How to Get to Khao Sok

Khao Sok village is where the buses stop, a road of guesthouses, restaurants and tour desks running up to the park headquarters, with the trails and the river. Cheow Lan Lake is about 63 km east, in Ban Ta Khun district, and the raft houses are a boat ride from Ratchaprapha pier beside the dam. Most people spend a night or two in each.

Coming from Surat Thani or Krabi, the road passes the pier turn before it reaches the village, so if your first night is on the lake, go straight to the pier, about 65 km from Surat Thani airport and 125 km from Krabi. Coming from Phuket, Khao Lak or Bangkok by bus, it's easier to sleep in the village first and go out to the lake the next morning, because the boats to the rafts don't run after dark. Most raft packages include the transfer from the village or from hotels in the region. My floating bungalows guide covers the rafts and the packages.

Surat Thani is the closest airport, about 100 km and an hour and a half from the village by car, with about a dozen flights a day from Bangkok's Don Mueang and a few from Suvarnabhumi. Phantip's vans leave the arrivals hall until about 16:15. Phuket is about 145 km away, two and a half hours, and has the most flights, including international ones, but no bus to Khao Sok stops at the terminal. Krabi is about 150 km, around two and a half hours, with vans that usually change in Krabi Town.

If Khao Sok is your only stop, fly to Surat Thani. If you're also going to the Andaman beaches, fly into Phuket or Krabi and visit Khao Sok on the way in or out. My Surat Thani, Phuket and Krabi to Khao Sok guides cover the cars, vans and buses from each airport.

Khao Lak is the closest beach to Khao Sok, about 73 km and an hour by car. The Surat Thani buses from Phuket pass through Khao Lak on Highway 4 at about 08:20, 09:30, 10:40, 11:30, 13:10 and 15:40 and reach Khao Sok in about two hours with the stop at Takua Pa, for about ฿260 on 12Go, and shared vans at 11:00 and 17:00 take about an hour for about ฿500. Going back, buses leave Khao Sok for Khao Lak from about 08:20 to 16:00 and vans at about 07:00, 13:00 and 17:20.

Khao Lak's tour desks also sell Cheow Lan Lake day trips with the transfer included, which is the simplest way to see the lake if you're based on the coast. My Khao Lak guides cover the beaches.

From Koh Phangan or Koh Samui, the boat crosses to Donsak on the mainland and the boat company's bus carries on to Khao Sok, so you never stop in Surat Thani. Lomprayah's 08:05 boat-and-bus from Koh Phangan reaches Khao Sok at about 12:30 for ฿1,350. From Koh Tao, 12Go sells a 07:00 speedboat-and-van ticket for about ฿1,250–1,450, about five and a half hours. Going the other way, buses and bus-and-ferry tickets leave Khao Sok for Samui between about 08:00 and 13:00, six to eight hours in all, for about ฿560–770.

From Koh Lanta, a through van leaves at about 08:00 for about ฿750 and takes about six hours by way of Krabi. From Phi Phi, take the boat to Krabi or Phuket first and continue from there.

Buses and the cheaper vans stop at the Khao Sok van station on Route 401, at the foot of the village road, and Phantip's vans at its office beside it. The guesthouses run about 2 km up the road to the park headquarters. Message your hotel with your arrival time, because many will collect you, and otherwise there are taxis at the junction for up to about ฿80 a person. Grab doesn't operate in Khao Sok, so your guesthouse is also how you book the trip out.

Everything leaves from the same junction, and your guesthouse can book it. Buses run west toward Khao Lak and Phuket from about 08:20 to 16:00 and east toward Surat Thani from about 06:30 to 14:40. Vans to Krabi and Ao Nang leave from about 07:30 to 16:30. Night buses to Bangkok leave between 14:00 and 16:30, and for the night train, take a van to Surat Thani by about 14:00.

For a flight, a car is the safe way. Leave about four hours before a flight from Surat Thani and about five before one from Phuket or Krabi. Each route guide has the departures in both directions.