Name: Saichol Resort
Address: 242 Moo 4, Tambon Khao Pang, Ban Ta Khun, Ban Ta Khun, Ban Ta Khun, 84230, Thailand
Rating: 7

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Surat Thani Airport

Saichol Resort

Ban Ta Khun

If you would like a mixture of outstanding beauty ( the lake) and a trip to Dante’s circle of hell all in the same place then book this resort! Honestly, we have slept under a plastic bag in the rain in the jungle in Sumatra and the food, accommodation and service was better. The staff are surly to say the least, do not speak any English and no matter how hard you try to communicate they make it very clear that you are just a nuisance. The rooms are beyond basic, no ac, no fridge and just for that extra bit of comfort the mattress is made from granite like material and then wrapped in pleather to give you that beautiful roasting to death sensation. I made the mistake of asking if I could order some alternative food and was simply told NO. Admittedly chips are a tricky thing to cook. An added bonus is that all your drinks are included as long as you want tepid tea or awful coffee, and if you are very lucky water - but only on the boat. Now, whilst there make sure you do not miss the wonders of the night safari and cave experience with bamboo rafting. I should point out here that they are very strict on health and safety as you can not swim at the resort without wearing a life jacket, which is fine unless you are larger than a 3 year old child. The H & S however does not seem to matter anywhere else. The bamboo rafting for example, which is actually a 5 minute trip across a small stretch of water, was conducted on a raft made from basically broken bamboo and elastic bands powered by an engine that will leave you with permanent hearing loss. Once across the water you get the chance to try not to have a major accident whilst climbing a near vertical wall of mud holding some I’ll secured, frayed and wet rope. Luckily the amazing cave is on a 10 minute visit and then you get to go back on the amazing raft. The free kayaks at this resort were full of holes & we watched 2 couples sink in the middle of the lake, having to swim back. 
Now if this is not enough adventure for you, after your dinner is served, you don’t have to rush as it is all stone cold and mainly inedible, you can go on the magical night safari. This consists of another trip on the boat with the lovely quiet engine and floating by the shoreline looking in awe at the amazing animals  - sorry no you can’t do that, there aren’t any - and then back to the bungalow, or as we lovingly named it, the prison cell. The one benefit at night is that you have electric, this is only available from 6pm to 6am by the way, and then do nothing, literally, I mean nothing. The best bit of our stay was definitely leaving. This is a memory that, however hard we try, we shall not forget.
Also be warned this place goes by several different names including Klong Ka Raft House & Sai Chon Raft House.

AWFUL!!!

Don’t get me wrong, Khao sok is a great location. It is beautiful, has a lot of wildlife, and I would 100% visit again.

However, I wouldn’t recommend Saichol resort to my worst enemy.

When we booked the tour, we were promised the world by the agent, but the real experience was far from stellar. Not sure if the agent worked directly to them, or where exactly the problems happened in the chain of command, but:

They picked us up at the airport 2 hours late, because they literally forgot about our booking, even though we paid the deposit upfront.

We were promised a guide that could speak in English, and were delivered one that knew maybe only a couple of words.

The beds are made from the hardest material known to man, the floor boards are sketchy, broken in different places, and possibly dangerous to walk on at night.

Shower water is very cold, generator only runs at night, and if you get unlucky with your room choice, you might have to listen to it humming all night.

They advertise wildlife tours, but it’s really only one hour in the boat, and you will not go too far from their cabins. You might have better luck while kayaking (assuming your kayak is not leaking water).

If you go Kayak, be aware that they dump their trash into a little island in the back, around 15 meters away from the cabins, so if you go close to the shore you might see monkeys eating from empty ketchup sachets, which I can only assume is not good for them.

But the worst part definitely is that they also “forgot” about our schedule for the last day and didn’t get us a tour guide. 

We were supposed to do lots of activities after returning to the shore, but ended up waiting for 6 hours in the airport for our flight instead.

If you book a tour like this, make sure to triple check, and to have in writing what activities you’re paying for, and how long each one of them will take. They might purposely sell you something that sounds like it will be half a day of fun, and when you get there you only have 30 minutes and need to run back to the car. This is exactly what happened when we visited the suspension bridge near the dam.

All in all, avoid this establishment and try to not get scammed. 


Go to Khao Sok, but avoid this establishment.

Beautiful exotic location, interesting guided walk and cave, but the experience ends there. The operation is like a run down budget summer camp for kids. Bland, uninteresting cafeteria style food, rotting decking and absolutely filthy mold covered room. Some rooms looked slightly better than others but the family room with toilet we had was dirtier than a jail cell. Smelled funky, sheets were stained, no mosquito netting, and no screens on windows with only a greasy old fan to move hot humid air around. The room would be a biohazard elsewhere with the amount of black mold covering most everything. It was pretty disgusting. At least there is a rock hard mattress to keep you awake all night so you can think of better decisions you’ve made in life than to stay here. When the mold and filth was pointed out to management they made lame excuses and shrugged it off. I suggest you book elsewhere. Also be warned, this place goes by a few different names (e.g. Klong Ka Raft House, Sai Chon Raft House).

Moldy dirty room

Very very basic! Very hard matress no upper sheet! no electricity and fan during daytime (and you have freetime from 12 till 4 and it is very hot). Nothing to hang/dry your cloathes. Junglewalk slippery and leeches, waterfall hike: no path, just climbing. People that work here are not very friendly. Food: too much meat (chicken), at least 500 gram for lunch and 500 gramm for dinner for 2 people! I should say: spend more money on electricity (solar) and less on meat. Our guide Ann and boatsman were always busy with theire phones. I think only young people enjoy this place.the guide has no binoculair, so we did not see much wildlife..

Bad experience

We did a 2 day overnight tour with Saichol Resort.  What an adventure! The floating bungalows are basic. Location incredible. 

PROS
Plenty of food (just needed more chilli)
Cheap Chang beer 100THB large
Private bathroom in room with cold shower only
Trek to Coral Cave was very muddy but do-able.  We rented the 40THB mud shoes, best decision.  Saw lots of monkeys.
Fan in bedroom great at night. Electricity only available 6pm to 6am.

CONS
Rock hard beds.
No ladder off walkway close to our room so we couldn't easily get out. The ladder was broken off  and not repaired. 
Leaking sink in bathroom.
Guides were not very talkative and we didn't learn anything about surrounding area.
Large group on trek so spent quite a bit of time waiting around for everyone.  Mixed group of back packers, families and empty nesters like us. If tour company had more boats and guides and put us into smaller groups this could have been managed better.

All in all an enjoyable trip but we could have had same experience on one day tour.

Could be better ...

5 start for the location! it is absolutely amazing there (see pictures). 

Accommodation itself is not too bad. Rooms are clean and big enough for a couple (double bed and that is it). Bathrooms and toilets (communal) could do some updating and more cleaning. 

All of this is not important really when you spending time it this paradise place! It is a true gem of Thailand!

For more Adventureous!

A beach bungalow in very poor condition. The wooden piers are old and have big holes in them. The bungalows are small and dirty and the toilets are in very poor condition. No food available for vegetarians. No coffee in the morning - just the instant powder with 38% sugar in it. The staff was very unfriendly and did not bother to answer questions. They have a small mini market with no price tags and the girl behind the counter did not want to tell the prices when asked. Nothing to do except for kayaking and swimming. I strongly recommend not to swim as the toilet draining pipe goes straight into the water behind the houses - and you swim on the other side. Me and my son got really sick after this trip, the results just came in and we seem to have campylobacteriosis. The lake is very beautiful but best to choose another location to sleep in.

Bad worse worst

I have to say that Khao Sok National Park is definitely worth the adventure and outdoor activities, but be prepared to leave your 5 star bliss :)
This place served up great authentic Thai food and offered plenty of drinking water 
The small store is only for beer and chips.
No internet or mobile coverage which made me happy but others may not appreciate.
We had a room with a large bed, ceiling fan and bathroom. My only complaint was that the bed was a rock!!! It was ridiulous and I got almost no sleep and had every muscle aching by morning. They seriously need to invest in a mattress :(
Love the free kayaks for use.
Can go swimming but..... our bathroom shower drained right through the floorboards into the lake.... I wasn't keen on swimming in the runoff. 
Aside from the rock bed.... go for it!!!!
Lot's of wildlife, quiet and beautiful.


Honeymoon adventure

We loved this place , was such an adventure ! Great tour guide. 
We took our own sheets to ensure we felt comfortable , which was no drama at all . 
It's not a luxury stay but more suited for the adventurous type . Was beautiful waking up to the view of the lake and the jungle . Will definitely be back one day 

Adventure 

Most beautiful place ever visited, the floating bungalows were ok but not magnificent(could have been cleaner) we had breakfast, lunch and dinner which were all good apart from breakfast- the bread was mouldy which put me off😷 

Another down point was that apart from swimming in the lake and kayaking there was not really anything to do since everything else(like the rubber rings) were dangerous since there was a long piece of metal sticking out which could of caused an accident... overall it was a long peaceful stay, I don't think I'd go again though 

Saichol Resort

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