Cathy and Gary's South East Asia Travel Pages
CHEOW LARN LAKE AND RATCHAPRAPA DAM
The very picturesque Ratchaprapa Dam was built in 1982 which created a 165 square kilometer lake now called Cheow Larn Lake inside Khao Sok National Park.
It was built to provide hydroelectricity for Surat Thani and other southern towns. On this huge lake there are over 100 islands with most of them being in the narrowest part of the lake which is known as Chong Kaeb Khao Ka Loh.
You can hire longtail boats for tours of the lake, have lunch at one of the floating restaurants or even stay the night on the lake at one the many floating rafthouses.
The dam is about a 50 kilometer drive from Park Headquarters. You can also go kayaking, river tubing, hiking, bird watching or if you are there at the right time see the amazing and rare giant parasitic Rafflesia flower.
So, there is plenty to see and do in this beautiful area of Thailand.
All day tours to Khao Sok include a visit to Cheow Lan Lake but make sure you book one that also visits Ratchaprapa Dam as it really is spectacular.
It is also very easy to see doing yourself by driving from Khao Lak, Phuket etc and staying a few nights.
