No, Khao Sok National Park is not closed !
Khao Sok National Park in Surat Thani Province in Southern Thailand is known for its large lake looking like Halong Bay in Vietnam. A magnificent setting in which visitors usually spend 2 days and one night in a floating hotel. Following the severe weather conditions a few days ago, rumors of the inaccessibility of the park and its lake have circulated on internet, I confirm that both are still accessible to visitors.
One cut damaged but there is another road
Following the heavy rains that hit the area 3 days ago, the road between Phang Nga and Khao Sok was badly damaged and cut to traffic.
On the pictures published by different media, we could see the road disembowelled with large crevasses. The partial cut of this road has led to some hasty conclusions about the impossibility of joining Khao Sok.
I got official confirmation this morning that it is not the case. Khao Sok National Park and Chiew Lan Lake are always accessible and tourists can still visit them.
If the road between Phang Nga and Khao Sok was partially closed and could no longer be used to access to Khao Sok Park, the road between Surat Thani and Khao Sok was still fully operational.
If you come from Krabi, Surat Thani, Phuket, no problem, if you come from destinations where the damaged road was the most logical (Ranong, Takua Pa, Khao Lak, Phang Nga), you can always go to Khao Sok but it will take longer. Nick from Khao Sok Lake Ltd, a tour agency based there, explained to me that the road closure has been temporarily fixed to accommodate 1-way traffic so that cars can still pass the road. This repair seems quite fragile and a new closure of the road is not to exclude but even if it were the case, Khao Sok will remain accessible via a detour to join the other road.
My recommendations for visiting Khao Sok in the next days
If you are able to do so, try to add Khao Sok into your program from Surat Thani, Phuket or Krabi, from these destinations, the road taken to come did not suffered any damage. And avoid coming from Phang Nga or Khao Lak, otherwise you will have a longer journey than usual.
I would have liked to be able to deny the rumor earlier but I like to cross several sources (TAT and actors on the field) to give the most relevant information possible even if it takes ms 24 hours more to inform you.
