Krabi to Khao Sok

The shared van is the standard way from Krabi to Khao Sok. 12Go's board shows a departure about every half hour from 06:30 to 15:00, with a few later ones up to 16:20, run by Black Tiger, Phichet, Krabi Sea Pearl and a handful of smaller firms. Seats cost about ฿300–500 with 12Go's fee, and hotels and tour desks in Ao Nang and Krabi Town sell the same vans.

The drive is two to two and a half hours, but the van takes three and a half to four and a half once it has collected everyone, and it's often a change of vans in Krabi Town if you start in Ao Nang. They're 10- to 14-seat vans with bags stacked at the back, so pack light if you can. Some vans go the long way round via Khao Lak to drop other passengers, so pick one that goes straight to Khao Sok, and take a morning departure so you arrive in daylight.

From the airport, the easy way is a car. It meets you in arrivals and takes about two and a half hours to the village, for about ฿2,500–3,500, or from about ฿2,700 on 12Go with the price fixed before you fly. With two or more people and bags, that's the choice I'd make after a long flight.

On a budget, 12Go sells van seats from the airport from about ฿350–400, but most of them collect you and then change vans in Krabi Town, so allow four hours or more. The last vans leave in the middle of the afternoon, so if you land after about 13:00, book the car or spend a night in Krabi first.

Vans collect from Ao Nang hotels from about 07:00, with departures at around 07:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 15:00 on 12Go for ฿400–500. Ao Nang is a little farther than Krabi Town, about 150 km, and with the pickups and a change in town the trip takes three and a half to five and a half hours.

Railay has no road, so take the longtail to Ao Nang or Ao Nam Mao first. 12Go sells a few tickets that include the boat and meet a van on the other side, and the early boat is the one to catch.

Most vans sold as a hotel transfer drop at your hotel in Khao Sok village. The cheaper ones, and the bus, stop at the Khao Sok van station on Route 401, where the village road turns off. The guesthouses run about 2 km up that road to the park headquarters, so your hotel could be a short walk or a long one with a bag.

Many hotels will collect you from the stop if you message them your arrival time. Otherwise there are taxis at the junction for up to about ฿80 a person.

From Krabi, the lake comes before the village. The road from Krabi meets Route 401 east of Khao Sok, and Ratchaprapha pier, where the boats to the raft houses leave, is about 125 km from Krabi Town and 135 km from Ao Nang, around two hours by car. The village is another hour west, so if you're staying on the lake first, go straight to the pier.

The boats to the rafts don't run after dark, so aim to reach the pier by early afternoon. Raft packages often include the transfer from Krabi hotels, so check before you book a car. My floating bungalows guide covers the rafts and the packages.

Vans leave Khao Sok for Krabi from about 07:30 to 16:30, at 07:30, 08:30, 09:00, 10:30, 12:30, 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 16:00 and 16:30 on 12Go's board, for about ฿230–610 with its fee, most around ฿360. They take two and a half to four hours and drop at the Krabi van station, in Krabi Town or at hotels in Ao Nang, so check which before you book. Your guesthouse can book the same vans and arrange the pickup.

For a flight, take a car. It's about 150 km and two and a half hours to the airport, and the airport wants you there two hours before departure, so leave Khao Sok five hours before your flight. A three-seat car on 12Go was about ฿3,000. If you take a van, book the earliest one and ask whether it goes to the airport or into town.

Day tours from Krabi go to Cheow Lan Lake, with a boat ride past the karst islands, a swim and lunch on a raft. It's a long day, about four hours of driving in all and twelve hours door to door, and you see the lake but not the trails, the river or the dawn mist. If you can spare it, give Khao Sok two nights, one in the village and one on the lake.

December to April is the best time to go. This is one of the wettest corners of Thailand, September is the wettest month, and in heavy rain it's worth checking the road before you set off.