, trek, elephants, lake The lake day runs every day, so it moves to whichever slot keeps it away from the sunrise boat. The fixed-weekday days decide everything else. #### What these numbers include, and what they do not The prices are per person and cover the guide, the boat or the vehicle, the meals each day includes, and insurance. There is no booking fee and no service charge on top. The one thing they do not cover is the national park entrance fee: 340 THB per adult, 170 per child, cash at the gate, not included. The national park collects it, and there is no card machine there. It applies on the lake day, the sunrise boat and the trek. It does not apply to the elephants or the village afternoon. So the five-day trip that fits everything is 26,000 THB per adult in experiences and 1,020 THB in fees, and nothing else. Rooms, flights and the food you eat in the evening are yours. #### The order to book in Book the fixed-weekday days first. The elephants run three days a week, the village afternoon two, the trek two — and when a day fills, the week does not offer a second one. The lake day runs every morning, so it is the piece you slot in last, around whatever the fixed days leave. The calendar shows what is genuinely open on your dates rather than what should be. Still deciding how long to stay? Two days is the minimum and three or four stops it feeling rushed; the reasons are on how many days in Khao Sok. If you are choosing when to come, the rainfall month by month is on when to visit Khao Sok. If you are weighing a day trip against a night here, Khao Sok as a day trip sets out both sides. And things to do in Khao Sok describes each of the five days properly, and what a day actually costs breaks every price down with the park fee separated out. #### Questions people ask before they book Q: Can I do all five experiences in one trip? A: Yes, in five days, one experience a day. Starting on a Saturday: the sunrise boat, the elephants, the village, the trek, then the lake day, for 26,000 THB per adult plus 1,020 THB of national park fees. Any arrival day can hold all five over five days; the table on this page gives the order for each. Q: Which day of the week should I arrive? A: For three days, Saturday: the elephants, then the lake day, then the village afternoon. For all five, any day works over five days. Arriving on a Monday is the slowest start for the sunrise boat, which does not run again until Friday. Q: Can I do two experiences in the same day? A: We book one experience a day. Each one takes most of a day once pick-up is counted, and a morning trip followed by an afternoon one leaves a long wait in between. Every plan on this page is built one a day. Q: What does a three-day Khao Sok itinerary cost? A: Our Saturday-start three-day plan is 17,600 THB per adult and 13,200 THB per child aged 5 to 11, one experience a day: the elephants, then the lake day, then the village afternoon. The lake day adds the park fee, 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. Q: Do I have to book the fixed-weekday days in advance? A: Yes. The elephants run three days a week, the village afternoon two, the trek two. Each departure takes up to 15 guests, and when a day is full the week has no second slot. The lake day runs every morning, so it is the one you can add late. Book the fixed days first and fit the lake around them. Q: Can I stay on one side of Khao Sok for the whole trip? A: On the Cheowlan side, almost. The lake day, the sunrise boat and the village afternoon are all there, which is three experiences without crossing the mountain. The elephants and the trek are on the Khao Sok town side, forty-five minutes away. The sunrise boat picks up only on the Cheowlan side; from town you meet it at the pier at 06:20. Q: What if my dates do not fit any of these plans? A: Most do not, and that is fine. The plans here are examples, not the only ones. Open the calendar with your real dates and it shows what actually runs while you are here. If it looks thin, message us before you book and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth the days. Travelling solo? Our minimum is two guests per booking. Book two seats — the guide, the pick-up and the day are the same for one or two — and the day runs for you as it does for everyone. --- ## Khao Sok Tour Cost: 2,500–7,900 THB | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/khao-sok-tour-cost Description: Khao Sok tours run 2,500–7,900 THB per person. A Cheow Lan Lake day is 3,800 + the 340 THB park fee: 4,140 all in. Every price, and what is included. Before you book ### What a Khao Sok tour costs Every price, the park fee counted in, and what two people actually pay. Written by the people who run the boats. Between 2,500 and 7,900 THB per person, depending on the day you take. The full day on Cheow Lan Lake is 3,800 THB per adult, or 4,140 all in once the 340 THB national park fee is counted. Minimum two guests. Children aged 5–11 pay less. Nothing is added at checkout. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. A price only means something once you know what sits inside it. Ours covers the van from your hotel and back, a local guide, the boat or the vehicle, the meals that day includes, drinking water, equipment and insurance. The national park fee sits outside it — 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included — so it has its own column below. Here is every number, in full. #### Every price, all in | Day | Adult | Child 5–11 | Park fee | All in, adult | All in, child | Sunrise boat | 2,500 | 1,900 | 340 / 170 | 2,840 | 2,070 | Lake day | 3,800 | 2,900 | 340 / 170 | 4,140 | 3,070 | Village afternoon | 5,900 | 4,400 | — | 5,900 | 4,400 | Trek & tubing | 5,900 | 4,400 | 340 / 170 | 6,240 | 4,570 | Elephants | 7,900 | 5,900 | — | 7,900 | 5,900 All figures in THB per person. The park fee is paid separately in cash at the gate and is not included in our prices — see below. #### Cheow Lan Lake tour price A full day on Cheow Lan Lake, The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, is 3,800 THB per adult. Add the 340 THB park fee, paid in cash at the gate, and it comes to 4,140 THB per adult, all in. A child aged 5–11 is 2,900 plus 170: 3,070 all in. It runs every day, 09:30 to 16:00, by wooden longtail, with hotel pick-up both ways. #### What the booking total shows Our minimum is two guests, and when you choose a date the booking calendar shows the total for the party, not the price per head — on the lake day, 3,800 × 2 for two adults. Change the number of travellers and the figure moves with it; add a child and it drops to match: a child aged 5–11 is 2,900 on the lake day, so one adult and one child come to 6,700. It is not a hidden surcharge and there is nothing to reduce — it is simply two people’s tickets shown as one number. #### What the price includes Hotel pick-up and drop-off. An English-speaking local guide who is from here. The boat or the vehicle. The meals that day includes — lunch on the lake day and the trek, both lunch and the dinner you cook on the elephant day, lunch on the village afternoon. Drinking water. Equipment: life jackets, kayaks at the raft house, tubes on the river. Insurance. And nothing else appears at checkout. No booking fee, no service charge, no fuel surcharge, no card fee. The total you see when you choose a date is the total you pay. #### The park fee, separated out Khao Sok National Park charges foreign visitors 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, collected in cash at the entrance. It is not included in our prices. It applies on the three days that go inside the park: the lake day, the sunrise boat and the trek. It does not apply to the elephant afternoon or the village afternoon, which are outside the park boundary. Bring it in cash, in Thai baht. There is no card machine at a national park gate, and there is no ATM at the pier. The Khao Sok entrance fee has its own page if you want the full detail. #### What is not included The park fee on those three days. A towel. Anything you buy for yourself. And long-distance transfers — getting to Khao Sok from an airport, a ferry pier or a beach town is a separate thing, priced per vehicle rather than per person. Per vehicle matters: a car from Surat Thani Airport is 1,300 and a van is 2,400, whatever the number of people inside. From Phuket Airport it is 3,600 by car and 5,200 by van. Four people in a van from Surat Thani is 600 each; one person alone in the same van is 2,400. The full list of routes and prices is on getting to Khao Sok. #### What two people actually pay Our minimum is two guests, so this is the real number for a couple, park fee included: | Day | Two adults, all in | Sunrise boat | 5,680 | Lake day | 8,280 | Village afternoon | 11,800 | Trek & tubing | 12,480 | Elephants | 15,800 #### And what a whole trip costs Two days is 9,700 to 11,700 THB per adult depending on which fixed-weekday experience your dates land on. Three days is 17,600 per adult, one experience a day. Four days is 20,100. Five days covers everything we run — all five, one a day — at 26,000 THB per adult plus 1,020 in park fees. The day-by-day plans behind those totals, and which arrival days make them possible, are on the Khao Sok itinerary page. #### The price is the price There is nothing to hunt for. We do not run introductory prices or seasonal surcharges. The price in February is the price in September. #### What the price pays for Fifteen guests is our ceiling. The guide is a local person on a proper wage. Lunch on the raft house is simple everyday Thai food, cooked by people from the village. The van collects you from your hotel and brings you back to it. That is what the number buys, and we would rather you knew it before you paid than after. #### If the numbers do not work Tell us. If you are travelling alone, or the dates are awkward, or the budget only stretches to one day and you want it to be the right one, message us on WhatsApp. We will tell you honestly what fits, including when the honest answer is that it does not. If you are still working out how long to stay, how many days you need covers it. If you are deciding between a day trip and a night here, that comparison is written out. And things to do in Khao Sok describes each of the five days properly. #### Questions people ask about price Q: How much does a Khao Sok tour cost? A: Between 2,500 and 7,900 THB per person depending on which day you take. The full day on Cheow Lan Lake is 3,800 THB per adult, and with the 340 THB national park fee it comes to 4,140 all in. The cheapest is the sunrise boat at 2,500 plus the park fee, and the dearest is the elephant afternoon at 7,900 with no park fee. Q: Is the national park fee included? A: No. The park collects it at the gate: 340 THB per foreign adult and 170 THB per child, in cash, not included in our prices. It applies on the three days that go inside the park — the lake day, the sunrise boat and the trek. The elephant afternoon and the village afternoon do not enter the park and carry no fee. Q: Why does the booking total say 7,600? A: Because our minimum is two guests, so the total for two adults is 3,800 × 2 on the lake day. Change the number of travellers and the figure changes with it. A child aged 5 to 11 is 2,900 THB on the lake day, so one adult and one child come to 6,700. Q: What is included in the price? A: Hotel pick-up and drop-off, an English-speaking local guide, the boat or vehicle, the meals that day includes, drinking water, activity equipment, and insurance. There is no booking fee, no service charge and no fuel surcharge added at checkout. The price you see is the price you pay. Q: What is not included? A: The national park fee on the three days that enter the park, anything you buy for yourself, a towel, and long-distance transfers from airports, piers or beach towns. Those are priced per vehicle rather than per person and are quoted separately. Q: Does the price change by season or group size? A: No. The price is the same in every month and for every group size. Children aged 5 to 11 pay a set child price on each day: 1,900 on the sunrise boat, 2,900 on the lake day, 4,400 on the village afternoon and on the trek, 5,900 on the elephant day. Q: Do children pay less? A: Yes. Children aged 5 to 11 pay 2,900 THB on The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, 5,900 on The Khao Sok Way, 4,400 on Life Around Cheowlan, 4,400 on The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking and 1,900 on Before the World Wakes. The park fee for a child is 170 THB instead of 340. Minimum age is five, and under-18s travel with an adult. Q: How much does a whole trip cost? A: A two-day trip is 9,700 to 11,700 THB per adult. Three days is 17,600, one experience a day. Four days is 20,100. Five days covers all five of our experiences at 26,000 THB per adult plus 1,020 in park fees. The day-by-day plans and totals are on our Khao Sok itinerary page. Travelling solo? Our minimum is two guests per booking. Book two seats — the guide, the pick-up and the day are the same for one or two — and the day runs for you as it does for everyone. --- ## Khao Sok National Park Entrance Fee: 340 THB, Cash URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/khao-sok-national-park-entrance-fee Description: Khao Sok National Park entrance fee: 340 THB per adult, 170 per child, in cash, each day. Cheow Lan Lake: paid at Ratchaprapha Pier. Which tours carry it. Before you book ### Khao Sok National Park entrance fee: 340 THB, cash at the gate 340 THB per adult, 170 per child, paid in cash. Not included in our prices. Here is which of our five days carry it and which do not. Khao Sok National Park charges foreign visitors 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child aged 5 to 11. It is paid in cash, in Thai baht, at the park entrance on the day, once for each day you enter the park. There is no advance ticket and no online ticket; the fee is the ticket. It is not included in our prices, so bring it in cash. It is the park's money, not ours. Three of our five days go inside the park, so the fee applies once on each. Two stay outside the park boundary, so there is nothing extra at all. The full list, with days, times and all-in prices, is below. #### The three days that enter the park Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate and not included. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 · 4,140 all in 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 · 6,240 all in 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 · 2,840 all in 2,500 THB per person Check dates The Khao Sok Way and Life Around Cheowlan stay outside the park and carry no fee — both are on what it costs. Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests; choose a date and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Not sure which price you are looking at, or which day is inside the park? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. #### How much the entry fee is and how you pay it For foreign visitors it is 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child aged 5 to 11, collected in cash, in Thai baht, at the entrance on the day. Thai nationals pay a lower Thai rate. There is no card machine at a national park gate and no ATM at the pier, so please sort the cash before we pick you up. It is the park's money, not ours. #### Cheow Lan Lake entrance fee: the same 340 THB, paid at Ratchaprapha Pier Cheow Lan Lake lies inside Khao Sok National Park, so a day on the lake carries the same fee: 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, in cash. For the lake, you hand it over at Ratchaprapha Pier, on the Cheowlan side. On The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, the pier comes straight after hotel pick-up: pay the fee in cash, then board the boat. There is no ATM at the pier, so bring the baht with you. #### No ticket to buy in advance People ask whether they need to book a Khao Sok National Park ticket before they arrive. You do not. There is no advance ticket, no online ticket and nothing to book beforehand. The fee is the ticket, paid at the entrance on the day. Your guide takes the group through together. Hand over the cash, walk through, and the day starts. What you do book in advance is the day itself, with us, by 16:00 the day before. #### It is charged for each day you enter the park You pay it every time you go in, so one day on the lake is one fee and three park days in a week is 1,020 THB per adult, handed over at the gate each time. If you are putting several days together, our day-by-day plans show which days are inside the park and which are not, and what a Khao Sok tour costs lists every price all in. #### Which of our days enter the park Cheow Lan Lake is inside Khao Sok National Park, which is why our lake days carry the fee. These are the three days that go in. The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of is the full day on Cheow Lan Lake, every day, 09:30–16:00, 3,800 THB per adult and 2,900 THB per child. All in with the fee, 4,140 THB per adult and 3,070 THB per child. The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking is the jungle trek, waterfall hut lunch and river tubing, Tuesday and Friday, 09:30–17:30, 5,900 THB per adult and 4,400 THB per child. All in, 6,240 THB per adult and 4,570 THB per child. Before the World Wakes is the sunrise boat, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 06:30–08:30, 2,500 THB per adult and 1,900 THB per child, with pick-up on the Cheowlan side, or meet at the pier at 06:20. All in, 2,840 THB per adult and 2,070 THB per child. #### Which of our days do not Two of our days stay outside the park boundary. There is no park fee and nothing extra at all; the price you see is the whole price. The Khao Sok Way is elephants and a mountain kitchen, Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday, 12:00–18:30, 7,900 THB per adult and 5,900 THB per child. Life Around Cheowlan is the village afternoon with a bamboo raft, a forest walk and sunset, Monday and Thursday, 12:00–18:30, 5,900 THB per adult and 4,400 THB per child. All five days are listed on things to do in Khao Sok. #### What our price includes, and the rules that apply Our price includes hotel pick-up and drop-off both ways, on the Khao Sok side and the Cheowlan side (Before the World Wakes: Cheowlan side only, or meet at the pier at 06:20), a local English-speaking guide, the boat or vehicle, meals as listed, drinking water, equipment (life jackets, kayaks at the raft house on The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, tubes on the river) and insurance. Nothing is added at checkout. Prices are per person. Minimum two guests per booking, and the group is never more than 15. Minimum age is 5; children aged 5 to 11 pay the child prices listed above (1,900 to 5,900 THB depending on the day), and under-18s come with an adult. Book by 16:00 the day before. If you are not sure which of your days carry the fee, message us on WhatsApp and we will tell you plainly. #### Questions people ask about the park fee Q: How much is the Khao Sok National Park entrance fee? A: 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child aged 5 to 11 for foreign visitors, paid in cash at the park entrance on the day. Thai nationals pay a lower Thai rate. It is not included in our prices, and you pay it once for each day you enter the park. Q: Can I pay the park fee by card? A: No, cash only, in Thai baht. There is no card machine at the gate and no ATM at the pier, so have the cash ready before we pick you up: 340 THB for each adult and 170 THB for each child aged 5 to 11. Q: Where do I pay the Cheow Lan Lake entrance fee? A: At Ratchaprapha Pier, on the Cheowlan side, in cash before you board the boat. Cheow Lan Lake is inside Khao Sok National Park, so it is the same fee: 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child. There is no ATM at the pier, so bring the baht with you. Q: Do I need to buy a Khao Sok National Park ticket in advance? A: No. There is nothing to book beforehand and no online ticket. You pay the fee at the entrance on the day and that is your ticket; your guide takes the group through. What you do book in advance is the day itself, with us, by 16:00 the day before. Q: Is the Khao Sok National Park fee included in your tours? A: No. It is not included in our prices; bring 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child in cash for the gate. Everything else in the day is included: hotel pick-up and drop-off both ways, a local English-speaking guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance. Q: Is the Khao Sok National Park entry fee charged per day? A: Yes. You pay it each time you go into the park, so one day on the lake is one fee and three park days in a week is 1,020 THB per adult. The two days that stay outside the park, The Khao Sok Way and Life Around Cheowlan, carry no fee at all. Q: Which of your tours go into the park? A: The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking and Before the World Wakes all enter the park, so the fee applies. The Khao Sok Way and Life Around Cheowlan stay outside the boundary, so there is no fee. Q: Do children pay the park fee? A: Yes. Children aged 5 to 11 pay 170 THB at the gate, alongside the child price for the day itself: 2,900 THB on The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, 4,400 THB on The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking and 1,900 THB on Before the World Wakes. On The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, that makes 3,070 THB per child all in. Travelling solo? Our minimum is two guests per booking. Book two seats — the guide, the pick-up and the day are the same for one or two — and the day runs for you as it does for everyone. --- ## Best Time to Visit Khao Sok: Weather & Rain by Month URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/best-time-to-visit-khao-sok Description: Best time to visit Khao Sok: January and February for dry weather (21–42 mm, 4–6 rain days); September and October for your exact date. Rainfall by month. Planning your trip ### When is the best time to visit Khao Sok? Every guide tells you to avoid the wet months. Here are the actual numbers, and the part the numbers leave out. If dry weather is the only thing you care about: January and February. If you want your exact date: September and October. Those are our two low-season months. High season starts around mid-November and runs to April. If you want a specific date and a specific experience, September and October are the months to look at first. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. #### Khao Sok month by month Long-run climate averages for Khao Sok National Park. Nothing here is a forecast for your date — it is what the last few decades have looked like on average. | Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Rain days | Sun / day | January | 31°C | 42 mm | 6 | 8 hrs | February | 32°C | 21 mm | 4 | 9 hrs | March | 33°C | 40 mm | 5 | 9 hrs | April | 33°C | 112 mm | 11 | 8 hrs | May | 31°C | 334 mm | 21 | 6 hrs | June | 30°C | 364 mm | 21 | 5 hrs | July | 30°C | 358 mm | 21 | 6 hrs | August | 30°C | 377 mm | 22 | 6 hrs | September | 30°C | 409 mm | 23 | 5 hrs | October | 30°C | 328 mm | 22 | 6 hrs | November | 29°C | 247 mm | 18 | 6 hrs | December | 29°C | 88 mm | 10 | 7 hrs Published long-run climate averages for Khao Sok National Park. Worth saying plainly: sources disagree on which month is wettest. One set of averages puts September highest at 409 mm; another puts October highest at 366 mm. The honest summary is that September and October are the two wettest months, and the gap between them is far smaller than the gap between either of them and February. #### What “23 rain days” does not tell you September is the month everyone points at: 409 mm of rain across roughly 23 days. Written that way it sounds like three weeks of standing in it. Do the arithmetic instead. 409 mm spread over 23 days is about 18 mm on a day it rains — and a rain day, in the way these figures are counted, is any day with measurable rain at all. It could be an hour in the afternoon. It could be twenty minutes. Here is what we will not claim: we cannot tell you how the rain will fall on your date. Nobody can. An average tells you the total for the month and the number of days it touched; it says nothing about whether your Tuesday gets a passing afternoon shower or a grey morning. What we can tell you is what happens to the day you booked. It runs. Khao Sok is a rainforest — rain is the normal condition here, not the exception, and the forest in rain is worth seeing. On the lake, rain tends to come in the afternoon and pass. #### What actually changes, and what does not We run these days every week of the year, so here is what genuinely differs between the wet months and the dry ones — which is less than the rainfall table makes it sound. ##### The lake water: no change The lake looks the same in September as it does in February. The one thing that does change is the river on The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking: after rain it runs cloudy for about an hour, then it clears. That is the whole of it. ##### The water level: no change It does not visibly drop in the dry months. The lake you see in the photographs is the lake you get, in any month. ##### The waterfalls: not the difference you are hoping for They are not dramatically stronger in the wet season. If you are choosing September over February because you expect twice the waterfall, choose for a different reason — we would rather say so now than have you find out on the day. ##### The mist: the wet months add a second one There is mist most mornings, all year round — that is not a rainy-season thing, and it is why Before the World Wakes runs when it does. What the wet months add is mist during the day: rain passes through, and it leaves mist behind it. That is the part worth staying for. ##### The mountains: this is the real trade In the dry months the sky is open and the karst walls are clear all day. In the wet months cloud moves through them. Neither is better; they are different photographs. ##### The forest: greener when it rains The rainy months leave the forest green and wet. In the dry months the leaves are drier. ##### Wildlife: no honest seasonal claim We are not going to tell you one season is better for animals, because in our experience it is not. Whether you see gibbons or hornbills is luck, not the month you booked. #### September The wettest month of the year. The trade you are making is real: more chance of rain in exchange for dates that are still open a week out. #### October Close behind September on rainfall — and by one set of averages, ahead of it. Same trade, and the last month before the season turns. If you are choosing between the wet months, October is the one that starts to ease. #### November The turn. Rainfall drops to 247 mm and rain days to 18 — noticeably less than September or October, and still before the December peak. If there is a month that gets you easier dates and most of the drier weather, it is this one. #### December, January, February The dry stretch, and high season. February is the driest month of the year: about 21 mm across 4 days. December is the crossover, still carrying 88 mm. Each departure takes at most 15 travellers, so if you want a particular experience on a particular date in this window, book it early rather than late. #### March, April, May March is dry and hot — 33°C and 40 mm. April is the hinge: still 33°C, but rainfall jumps to 112 mm and rain days to 11. By May the wet season has properly arrived at 334 mm. #### June, July, August Steady wet months, 358–377 mm, around 21 to 22 rain days each, and highs settled at 30°C. Outside the December-to-March peak, wetter than November. #### What does not change with the season ##### The price 2,500 to 7,900 THB per person depending on the experience. That is the price in February and it is the price in September. No high-season surcharge, and no lower price in the wet months. ##### The weekly schedule The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of runs every day. The Khao Sok Way on Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. Life Around Cheowlan on Monday and Thursday. The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking on Tuesday and Friday. Before the World Wakes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Every week, all year. ##### The group size Never more than 15 travellers per departure, minimum 2 per booking, in any month. ##### The national park fee 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included in our prices, for the three experiences that enter the park. Same all year. ##### The cancellation terms Full refund if you tell us 10 days or more before your date, 50% from 3 to 9 days. A free move to any available date if you tell us 10 days or more ahead. If we cancel for weather or safety, you choose a full refund or a free transfer. Full policy. #### Which months suit which traveller | If you want… | Go | Because | The driest weather | Jan–Feb | 21–42 mm, 4–6 rain days, 8–9 hours of sun | Your exact date | Sep–Oct | Our low season — dates stay open | A balance of both | November | 247 mm and 18 rain days, before the December peak | Heat and long sun | March | 33°C, 9 hours of sun, only 40 mm #### What we will not tell you We will not tell you that the wet months are secretly the best months, because that depends entirely on what you came for. If you have three days in Thailand and you want them dry, come in February and book early. We will not tell you the weather on your date. We will tell you what changes on the day, in advance, and we will run it. And we will not tell you that a rain day is a ruined day, because the day you booked runs either way and we would rather you arrived knowing that than found out on the boat. #### Next If you are still working out the shape of the trip, how many days you need in Khao Sok is the other half of this question. If you want to know why there is a lake here at all, the story of Cheow Lan is worth ten minutes. Or go straight to the five days themselves: The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, The Khao Sok Way, Life Around Cheowlan, The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking and Before the World Wakes. #### Questions people actually ask Q: What is the best month to visit Khao Sok? A: February, if dry weather is the only thing you are optimising for: it is the driest month of the year, with roughly 21 mm of rain across about 4 rain days. If you also care about whether your date is still open, September and October are the easier time to travel; high season starts around mid-November. Q: Is Khao Sok worth visiting in the rainy season? A: Yes, and it is our low season. All five of our experiences run in rain. We cancel only when conditions are genuinely unsafe, for example a storm warning on the lake or flooding on a trail, and in that case you choose a full refund or a free move to another date. Q: Does rain cancel a day at Khao Sok? A: Rain alone does not cancel anything. Khao Sok is a rainforest and rain is normal here. We will tell you in advance what changes on your particular day. The only cancellations are for genuine safety, and those come with a full refund or a free date change. Q: Which month is wettest in Khao Sok? A: Sources disagree, which is worth knowing. One long-run average puts September highest at about 409 mm; another puts October highest at about 366 mm. Either way September and October are the two wettest months, and the difference between them is smaller than the difference between them and February. Q: Are prices higher in high season at Khao Sok? A: Not with us. Our five experiences are 2,500 to 7,900 THB per person and that is the price in every month of the year. There is no high-season surcharge, and the price does not drop in the low season. Q: Do the experiences still run every week in the wet season? A: Yes. The weekly schedule is the same all year: the lake day every day, The Khao Sok Way on Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday, Life Around Cheowlan on Monday and Thursday, The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking on Tuesday and Friday, and Before the World Wakes Friday to Sunday. Q: How far ahead should I book for December to February? A: As far ahead as you can. Those are high-season months and each departure takes at most 15 travellers, so specific dates can fill. In September, October and November you can usually still get the exact date and the exact experience you want. Q: Does the water get cloudy in the rainy season? A: Not the lake — it looks the same in September as it does in February. The river we tube on runs cloudy for about an hour after rain, then it clears. That is the only water that changes. Q: Does the water level drop in the dry season? A: No. It does not visibly drop between seasons. The lake you see in the photographs is the lake you get, in any month. Q: Are the waterfalls stronger in the wet season? A: Not dramatically, and we would rather say so. If you are choosing September over February because you expect twice the waterfall, choose for a different reason. Q: Is there mist, and when? A: Most mornings, all year round. What the wet months add is mist during the day — rain passes through and leaves mist behind it. Q: Is one season better for seeing wildlife? A: No, and we will not claim otherwise. Whether you see gibbons or hornbills is luck rather than the month you booked. --- ## How to Get to Khao Sok from Phuket, Krabi & Surat Thani URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/how-to-get-to-khao-sok Description: Khao Sok is 1.5–2 hrs from Surat Thani airport, 2.5–3 hrs from Phuket or Krabi, and 1–1.5 hrs from Khao Lak. Every route, with private transfer prices. Planning your trip ### How to get to Khao Sok Every route, with the journey times and the prices we actually charge — and one decision to make before you book any of it. Nearest airport: Surat Thani (URT), 1.5–2 hours by road. Phuket (HKT) is 2.5 hours and usually has more international flights. From the west coast: Khao Lak 1–1.5 hrs · Phuket 2.5–3 hrs · Krabi 2.5–3 hrs. From Samui, Phangan or Tao: ferry to Donsak, then 2.5 hours by road. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. #### Decide this before you book anything Before any route, one fact: Khao Sok and Cheowlan are two different places, about 45 minutes apart. Khao Sok is the jungle river town — cafés, a night market, limestone cliffs above the rooftops, other travellers to talk to. Cheowlan is the lake itself, reached only by boat, and the village that the lake created when the dam rose. Small places to stay, rubber trees, temple mornings, and the pier minutes away. This matters for your journey twice over. The times in the tables below are to the Khao Sok side. The Cheowlan pier is about 45 minutes closer if you are coming from Surat Thani or the islands — and about 45 minutes further if you are coming from the west coast. It also decides one thing you cannot change later: Before the World Wakes, the dawn boat, picks up only on the Cheowlan side; from anywhere else you meet it at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. #### From Surat Thani and the islands ##### Surat Thani to Khao Sok Surat Thani Airport (URT) is the nearest, about 1.5 to 2 hours by road; the train station at Phun Phin and the town are about 2 hours. A private car from the airport or the station is 1,300 THB, a van 2,400 THB. From the airport to the Cheowlan pier is about an hour. ##### Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao to Khao Sok Take the ferry to Donsak Pier, then about 2.5 hours by road. From Donsak a private car is 2,600 THB and a van 4,200 THB, and the driver is timed to your ferry. | From | Time | Car | Van | Surat Thani Airport (URT) | ≈ 1.5–2 hrs | 1,300 | 2,400 | Surat Thani Train Station (Phun Phin) | ≈ 2 hrs | 1,300 | 2,400 | Surat Thani Town | ≈ 2 hrs | 1,600 | 2,900 | Donsak Ferry Pier (from Samui · Phangan · Tao) | ≈ 2.5 hrs | 2,600 | 4,200 | Khanom | ≈ 2.5 hrs | 3,000 | 4,500 | Chaiya | ≈ 2 hrs | 2,000 | 4,200 #### From Phuket, Khao Lak and the west coast ##### Phuket to Khao Sok Allow about 2.5 hours from Phuket Airport (HKT) and about 3 hours from Phuket Town, Patong, Kata or Karon. A private car is 3,600 THB from the airport; from town and the beaches it is 3,900 to 4,200 THB. ##### Khao Lak to Khao Sok About 1 to 1.5 hours by road. A private car is 2,900 THB and a van 4,200 THB. | From | Time | Car | Van | Khao Lak | ≈ 1–1.5 hrs | 2,900 | 4,200 | Kuraburi | ≈ 1.5 hrs | 2,600 | 4,900 | Phang Nga Town | ≈ 1.5–2 hrs | 3,300 | 3,500 | Phuket Airport (HKT) | ≈ 2.5 hrs | 3,600 | 5,200 | Phuket Town | ≈ 3 hrs | 3,900 | 5,900 | Patong Beach | ≈ 3 hrs | 4,200 | 5,900 | Kata & Karon Beach | ≈ 3 hrs | 4,200 | 6,200 #### From Krabi, Koh Lanta and further afield ##### Krabi to Khao Sok Krabi Town and Ao Nang are about 2.5 to 3 hours away. A private car is 2,600 THB and a van 4,200 THB. From Lanta Pier, allow about 4 hours. | From | Time | Car | Van | Krabi Town · Ao Nang | ≈ 2.5–3 hrs | 2,600 | 4,200 | Lanta Pier | ≈ 4 hrs | 3,900 | 6,500 | Koh Lanta (on-island drop-off, via car ferry) | ≈ 4.5 hrs | 4,600 | ask us | Pak Nam Pier, Chumphon | ≈ 3.5 hrs | 3,900 | 6,900 | Ranong | ≈ 3.5 hrs | 3,900 | 7,200 | Khao Sok ↔ Cheowlan | ≈ 45 min | 1,300 | 2,400 Prices are per private vehicle, one way, in THB — not per person — to either the Khao Sok or the Cheowlan side. The car seats up to 4 guests; the van seats up to 12 with luggage, so the more of you there are, the less it costs each. Request a transfer here. #### What a transfer is, and is not ##### It is a private vehicle Air-conditioned, no shared stops, a driver waiting with your name. We time it to your flight or your ferry — tell us the number and we will work backwards from it. ##### It is not the same as your experience pick-up Four of our five experiences include return hotel transfers within our pick-up area, on both sides; Before the World Wakes picks up on the Cheowlan side, or you meet it at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. A transfer here is for getting into the area in the first place, or leaving it. You do not need to buy one to be collected for a day out. ##### Book it at least a day ahead Earlier for dawn arrivals and late-night flights or ferries. Those need a driver awake at an hour nobody volunteers for. #### What we will not tell you Public buses and shared minivans also run to Khao Sok. We do not operate them, so we are not going to publish times or fares we cannot stand behind. If budget matters more to you than timing, they are worth looking into — and we would rather say that than pretend the only way here is the one we sell. What we can tell you is that the road in is not the boring part. Limestone walls, rubber plantations, fruit stands. #### Once you are here Work out how long to stay with how many days you need in Khao Sok, and which months suit you with Khao Sok weather, month by month. Then pick your days: The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, The Khao Sok Way, Life Around Cheowlan, The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking and Before the World Wakes. #### Questions people actually ask Q: What is the nearest airport to Khao Sok? A: Surat Thani (URT), about 1.5 to 2 hours by road to the Khao Sok side and about an hour to the Cheowlan pier. Phuket (HKT) is the other common arrival at about 2.5 hours, and it usually has more international connections. Q: How long does it take to get to Khao Sok from Phuket? A: About 2.5 hours from Phuket Airport and about 3 hours from Phuket Town, Patong, Kata or Karon. A private car is 3,600 THB from the airport and 3,900 to 4,200 THB from the beaches, per vehicle one way. Q: How do I get to Khao Sok from Krabi? A: Krabi Town and Ao Nang are about 2.5 to 3 hours away. A private car is 2,600 THB and a van 4,200 THB, per vehicle one way. Q: How do I get to Khao Sok from Koh Samui, Koh Phangan or Koh Tao? A: Take the ferry to Donsak Pier on the mainland, then about 2.5 hours by road. A private car from Donsak is 2,600 THB and a van 4,200 THB, per vehicle one way. Tell us your ferry and we will time the driver to it. Q: Are the transfer prices per person or per vehicle? A: Per private vehicle, one way, in THB. The car seats up to 4 guests and the van up to 12 with luggage, so the more of you there are, the less it costs each. Q: What is the difference between Khao Sok and Cheowlan? A: They are two different places about 45 minutes apart. Khao Sok is the jungle river town with cafés and a night market. Cheowlan is the lake, reached only by boat, and the village beside it. Decide which side you are sleeping on before you book a transfer, because it changes your journey time. Q: Do I need a transfer if I have booked an experience? A: No. Four of our five experiences include return hotel pick-up within our pick-up area on both the Khao Sok and Cheowlan sides; Before the World Wakes picks up on the Cheowlan side, or you meet it at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. A transfer is for getting to the area in the first place, or leaving it. Q: Can I get to Khao Sok by bus or minivan? A: Yes, public buses and shared minivans run to Khao Sok. We do not operate them, so we are not going to publish times or prices we cannot stand behind. If budget matters more than timing, they are worth looking into. Q: How far ahead should I book a transfer? A: At least a day ahead, and earlier for dawn arrivals or late-night flights and ferries. Tell us your flight or ferry number and we work backwards from it: a private, air-conditioned vehicle with no shared stops, priced per vehicle one way. You do not need a transfer to be collected for a day out. --- ## Khao Sok Day Trip or Overnight? Hours & Prices URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/khao-sok-day-trip-or-overnight Description: A Khao Sok day trip works if you sleep nearby: the lake day runs 09:30–16:00 with hotel pick-up. From Phuket or Krabi it is 5–6 hours on the road. Planning your trip ### Can you do Khao Sok as a day trip? Two different things get called a Khao Sok day trip. Here is how each one works, with drive times, day times and prices. Yes — as long as you spend the night before in Khao Sok town or on the Cheowlan side. The full day on the lake runs 09:30 to 16:00, with hotel pick-up both ways. As a return drive from Phuket, Krabi or Ao Nang, it is five to six hours in a vehicle for about four hours on the water. Khao Lak, at 1–1.5 hours each way, is the one exception. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. People arrive at this question from two directions. Some are on a beach somewhere and wondering whether they can see Khao Sok without moving hotels. Others have already decided to come and are working out how many nights to give it, and which side to spend them on. They are different questions with different answers. So — the hours, the prices, and what each version actually gives you. #### The two things people mean by “Khao Sok day trip” Before anything else, it helps to know that Khao Sok and Cheowlan are two different places, about forty-five minutes apart. Khao Sok is the jungle river town: cafés, a night market, limestone above the rooftops. Cheowlan is the lake itself — Cheow Lan, held behind the Ratchaprapha Dam — and the village that rebuilt itself when the valley filled. Almost every confusion on this page comes from those two names being used as one. ##### 1. The long-haul day trip — from Phuket, Krabi or Khao Lak You leave a beach hotel before dawn, drive two and a half to three hours, spend the middle of the day on the lake, and drive back in the dark. Our verdict: don’t. We run private transfers from all three and publish the prices, but we do not sell this as a day. Roughly 5–6 hours in a vehicle for about 4 hours on the water. ##### 2. The local day trip — from Khao Sok or the Cheowlan side You wake up somewhere within forty-five minutes of the pier, get collected from your hotel, and are on the boat by half past nine. You sleep in the same room that night, and tomorrow can be a completely different day. This is what all five of our experiences are. Every price includes return hotel pick-up; the dawn boat picks up on the Cheowlan side. The full day on the lake → #### The long-haul day trip, in numbers This is the version the question usually means, so here is the arithmetic instead of an opinion. Times are one way, by road, to the Khao Sok side; the Cheowlan pier is about forty-five minutes further from the west coast. | Starting from | Each way | In a vehicle | Private car, one way | Khao Lak | 1–1.5 hrs | 2–3 hrs | 2,900 THB | Krabi Town · Ao Nang | 2.5–3 hrs | 5–6 hrs | 2,600 THB | Phuket Airport | 2.5 hrs | 5 hrs | 3,600 THB | Patong · Kata · Karon | 3 hrs | 6 hrs | 4,200 THB | Surat Thani Airport | 1.5–2 hrs | 3–4 hrs | 1,300 THB Transfer prices are per private vehicle, one way, not per person. A car seats up to four; a van seats up to twelve. Return, from Phuket, that is 7,200 THB of driving before anyone has been on a boat. Khao Lak is the one honest exception. An hour each way is a day trip anywhere in the world. From Phuket, Krabi or the islands, the day works out as a long drive with a lake in the middle of it, and you will be too tired to enjoy the drive home. There is a second cost. A vehicle arriving from the west coast cannot reach the early hours. The mist is gone by nine, and the dawn boat leaves the pier at 06:30. #### Staying the night: Khao Sok town or the Cheowlan side If you have already decided to come, the real decision is which side to sleep on. Every experience except the dawn boat collects you from your hotel on either side, so the choice is mostly about your mornings and your evenings. | Khao Sok town | Cheowlan side | To the pier | About forty-five minutes by road | Minutes away | The dawn boat | Meet the boat at the pier, 06:20 | Fri to Sun, 06:30, back by 8:30am | Lake day & village afternoon | Hotel pick-up, plus the drive | Hotel pick-up, pier minutes away | Elephants, trek & tubing | On this side | Hotel pick-up, plus the drive | Evenings | Cafés, a night market, somewhere to walk | Much smaller; no night market | What we charge | The same | The same The short version: sleep in Khao Sok town for the evenings, on the Cheowlan side for the mornings. With three nights or more, you can split them — the lake side first, then the town. The full comparison is on where to stay in Khao Sok. If the lake at first light matters to you, book your room on the Cheowlan side. The dawn boat runs Friday to Sunday at 06:30 and picks up on that side; from town you meet it at the pier at 06:20. The full lake day reaches both sides. #### What each day costs Here is what you pay us, what the national park collects from you in cash at the gate, and the two added together. | The day | Runs | You pay us | Cash at the gate | Total | Before the World Wakes | Fri–Sun | 2,500 | 340 | 2,840 THB | The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of | Every day | 3,800 | 340 | 4,140 THB | Life Around Cheowlan | Mon & Thu | 5,900 | — | 5,900 THB | The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking | Tue & Fri | 5,900 | 340 | 6,240 THB | The Khao Sok Way | Sun, Wed & Sat | 7,900 | — | 7,900 THB Prices are per adult and include return hotel pick-up on either side (Before the World Wakes: Cheowlan side only, or meet at the pier at 06:20), a local English-speaking guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance. The park fee is 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. Children aged 5–11: Before the World Wakes 1,900 + 170 = 2,070 THB; The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of 2,900 + 170 = 3,070 THB; Life Around Cheowlan 4,400 THB; The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking 4,400 + 170 = 4,570 THB; The Khao Sok Way 5,900 THB. Minimum two guests per booking. #### What we would tell a friend Do not drive here and back in a day from the west coast. The place will still be lovely and you will still be glad you came, but you will have spent most of it looking at a road. Do not come for one night either, if you can help it. The journey is long enough that a single night turns the whole thing into transit with a view in the middle. Two nights on the Cheowlan side is the smallest version of this trip that works. Three is where it stops feeling rushed. Sleep nearby, go out by day, and take the dawn boat once. How the days stack up once you have chosen is on how many days you need in Khao Sok, and what is actually worth a day is on things to do in Khao Sok. #### Questions people ask Q: Is a day trip to Khao Sok worth it? A: Yes, if you are already sleeping in Khao Sok or on the Cheowlan side. The full day on the lake runs 09:30 to 16:00 and gives you a cave, lunch on a raft house and a swim. As a return drive from Phuket or Krabi, it is five to six hours in a vehicle for four on the water. Q: Can you do Khao Sok as a day trip from Phuket? A: It is possible and we do not run it. Phuket is two and a half to three hours each way. Leaving at 6am puts you at the pier around 9am and back at your hotel near 8pm, with roughly four hours actually on the lake. The private transfer alone is 3,600 THB each way by car. Q: Can you do Khao Sok as a day trip from Krabi or Khao Lak? A: From Khao Lak, yes: it is 1 to 1.5 hours each way to the Khao Sok side, and the Cheowlan pier is about 45 minutes further. From Krabi Town or Ao Nang it is 2.5 to 3 hours each way, five to six hours in a vehicle, and we do not sell it as a day. Q: Should I stay in Khao Sok town or near Cheow Lan Lake? A: Stay on the Cheowlan side if the lake is why you are coming: the pier is minutes away and the dawn boat picks up only on that side. Stay in Khao Sok town for cafés, a night market and the trek, tubing and elephants. The two are about 45 minutes apart, and our prices are the same from either. Q: What is the earliest I can be on the lake? A: Before the World Wakes leaves at first light Friday to Sunday and has you back by 8:30am, for 2,500 THB per adult and 1,900 per child, plus the park fee of 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. Pick-up is on the Cheowlan side only; from Khao Sok town you meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. Q: How much does a day in Khao Sok cost? A: Between 2,500 and 7,900 THB per person depending on the day, including hotel pick-up and drop-off, an English-speaking guide, meals as listed, water and insurance. The three days that enter the national park add 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, cash at the gate. Nothing else. Q: Is one day enough in Khao Sok? A: One day shows you one version of a place that has several. You will see the lake and miss the elephants, the village, the rainforest floor and the water at first light. If your route allows only one day, take the lake day and expect to wish you had given it another. Q: Do day trips include hotel pick-up? A: Yes, both ways, from either the Khao Sok side or the Cheowlan side, on four of the five. Before the World Wakes picks up on the Cheowlan side only; from Khao Sok town you meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. Pick-up is included in the price; a transfer, which gets you into the area, is separate. Travelling solo? Our minimum is two guests per booking. Book two seats — the guide, the pick-up and the day are the same for one or two — and the day runs for you as it does for everyone. --- ## Where to Stay in Khao Sok: Town or Lake Side? URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/where-to-stay-in-khao-sok Description: Stay on the Cheowlan lake side for the pier and the sunrise boat, or in Khao Sok town for cafés and a night market. They are 45 minutes apart. Before you book a room ### Where to stay in Khao Sok: town or lake side? Not which hotel — which side. There are two, forty-five minutes apart, and the choice decides what your mornings can be. Sleep on the Cheowlan side if the lake is why you are coming. The pier is minutes away, the boats leave from your doorstep, and the sunrise boat picks up only on that side; from town you meet it at the pier at 06:20. Sleep on the Khao Sok town side if you want cafes, a night market and somewhere to walk after dark. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. Where to stay in Khao Sok is really two questions. The first is which side you want to wake up on: the river town, or the lake at Cheowlan. The second is the hotel, and it is much easier once the first is settled. We are not going to recommend a hotel. We do not take commission from any of them and we are not going to pretend to be neutral about a place we have never stayed in. What we can tell you is what each side actually gives you, because we run boats from one of them every morning of the year. #### Khao Sok town and the Cheowlan lake side Khao Sok is the river town. Rainforest at the door, limestone walls rising straight out of the treeline, cafes, a night market, people. You can walk somewhere in the evening. It is where the trekking, the tubing and the elephants are. Cheowlan is the lake — Cheow Lan, which you will also see written Chiew Larn or Cheow Larn, held behind the Ratchaprapha Dam. The village beside it is much smaller than the town, and there is no night market. What there is instead is the water: the pier, the longtail boats, and the emerald lake in every photograph that made you look this place up. Forty-five minutes of road separates them. Not far on a map, and long enough to eat a morning. #### The one thing the choice changes Most of what we run collects you from either side. One thing does not. The sunrise boat leaves the lake at 06:30, and pick-up is on the Cheowlan side only. From Khao Sok town you can still join: meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20, about 45 minutes away by road. Sleep on the Cheowlan side and the start is a short ride from your door. If first light on the lake is part of your plan, it is worth weighing when you book your room. #### What runs from which side | Experience | Side | Runs | Reachable from the other side? | The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of | Cheowlan | Every day, 09:30 | Yes | Before the World Wakes | Cheowlan | Fri, Sat, Sun, 06:30 | Meet at the pier, 06:20 | Life Around Cheowlan | Cheowlan | Mon, Thu, 12:00 | Yes | The Khao Sok Way | Khao Sok | Sun, Wed, Sat, 12:00 | Yes | The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking | Khao Sok | Tue, Fri, 09:30 | Yes Three of the five run from the Cheowlan side, including the two that go on the water. Everything except the sunrise boat can be reached from either side — it just costs you the drive. #### What each side is actually like after dark Khao Sok town has an evening. There is a road with places to eat on it, a night market, cold beer, other travellers, and the sound of the forest behind all of it. If you are travelling for a while and you want a night that feels like being somewhere, this is the side. The Cheowlan side does not have an evening in that sense. It is a village rather than a town, and the reason to be there is the pier a few minutes away in the morning. If the idea of a night market is what you want at seven o’clock, be honest about that now rather than at seven o’clock. #### Getting to each side Both sides are reached the same way — by road from Surat Thani, Phuket, Khao Lak or the ferry piers — and the last forty-five minutes is the part that differs. A transfer is priced per vehicle rather than per person, so it costs the same whether one of you gets in or four. The routes, times and real prices are on getting to Khao Sok. What is worth planning: if you are arriving late and starting early, arriving on the side you are starting from saves you an hour you will want back. #### Splitting your stay With three nights or more, two hotels often beats one. The lake side first, while the early mornings are the reason you are here. Then the town side for the trek, the elephants and an evening that has something in it. Moving once costs you an hour and a hotel change. Moving twice costs you a morning — and the mornings are the thing you came for. If you are building the days around the fixed weekly schedule, the plans are laid out on the Khao Sok itinerary. #### If you only have one night The Cheowlan side, if the lake is the reason you came. One night there puts your hotel minutes from the pier, and on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday it is the only side the sunrise boat collects from. One night in Khao Sok town gives you an easier evening, a slower start, and a shorter drive out to almost anywhere. That is the right answer for some people. It is worth knowing which one you are. #### What it does not change Our prices are the same from either side, and so is the pick-up — every experience except the sunrise boat collects you from your hotel on either side. What changes is how much of your day happens on the water or in the forest, and how much of it happens in a van. Every price is written out here, park fee separated. If you tell us where you are thinking of staying and which days you have, we will tell you straight whether it works, including when the honest answer is that the other side would suit you better. #### Questions people ask before they book a room Q: Which side of Khao Sok should I stay on? A: The Cheowlan side if the lake is the reason you are coming, because the pier is minutes away and the sunrise boat picks up only on that side. The Khao Sok town side if you want cafes, a night market and somewhere to walk in the evening. They are forty-five minutes apart, so it is a real choice rather than a detail. Q: How far apart are Khao Sok town and Cheow Lan Lake? A: About forty-five minutes by road. That gap matters when planning: it is what turns an ambitious two-day plan into a day spent in a van, and it is why the side you sleep on matters more than the hotel you choose. Q: Can I do the sunrise boat if I stay in Khao Sok town? A: Yes. Pick-up is on the Cheowlan side only, so from Khao Sok town you meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20, about 45 minutes away by road. The boat leaves the lake at 06:30. Q: What is on each side? A: The Cheowlan side has the lake, the pier, the full-day boat trip, the sunrise boat and the village afternoon. The Khao Sok town side has the river, the cafes and the night market, and it is where the jungle trek, the river tubing and the elephant afternoon happen. The lake day runs from the Cheowlan side every morning. Q: Where should I stay for the elephants and the jungle trek? A: Khao Sok town. The Khao Sok Way (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday at 12:00) and The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking (Tuesday and Friday at 09:30) both happen on that side. Both collect you from your hotel on either side too, so staying by the lake only adds the drive, not the cost. Q: Can I split my stay between both sides? A: Yes, and with three nights or more it often works well: the lake side first for the boats and the early mornings, then the town side for the trek and the elephants. Moving once costs you an hour and a hotel change. Moving twice costs you a morning, which is the thing you came for. Q: Does it change what I pay? A: Our prices are the same from either side. What changes is what your mornings can be, and how much of your day is spent in a vehicle rather than on the water or in the forest. Q: If I only have one night, where should it be? A: The Cheowlan side, if the lake is the reason you came. One night there puts your hotel minutes from the pier, and on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday it is the only side the sunrise boat collects from. One night in Khao Sok town gives you an easier evening and a slower start, which is the right answer for some people and worth knowing about yourself. Not sure which side fits your dates? Message us on WhatsApp with the days you have. We will tell you straight — including when the answer is the side we do not run boats from. --- ## Khao Sok River Tubing: How to Book | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/khao-sok-tubing Description: Khao Sok river tubing is about an hour floating on the Sok River, no paddling. It ends The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, our Tue & Fri trek day. 5,900 THB. Before you book ### Khao Sok tubing: an hour floating on the Sok River after a trek We do not sell tubing on its own: it is the last hour of The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, every Tuesday and Friday, 5,900 THB per person. Tubing in Khao Sok means sitting in an inner tube and floating on the Sok River under the forest canopy for about an hour. You do not paddle; the river sets the speed. Life jackets are provided, and you will be wet by the end. We do not sell tubing on its own. It is the last hour of The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, our full trek day: 6 km of forest trail, lunch cooked in bamboo beside a waterfall, a swim, then the float. Every Tuesday and Friday, 09:30 to 17:30. 5,900 THB per adult, 4,400 THB per child aged 5–11, per person, minimum two guests per booking, never more than 15. If a float on its own is what you came for, we would rather you knew that before you book. If you want a full day in the forest that ends with an easy hour on the river, the rest of this page is for you. #### The day the tubing belongs to Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, lunch cooked in bamboo, tubing equipment and life jacket, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate and not included. - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall hut lunch and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Not sure the trek is for you, or travelling alone? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. #### What tubing in Khao Sok is like You sit in an inner tube on the Sok River and the river does the work. There is no paddling; you drift for about an hour with the forest canopy overhead. We provide the tube and a life jacket. It is the easy part of a hard day: by the time you reach the river you have walked 6 km of forest trail in tropical heat, and the tube is where your legs stop. Pack a full change of clothes; you will not get out of the river dry. There are wild elephants and monkeys in Khao Sok's rainforest. Whether you see any is luck, and we do not promise it. #### What comes before the tubing Tubing is the last hour of The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, and that is the only way to do it with us. Here is how the day runs before you reach the river. We are at the park gate at 09:30, then on to the trailhead. You trek 3 km in along the river, about 2 hours of roots, heat, river crossings and waterfalls along the trail. It ends at a hut hidden in the forest beside a waterfall. Lunch is cooked over fire in lengths of bamboo at the hut, with about 1.5 hours to eat and swim. Then it is 3 km back out, about 2 hours again. Only after that do you get into the tube on the Sok River for about an hour. You are back at the hotel around 17:30. You do not need to be an athlete. You need to be willing to be tired. If walking distance is a worry, this is not the right day, and the tubing at the end does not change that. #### Easy or wild, and what rain does to the river Easy. The tubing is not a test of nerve, and if you were hoping for something wild, this is not it. There is a life jacket for everyone. Khao Sok is a rainforest and rain is normal here. The day runs rain or shine. After rain the river runs cloudy for about an hour, then clears. What the weather does month by month is on our page on when to visit Khao Sok. If the river is unsafe, we change or drop the tubing and tell you in advance. #### Days, times and price The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking runs every Tuesday and Friday, 09:30 to 17:30. Pick-up is before 09:30 from any accommodation on the Khao Sok side or the Cheowlan side, and we drop you back at the hotel around 17:30. The days and times are fixed; we do not run it on other days. The price is 5,900 THB per adult and 4,400 THB per child aged 5–11. Prices are per person. Minimum two guests per booking, and the group is never more than 15. Book by 16:00 the day before. The park fee is 340 THB per adult / 170 THB per child, cash at the park gate, not included in the price. There is more on the park fee and on what a day with us costs all in. #### What is included and what to bring Included: hotel pick-up and drop-off both ways, a local English-speaking guide who grew up on these trails, lunch cooked in bamboo at the forest hut, tubing equipment and life jacket, drinking water and insurance. Not included: the park fee, a towel and change of clothes, and anything personal. Bring shoes that can get wet, a full change of clothes, insect repellent and the park fee in cash: 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child. #### Can children do the tubing? Yes, from age 5. Children aged 5–11 pay 4,400 THB, plus 170 THB at the park gate. The tubing itself is the easy part, but a child cannot get to it without first walking the whole 6 km of trail in the heat, so be realistic about your own children. For younger or less enthusiastic walkers, look at Life Around Cheowlan instead: an easy forest walk, bamboo rafting on the village waterways and the sunset, on Mondays and Thursdays. Or The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, our lake day, every day from 09:30 to 16:00 at 3,800 THB per adult and 2,900 THB per child, plus the park fee: 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. #### Tubing is not bamboo rafting The two are easy to mix up, so here is the difference. Bamboo rafting is on Life Around Cheowlan: a poled bamboo raft on shallow village waterways, Mondays and Thursdays, 5,900 THB per person, and no park fee because that day does not enter the park. Tubing is an inner tube on the Sok River, at the end of The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, Tuesdays and Fridays. If you want time on the water without a 6 km trek first, Life Around Cheowlan is the day to look at; just know it is a poled bamboo raft on the village waterways, not a tube you drift in. #### How to book the day Pick a Tuesday or Friday on the booking calendar on The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking page. Book by 16:00 the day before, with a minimum of two guests per booking. If you have a question first, message us on WhatsApp. If you are still deciding how to spend your time here, all five of our days are on one page, with notes on how many days to give Khao Sok. #### Questions people ask about tubing in Khao Sok Q: Is there a tubing tour on its own? A: No. Tubing is the last hour of The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, our trek day on Tuesdays and Fridays, and we do not sell it on its own. If a float is all you want, we are not the right choice; for an easier day with some time on the water, look at Life Around Cheowlan and its bamboo rafting. Q: Is tubing in Khao Sok worth it? A: Yes, as the end of a full day in the forest. After 6 km of trail and a bamboo lunch at the waterfall hut, you float the Sok River under the canopy for about an hour, no paddling, life jacket on. Come for the whole day: the float itself is easy, not wild. Q: Where is the tubing and how long does it take? A: On the Sok River in Khao Sok, at the end of the day, after 6 km of trekking and lunch at the forest hut. It takes about an hour; the river sets the pace. Q: Is tubing in Khao Sok safe? A: The tubing is the easy part of the day. You sit in an inner tube, there is no paddling and the river sets the speed. Life jackets are provided, and if the river is ever unsafe we change or drop the tubing and tell you in advance. Q: What happens to the tubing if it rains? A: Rain is normal here and the day runs rain or shine. After rain the river runs cloudy for about an hour, then clears. If the river is unsafe we change or drop the tubing and tell you in advance. Q: Can children go tubing in Khao Sok? A: From age 5, and children aged 5–11 pay 4,400 THB. The tube is easy; the 6 km of trail before it is not, so for younger walkers, look at Life Around Cheowlan or The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of instead. Q: How much does tubing in Khao Sok cost? A: Tubing is part of the day, so the price is the day's price: 5,900 THB per adult and 4,400 THB per child aged 5–11, per person, minimum two guests per booking. The park fee, 340 THB per adult / 170 THB per child, is cash at the park gate and not included in the price. Q: What should I bring for tubing? A: Shoes that can get wet, a full change of clothes, insect repellent, and the park fee in cash: 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child. You will be wet by the end. Q: Which days does the tubing run, and how late can I book? A: Every Tuesday and Friday, 09:30 to 17:30, with pick-up before 09:30 from the Khao Sok side or the Cheowlan side. Book by 16:00 the day before on the calendar on The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking page. Questions first: WhatsApp us. Q: Is bamboo rafting the same as tubing? A: No. Bamboo rafting is a poled raft on shallow village waterways and is part of Life Around Cheowlan on Mondays and Thursdays, with no park fee. Tubing is an inner tube on the Sok River at the end of The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking, Tuesdays and Fridays. Travelling solo? Our minimum is two guests per booking. Book two seats — the guide, the pick-up and the day are the same for one or two — and the day runs for you as it does for everyone. --- ## Cheow Lan Lake, Khao Sok: How to See It | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/cheow-lan-lake Description: Cheow Lan Lake is a reservoir in Khao Sok National Park, reached by longtail from Ratchaprapha Pier. Park fee 340 THB adult, 170 child, in cash. Khao Sok National Park · the lake ### Cheow Lan Lake, Khao Sok: how to see it and what it costs Green water, limestone standing straight up out of it, and only one way in: a wooden boat from the pier by the dam. Cheow Lan Lake is a reservoir inside Khao Sok National Park, and the only way onto it is by boat. It is also called Khao Sok Lake, and spelled Chiew Larn or Cheow Larn. The lake formed behind the Ratchaprapha Dam, which was inaugurated on 30 September 1987. Wooden longtails leave from Ratchaprapha Pier, on the Cheowlan side, about 45 minutes from Khao Sok town. The national park fee is paid there in cash: 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child. We take guests out two ways: a full day, every day, for 3,800 THB, or two hours at sunrise on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for 2,500 THB. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Free cancellation and free date change 10 days or more before · 50% refund 3–9 days before · full policy. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. #### What you see on the water Limestone rising sheer out of green water, seen from a boat small enough to get close. A day on the lake has four stops. Khao Sam Kloe (เขาสามเกลอ), the Three Brothers. Three limestone peaks standing together so neatly they look placed there on purpose. You reach them about half an hour after leaving the pier. A cave. The air turns cold at the first step. Wait for your eyes to adjust and the walls begin to glint, as if diamonds had been scattered across the rock. The forest inside the lake. The boat pulls in where a waterfall marks the way in. Behind it are water sources and trunks so broad you have to stop and look up. Lunch on a floating raft house. Afterwards you can lower yourself into the lake for a swim, paddle off in one of the kayaks, or stay on the deck. Life jackets are on board for anyone getting in. Weather and the water level can change the order of the stops. None of them is dropped. #### A Khao Sok lake tour: a full day, or two hours at first light Same water, same pier. Both are shared departures: two guests minimum per booking, 15 at most on a boat. Children aged 5–11 pay 2,900 THB on the full day and 1,900 THB at sunrise. ##### The full day: The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of Every day, 09:30 to 16:00, with pick-up from around 08:00 on either side. All four stops, with lunch, a swim and kayaks at the raft house. 3,800 THB per adult, plus the park fee: 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. The Cheow Lan Lake day tour, hour by hour ##### Two hours at sunrise: Before the World Wakes Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 06:30 to 08:30. Mist on the limestone, the Three Brothers as the light comes up, then a raft house where you feed the fish. Pick-up on the Cheowlan side, or meet us at the pier at 06:20. 2,500 THB per adult, plus the park fee: 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. The sunrise boat on Cheow Lan Lake Pick one: they cover the same stretch of lake a few hours apart. To see it from above instead, Life Around Cheowlan ends at a hilltop viewpoint over the dam and the village at sunset, on Mondays and Thursdays. #### Getting to the pier Boats leave from Ratchaprapha Pier, beside the dam. Cheowlan, the village by the dam, is ten minutes from the pier; Khao Sok town is about 45 minutes away by road. The full day includes hotel pick-up and drop-off from either side, so you never have to find the pier yourself. The sunrise boat collects from around six on the Cheowlan side; staying anywhere else, you meet it at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. Carry Thai baht for the park fee; the Khao Sok entrance fee page explains how it works. For routes in from Surat Thani, Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak and the islands, see how to get to Khao Sok. #### Is Cheow Lan Lake worth it? Yes, if you want limestone rising out of green water and a forest you can only reach across the lake. Three things to know first. Lunch is simple. Every ingredient comes over by boat, and it is everyday Thai food cooked by people from the village — a home kitchen on the water, not a restaurant. It is a long day. Pick-up is around eight and you are back at your hotel by early evening. The sunrise boat is the two-hour alternative. Rain does not stop it. We go out regardless, and tell you ahead of time if the route changes. #### Before it was a lake In 1982 this was still a valley, with the Klong Saeng river along the bottom and the village of Ban Chiew Lan beside it. When the dam closed, 385 families moved to higher ground and the hilltops became the limestone “islands” you see from the boat. The history of Cheow Lan Lake tells the rest. #### Chiew Larn, Khao Sok Lake: spellings you will see Maps, signs and booking pages spell it several ways. These all point to the same places. | You will see | What it means | Cheow Lan Lake | The lake. The spelling we use. | Chiew Larn, Cheow Larn | The same lake, spelled from the same Thai name. | Khao Sok Lake | The same lake again, named after the national park it sits in. | Ratchaprapha Dam, Rajjaprabha Dam | The dam that made the lake, and the name of the pier. Rajjaprabha, “light of the kingdom”, is the name King Bhumibol gave it in 1987. | Khao Sam Kloe | เขาสามเกลอ, the Three Brothers: the three limestone peaks on the lake. | Cheowlan | The side of the lake by the dam: the village the dam created, and the pier. #### Questions people ask about Cheow Lan Lake Q: Where is Cheow Lan Lake? A: Inside Khao Sok National Park, in Surat Thani. The boats leave from Ratchaprapha Pier, on the Cheowlan side beside the dam, about 45 minutes by road from Khao Sok town. The lake itself is reached only by boat, and the park fee is paid in cash before you board. Q: How much does it cost to visit Cheow Lan Lake? A: The national park fee is 340 THB per adult and 170 THB per child, cash only. On top of that, our full day on the lake is 3,800 THB per adult, so 4,140 THB in total, and the sunrise boat is 2,500 THB plus the same fee. Both include hotel pick-up, the boat, an English-speaking local guide and insurance. Q: Can you swim in Cheow Lan Lake? A: Yes. On the full-day trip the swim comes after lunch, straight off the floating raft house into the lake. Life jackets are on board for anyone who wants one, and kayaks are included in the price. Bring swimwear and a towel, and a dry bag if you have one. Q: Can I see Cheow Lan Lake in half a day? A: Yes, at sunrise. Before the World Wakes is two hours on the water, 06:30 to 08:30 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday: the Three Brothers at first light, then a raft house where you feed the fish. Pick-up is from Cheowlan-side hotels; from anywhere else, meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. The cave and the forest inside the lake are on the full day. --- ## Cheow Lan Lake & Ratchaprapha Dam History | Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/cheow-lan-lake-history Description: Cheow Lan Lake is a reservoir, formed when the Ratchaprapha Dam was inaugurated in 1987. Before that it was a valley, and 385 families moved to higher ground. Where this place came from ### Cheow Lan Lake: before it was a lake, it was a valley The history of Cheow Lan Lake, the dam that made it, and the village that had to move — told by the family that stayed. Cheow Lan Lake is younger than most of the people who come to see it. Cheow Lan Lake, also written Chiew Larn or Cheow Larn, is a man-made reservoir inside Khao Sok National Park, held behind the Ratchaprapha Dam on the Klong Saeng river. The dam was inaugurated on 30 September 1987. In 1982 this was a valley with a river running along the bottom of it and a village living beside the river. By 1987 the water had closed over all of it. Three hundred and eighty-five families moved up to higher ground and gave their new home a name that says exactly what happened to them. Our grandfather is eighty-nine. He was forty-five when it started, and he was here for all of it. #### All five, with real dates and prices Per person, minimum two guests. Hotel pick-up both ways, a local guide, meals as listed, drinking water and insurance are included. The national park fee — 340 THB per adult, 170 THB per child — is cash at the gate, not included in our prices. How the fee works. - The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of A full day on the lake · every day · 09:30 3,800 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Way Elephants and a mountain kitchen · Sun, Wed, Sat · 12:00 7,900 THB per person Check dates - The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking Jungle trek, waterfall and river tubing · Tue, Fri · 09:30 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Life Around Cheowlan Village afternoon, bamboo raft and sunset · Mon, Thu · 12:00 5,900 THB per person Check dates - Before the World Wakes Sunrise boat · Fri, Sat, Sun · 06:30 · Cheowlan pick-up or pier 06:20 2,500 THB per person Check dates Prices are per person and our minimum is two guests. Pick your month with the › arrow, choose a date, and the total for your group shows before you pay. Ask us on WhatsApp Travelling alone, want a date that is not showing, or not sure which day suits you? We would rather answer the question than have you guess. It is easy to look at this lake and assume it is ancient. The limestone really is ancient, and so is the rainforest around it. But the water is not. The water arrived within living memory, and there are still people in the village who can tell you what was underneath it. This is the part of Cheow Lan that lives in the village, with the people who were here before the water. #### The river that was here first The Klong Saeng ran through this valley, and the limestone stood over it the way it stands over the water now — except you looked up at it from the valley floor, not from a boat. Work on the dam began on 9 February 1982. It took five and a half years. On 30 September 1987 the dam was inaugurated, and King Bhumibol gave it its name: Rajjaprabha — light of the kingdom. You will see it written Ratchaprapha, and it is where the pier gets its name. Around here people just call it เขื่อน. The dam. Behind it, the water spread out into 185 square kilometres of valley. Everything you see from the boat now was land. The limestone towers that look like islands were never islands. They were the tops of the hills. #### หมู่บ้านจัดสรร — the allocated village Before the water came, the people had to go. Three hundred and eighty-five families from Ban Chiew Lan were resettled out of the valley. Each family was given nineteen rai of rubber plantation on higher ground, and a payment every month while the young trees grew into something that could feed a family. They rebuilt beside the dam. And the name they gave the new village was not a poetic one. It is หมู่บ้านจัดสรร — mùu-bâan jàt-sǎn, the allocated village. Named for the allocation itself. Land handed out so that people with nowhere left to stand could begin again. Forty years later that is still its name. The rubber trees are still standing. This is where our family is from, it is where the boats leave from, and when we say the Cheowlan side, this is the place we mean. #### Our grandfather is eighty-nine He was forty-five when they started building the dam. Not a boy watching something happen to somebody else — a man with a life already built in the bottom of that valley, who was told it was going to be under water. He can still tell you what it looked like with the river running through it. For a long time we did not think of that as a story. It was just what had happened to us, the way it had happened to everyone we knew. But nothing on the surface of the lake tells you there was a valley underneath it, and unless someone tells you, you would never know. That is really why this company exists. Not to show you a lake. To take you into a place that had a life before it was scenery, and is still full of the people it belonged to. #### What the water covered, and what it made Drowning a valley is not a gentle thing, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. But the forty years since have made something the valley never had. There is a forest hidden inside the lake — you reach it by boat, and a waterfall stands at the entrance like a doorway. Inside there are water sources and trees big enough to stop you talking. A rainforest that rich, tucked inside a reservoir, is not something you expect to find. There is a cave out on the water, cold the moment you step in, with what looks like diamond scattered across the rock. And there is เขาสามเกลอ, the Three Brothers — three peaks standing together in a formation so deliberate it feels arranged. Nature putting on an exhibition. The boat that takes you out to all of it is a wooden one, and a villager is driving it. For the pier and the park fee today, see everything about Cheow Lan Lake. #### The one place you can see the whole story at once A short drive above the village there is a hill, and from it you see two things in a single view: the dam, and the village the dam created. The village looks tiny from up there. The forest looks like the whole world. And the sun goes down over both of them, which is a strange thing to watch once you know what is underneath. That viewpoint is the last stop of Life Around Cheowlan, on Mondays and Thursdays. That day ends with the story rather than the scenery. #### Where to stand in this, if you are coming ##### To see the valley from above the water The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of — the full day on the lake, in a wooden boat a villager drives. The Three Brothers, the cave, the hidden forest, lunch and a swim off a raft house. Every day. 3,800 THB, plus the park fee: 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. ##### To see where the people went Life Around Cheowlan — lunch on banana leaves by the river, the village’s own waterways by bamboo raft, the forest the villagers call Turtle, and the viewpoint at sunset where the dam and the village sit together. Mondays and Thursdays. 5,900 THB. ##### To see it at first light Before the World Wakes — on the water at 6:30, back by 8:30. Friday to Sunday, with pick-up on the Cheowlan side, or meet the boat at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20. 2,500 THB, plus the park fee: 340/170 THB cash at the gate, not included. Not sure how long to give the place? How many days you actually need in Khao Sok has the weekly schedule and an honest cost table, park fee separated out. #### Questions people ask about the lake Q: Is Cheow Lan Lake man-made? A: Yes. It is a reservoir, formed when the Ratchaprapha Dam closed across the Klong Saeng river. Construction began on 9 February 1982 and the dam was inaugurated on 30 September 1987. The limestone towers that look like islands were the tops of hills before the water rose. Q: How old is Cheow Lan Lake? A: About forty years: the dam was inaugurated on 30 September 1987. In 1982 this was a valley with a river running along the bottom of it and a village beside the river; by 1987 the water had closed over all of it, and 385 families moved up to higher ground. The rainforest around it is a great deal older. Q: Was a village flooded to make Cheow Lan Lake? A: Yes. 385 families of Ban Chiew Lan were resettled before the valley filled. Each family received nineteen rai of rubber plantation and a monthly payment while the trees grew. They rebuilt on higher ground beside the dam, in a village named for what happened to them: the allocated village. Q: What is the dam at Cheow Lan Lake called? A: Rajjaprabha Dam, usually written Ratchaprapha. King Bhumibol gave it the name at the opening in 1987; it means “light of the kingdom”. The pier the boats leave from carries the same name. Q: Can you still see the old village under the lake? A: No. The valley floor is under the water and stays there. What you can see is where its people went — the village beside the dam where the boats leave from, and the hill above it where the dam and the village sit in one view. Q: Where do the boats to Cheow Lan Lake leave from? A: Ratchaprapha Pier, on the Cheowlan side, beside the village the dam created. It is about an hour from Surat Thani airport and around forty-five minutes from Khao Sok town. --- ## Khao Sok Planning Guide 2026: Free PDF URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/guide Description: Free Khao Sok planning guide (PDF, 11 pages): the fixed weekly schedule, how many days to plan, which side to sleep on, the 340 THB park fee, travel times and what to bring. Planning your trip ### The Khao Sok planning guide, free to download Eleven pages on fitting two to four days around our fixed weekly schedule: which day runs when, which side to sleep on, the park fee, travel times and what to pack. Our five days keep to a set pattern through the week, which is what makes a trip here easy to plan from a distance. The guide lays that pattern out on one grid, then walks through the decisions that follow from it: how many nights to allow, whether to sleep on the town side or by the pier, where the 340 THB park fee applies and where it does not, how long the drive is from Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak and Surat Thani, what the rain months mean in practice, and what goes in the bag for each kind of day. Every number in it was checked against this website on 22 October 2026, and the website stays the current version of all of them. The PDF is yours to keep or pass on; nothing is asked for in return. The email form further down is separate and entirely optional. #### The guide, as a PDF A5, 11 pages, about 50 KB. Opens in any PDF reader; prints two pages to a sheet of A4. Download the guide (PDF) #### Not travelling for a while? We can email you which of our days run in your month Tell us your travel month and we reply once, by email, with the days that run then and a link to each one. One email, written by Pin, and no newsletter unless you ask for one. Your email address is used for that one reply and nothing else; see our privacy terms. Prefer to ask on WhatsApp? That works too. --- ## Book — Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/book Description: Book the five Cheowlan Untold experiences — add each day to your cart and pay once at checkout. ### Book your days Open any experience below, pick your date and travellers, and add it to the cart. Booking more than one day? Come back to this list, add the next one — everything stays in one cart 🛒, and you pay once at checkout. TAT licence 44/00518 · Payment by Stripe · Pin replies personally Travelling solo? Our minimum is two guests per booking. Book two seats — the guide, the pick-up and the day are the same for one or two. Group of 6 or more? Up to 15 guests on one departure, same price per person, same fixed day. For 8 or more, email us the date first so we confirm the departure before you pay. Booking several days? One experience per day for each guest, and the two boat experiences, The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of and Before the World Wakes, never on back-to-back days. Bookings close at 16:00 Bangkok time the day before. Card payment handled by Stripe inside the secure booking window. Questions? cheowlanuntold@gmail.com · Policies · Facts for planners Instagram · TikTok · WhatsApp · Reviews on Google --- ## Policies — Cheowlan Untold URL: https://cheowlanuntold.com/policies Description: Booking terms, cancellation and refund policy, and privacy policy for Cheowlan Untold, Khao Sok & Cheow Lan, Surat Thani, Thailand. ### Booking terms, cancellation & privacy. Everything you're agreeing to when you book a chapter with us. Written in plain English, because you shouldn't need a lawyer to book a day out. Last updated 19 October 2026 #### Who we are Cheowlan Untold (Thai: เชี่ยวหลาน อันทอลด์) is a licensed inbound tour operator in Thailand, operated as a licensed sole proprietorship. - Licensed as a sole proprietorship, not a registered company - Tour operator licence no. 44/00518, issued by the Department of Tourism, Southern Region Branch 1 - Licence category: Inbound (นำเที่ยวจากต่างประเทศ), under Section 15 of the Tourism Business and Guide Act B.E. 2551 - Valid 16 March 2026 to 15 March 2028 - Registered office: 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian, Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani 84230, Thailand We design and operate guided day experiences around Cheow Lan Lake and Khao Sok National Park in Surat Thani, Southern Thailand. #### What you're buying You are booking a place on a guided single-day experience. Five experiences are available, each on a fixed weekly schedule shown in our calendar. Each guest can book one experience per day, and we do not book the two boat experiences, The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of and Before the World Wakes, on back-to-back days. | Experience | Schedule & hours | Price per person | The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of | Every day · 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM | 3,800 THB (child 5–11: 2,900) | The Khao Sok Way | Sun / Wed / Sat · 12:00 PM – 6:30 PM | 7,900 THB (child 5–11: 5,900) | Life Around Cheowlan | Mon / Thu · 12:00 PM – 6:30 PM | 5,900 THB (child 5–11: 4,400) | The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking | Tue / Fri · 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM | 5,900 THB (child 5–11: 4,400) | Before the World Wakes | Fri–Sun · 6:30 AM – 8:30 AM | 2,500 THB (child 5–11: 1,900) ##### Included in every chapter Return hotel transfers within our pick-up area (Khao Sok & Cheowlan; for Before the World Wakes, Cheowlan side only, or meet at Ratchaprapha Pier at 06:20), a licensed local English-speaking guide, all activities and equipment listed for that experience, meals as listed, drinking water, and accident insurance. Not included: the Khao Sok National Park entrance fee on The Cheowlan Everyone Dreams Of, The Khao Sok Adventure Worth Taking and Before the World Wakes (340/170 THB per adult/child, cash at the gate), personal expenses, and gratuities. ##### Not included Flights and travel to Surat Thani, accommodation, personal travel insurance, alcoholic drinks, gratuities, and anything not listed on the chapter page. ##### Group size Maximum 15 travellers per departure. A minimum of 2 travellers per booking is required. Children aged 5–11 pay the child price shown in the table above (1,900 to 5,900 THB); the minimum age is 5. ##### Delivery This is a service delivered in person on the date you select at checkout. Nothing is shipped. Within 24 hours of booking we email your hotel pick-up time, your guide's name and contact number, and what to bring. #### Cancellation & refunds All prices are charged in Thai Baht (THB). Any other currency shown on our site is an approximate conversion for guidance only. ##### If you cancel | When you tell us | You receive | 10 days or more before your date | 100% refund | 3 to 9 days before | 50% refund | Less than 3 days before, or no-show | No refund Refunds are returned to the original card via Stripe and normally appear within 5–10 business days, depending on your bank. ##### If we cancel If we cancel for any reason — minimum numbers, safety, National Park closure, or an operational problem on our side — you choose a full refund or a transfer to another date at no extra cost. ##### Weather Khao Sok is a rainforest and rain is normal. Rain alone does not cancel a chapter. We will cancel only when conditions are genuinely unsafe, for example a storm warning on the lake or flooding on a trail. In that case the "if we cancel" terms above apply. ##### Changing your date Tell us 10 days or more before your date and we will move you to any available date at no charge, subject to availability. Message us on WhatsApp or email — details below. ##### Disputes If something goes wrong, contact us first. We answer within 24 hours and we would much rather fix a problem directly than have you raise it with your bank. #### Booking terms ##### Your booking A booking is confirmed once payment is complete and you have received our confirmation email. Payment is taken at the time of booking. Bookings close at 16:00 Bangkok time the day before your date. ##### Accuracy Please make sure the date, chapter and number of travellers are correct at checkout. Tell us straight away if anything is wrong and we will fix it. ##### Fitness, health and age Our chapters involve boats, walking on uneven ground, and water. The minimum age is 5 years, and travellers under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Tell us before booking about any medical condition, mobility need, pregnancy, or dietary requirement so we can advise honestly on which chapter suits you. ##### Travel insurance Accident insurance is included as required by Thai tour operator regulations. It is not a substitute for your own travel insurance, which we strongly recommend and which should cover cancellation, medical care and personal belongings. ##### On the day Please follow your guide's instructions and National Park rules at all times. We may end a person's participation without refund if their behaviour puts themselves, other travellers, our team or wildlife at risk. ##### Photography We sometimes photograph our chapters. Tell your guide if you would rather not appear, and we will respect that. ##### Things outside our control We are not liable for delays or cancellations caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including weather, National Park closures, transport disruption, strikes, or government restrictions. Where this happens, the "if we cancel" terms apply. ##### Governing law These terms are governed by the laws of Thailand. #### Privacy ##### What we collect Your name, email address, phone number, the name of your hotel, your travel dates, and any health or dietary information you choose to tell us. That is all we need to run your day. ##### Payment information Card payments are processed by Stripe. We never see, handle or store your full card number. Stripe's own privacy policy is at stripe.com/privacy. ##### Why we hold it To confirm and operate your booking, to contact you before and on the day, to meet Thai tour operator and insurance record-keeping requirements, and to issue refunds if needed. ##### Who we share it with Only the people and services that need it to run your day: our booking system (Bókun) and card processor (Stripe), your guide, our transport partner, our insurer, and the National Park where entry registration is required. We do not sell your data. ##### How long we keep it Booking and insurance records for five years, in line with Thai accounting and tour operator record-keeping rules, then deleted. ##### Your rights Email us and we will send you a copy of what we hold, correct it, or delete it — whichever you ask for. Under Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), and the GDPR if you are in the EU or UK, these rights are yours. ##### Cookies and analytics This site uses Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages people find useful, and Google Ads to measure whether our ads lead to bookings. Both set cookies in your browser and send Google information about your visit, such as the pages you view, your device and your approximate location. The booking window is run by Bókun, which uses its own cookies to keep your booking session working, and card payments go through Stripe. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time, or use Google's opt-out add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. Google explains how it uses this information at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. #### Contact us A real person answers all of these, and we reply within 24 hours. ###### Email cheowlanuntold@gmail.com ###### Phone & WhatsApp +66 92 547 4862 ###### Licence TAT 44/00518 Valid to 15 March 2028 ##### Registered address 64/1 Moo 1, Ban Suan Thurian Khao Wong, Ban Ta Khun Surat Thani 84230, Thailand