500 Rai Floating Resort — Open Your Door to the Lake and the Limestone Peaks of Khao Sok
If you have ever seen a photo of those wooden rafts floating between limestone karsts at Khao Sok and wanted to sleep there for a night, 500 Rai Floating Resort is the name that comes up most on Cheow Lan Lake. The rooms are wooden rafts strung out in a long row, and stepping onto the balcony puts you right above emerald-green water with a wall of mountains in front. What guests mention again and again is the swimming pool that floats on the lake itself and the fact that the resort has no phone signal and no Wi-Fi — coming here genuinely means cutting off from the outside world, not just a marketing line.
Worth saying up front: arriving at 500 Rai is nothing like checking into a normal hotel. You first drive or transfer to the Ratchaprapha Dam pier (Cheow Lan pier), then take a longtail boat about 1.5 hours across the lake. The ride itself is the show — limestone peaks rising straight out of the water in the formation locals call the "Guilin of Thailand." The resort asks you to confirm your boat slot at least 72 hours ahead, and there is an airport pickup from Surat Thani at 9:30 am. Plan the logistics before you book, because missing your boat window is hard to fix once you are out there.
The rooms are wooden rafts lined up in a row, ranging from a single Deluxe up to a Family Villa and a Honeymoon Suite. Every room opens onto a wooden deck right at the waterline, and from some you can slide a kayak in straight off the front. Inside it is warm timber, a comfortable bed, and an en-suite bathroom with hot water. The one thing to know before you go: the air-conditioning runs at night only, roughly 6 pm to 6 am, because the resort draws power from a generator out on the lake. During the day you open the windows to the breeze off the water, which most guests say is cool enough to be comfortable.
"Guests describe pulling back the curtain in the morning to mist hanging over the water and the peaks lined up behind it — so quiet you could only hear the lake lapping against the raft. Worth every minute of the 1.5-hour boat ride in. Many arrive worried about the heat without air-con in the daytime, but say the breeze off the lake keeps things genuinely comfortable. One guest recalls paddling a kayak out before anyone else was awake and having the whole stretch of water to themselves. The food at the floating restaurant comes in far better than you would expect somewhere this remote. Asked whether they'd go back, most say absolutely — though several add that next time they'd book a room at the end of the row for a bit more quiet."
The star of the place is the swimming pool that floats on the lake — a clear, fenced pool sitting right beside the restaurant pavilion, so you can swim and watch the mountains at the same time. Off to the side there is a wooden deck where you can climb straight into the lake to swim, and the resort lends out two-seater kayaks and life jackets free of charge to paddle around the rafts on your own. The floating restaurant serves mostly Thai food, and plenty of reviews note the cooking is better than you would expect this far from anywhere. The pavilion floor even has viewing panels down to the fish below, and kids happily sit watching them nibble at their feet.
Most of the activities are scheduled lake-tour packages. The popular one is an early-morning cruise to spot wildlife along the shoreline — hornbills, macaques, sometimes elephants at the water's edge — plus a trek into Nam Talu cave, where you wade through water inside the cave, and stops at a waterfall and a mid-lake swimming spot. To be straight about it, these tours are charged separately from the room and the prices run fairly high because everything moves by boat. Still, most people who go say they are worth it: coming all the way to Khao Sok and not getting out on the lake rather defeats the point.
The overall rating sits at 4.2 out of 5 on Tripadvisor across 357 reviews, second among the floating resorts in Khao Sok. Guests praise the views, the quiet, and attentive staff. The recurring complaints are few and honest — the rafts sit close together, so you can hear your neighbours, some bathrooms are open at the top and let mosquitoes in around dusk, and there are only about four loungers by the pool, which can run short when the resort is full. None of these are deal-breakers, but they are worth knowing before you arrive.
On price, rafts start around ฿4,500/night for a Deluxe in normal periods and climb with room type and holiday season. At many times the resort sells packages that bundle meals and the boat transfer, which pushes the per-person figure above the bare room rate. There is also a destination fee of ฿340 per person per stay (free for children under three). Compare Agoda, Booking and Trip.com before you commit — the deals differ by date, and check whether the boat and meals are already included in the rate you are seeing.
The bottom line: 500 Rai suits travellers who genuinely want to sleep in the middle of nature and will trade some convenience for a view you cannot get anywhere else. If you are glued to your phone, want air-con all day, or expect a polished full-service hotel, this may not be your place. But if you want to wake up to the lake and the peaks at your door, paddle a kayak before breakfast, and unplug from the internet for a couple of days, this is one of the most talked-about stays in all of Khao Sok.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Lake-and-karst views are stunning, right off the room balcony
- ✓ The floating swimming pool is the part most guests love
- ✓ Staff are friendly and attentive
- ✓ Thai food is better than expected for somewhere this remote
- ! Rafts sit close together — you can hear the neighbours
- ! Air-con runs at night only (roughly 6 pm to 6 am)
- ! No phone signal and no Wi-Fi
- ✓ Sleeping on a raft mid-lake is an experience you rarely get
- ✓ Kayaking and swimming in the lake are free and self-guided
- ✓ Genuinely quiet — ideal for unplugging from the city
- ✓ Early-morning wildlife lake cruise leaves a strong impression
- ! Some bathrooms are open at the top, so mosquitoes get in at dusk
- ! Only a few poolside loungers — can run short when busy
- ! Getting there means a 1.5-hour boat leg, so plan ahead
- 💡If you want the quietest room — ask for one at the head or tail of the row when booking, since the rafts are lined up and sound carries between them → middle-of-the-row rooms pick up more from the neighbours
- 💡If mosquitoes or open bathrooms worry you — pack your own repellent and ask at booking which room types have fully enclosed bathrooms → some are open at the top for airflow but let mosquitoes in at dusk
- 💡If you need internet — finish anything urgent before you board the boat and tell home or work you will be unreachable → the entire resort genuinely has no phone signal and no Wi-Fi