Cheow Lan is a large artificial lake in the Khao Sok National Park in Thailand’s Surat Thani province. Most road signs we encountered – at least those we could read – however, used the alternative name: Ratchaprapha Dam Reservoir (in various spellings).
The lake covers 165 sq.km of the park’s overall area of 739 sq.km, i.e. just under a quarter.
The scenery is fantastic and can be explored in detail on a boat tour. Below is the departure point where you can hire a long-tail boat and driver on the spot.
There is no set itinerary for these boat trips – you just pay for a duration of your choice and tell the driver what you are interested in.
The towering limestone cliffs are truly spectacular.
The scenery changed subtly every few minutes as we explored the numerous arms of the lake and we could not stop taking photos.
Some of the passages turned out to be dead-ends (- but I think our driver knew that beforehand).
We had told him that we were interested in exploring the jungle on foot for a bit and he took us on a twenty minute hike to a floating village.
There were no other tourists there.
It was a welcome opportunity for a comfort break and a cool drink.
