January 2017 – During our stay at Greenery Panvaree floating raft house resort in Khao Sok National Park, we had an absolute ball with our cameras, taking endless photos of this incredibly scenic little fairy tale hideaway on Cheow Lan Lake in Thailand.

Taking sunrise photos on the main dock at Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House

Kayaks are available for guests to use any time for free, and I took off to explore the coves nearby. As I pulled into one small cove after another and drifted along the shore, I was amazed that each cove had a song of its own as one resident bird or another sang its heart out deep in the trees that clung to the steep slopes.

I jumped in a kayak and went for a spin through some of the small coves near the resort

The construction of Ratchaprapha Dam to generate electricity for all of southern Thailand ended up displacing many families that lived along the river as the waters rose and Cheow Lan Lake formed.

So, there is a unique tradition at Greenery Panvaree to honor the people whose lives were so terribly disrupted and to say thanks to river goddess and to the jungle for this beautiful and precious place.

Every night Greenery Panvaree combines their personal tribute to Cheow Lan Lake’s origins with a small reenactment of a traditional annual Thai ceremony called Loy Krathong (ลอยกระทง) that takes place nationwide on the full moon of the twelfth month in the Thai calendar (usually in November) .

After dark, all of us guests at The Greenery section of floating raft houses gathered on the main dock, and we were each given a candle embedded into a small loaf made from bread flour. We climbed into a longtail boat for a short ride to the next cove and soon found ourselves drifting silently on the silky water under a canopy of stars.

After dark, guests took a longtail boat ride to honor the spirit and history of Cheow Lan Lake.

As the boat rocked gently in the waves I looked up and saw Orion sparkling in the sky. The dark night air embraced us as our hostess, Yohke, told us a moving story that took place in this exact spot about 50 years ago when it was the edge of a river rather than the surface of a huge wide lake.

A young man named Jong Dong had lived and worked on the river, and he was deeply in love with his beautiful young bride-to-be, Kaew. Just days before their wedding, he had an accident with his boat and he died. His young fiancée was so overcome with grief that a few days later she died from a broken heart.

A spirit house, or shrine, stands on the shore of the lake near the place where he died and is dedicated to the memory of “Grandfather Jong Dong” and “Grandmother Kaew.” We couldn’t see the spirit house in the dark, but we were all very touched as Yohke told this story, first in Thai for the Thai guests and then in English.

The spirit house for Grandfather Jong Dong and Grandmother Kaew — in daytime.

As night’s gentle breezes caressed us, we each held out our candles and Yohke lit them. Then we each silently made a wish and thanked the goddess of the river and the goddess of the rainforest for the beauty of this unique spot.

One by one, we reached over the side of the boat and placed our candles in the water. The little bread loaves that carried the flickering candles slowly floated away. This is the essence of the Loy Krathong celebration in which the light of the candle venerates Buddha and the water symbolizes the cleansing away of one’s cares and frustrations.

To keep the National Park’s lake as “green” as possibly, by morning the bread loaves would disintegrate and become food for the fish.

Cheow Lan Lake at dawn.

The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn for another longtail boat excursion out onto Cheow Lan Lake. As we drove out onto the lake we learned that the name “Panvaree” is a fun play on words with “Pan” meaning “1,000” in Thai and “Varee” being the name of the owner’s mother as well as the word “river” in Thai.

Along with our companion Greenery Panvaree guests (a local Thai family enjoying a family reunion), we took an early morning longtail boat ride with our hostess Yohke (left).

Mist and fog clung to the mountainsides as we cruised along.

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In many places the tallest of the trees that once lined the river’s edge stuck up above the surface of the water.

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And everywhere around us the jungle slowly awoke and the sounds of exotic birds and other creatures filled the air.

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Eventually our driver stopped the boat and let us drift right up to the shore in one cove. He pointed up at a tree and we all gazed up in wonder as we heard something very big moving around in the tree.

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Tree limbs shook and leaves rustled, and then we saw two huge Great Hornbills high above us. These are hefty birds that are about the size of a pelican, and they made guttural noises as they moved about on the branches. They seemed to be ignoring us in our longtail boat just below them.

Suddenly, one took off into the sky with a majestic sweep of his huge wings. Then the other flew away too. Wow.

A Great Hornbill takes flight above us… Magnificent!

When Yohke had told us before the boat ride that we might see hornbills, I had no idea what she was talking about. But when we returned to our room and I into our bathroom, I suddenly recognized the image that was hand painted on the lovely ceramic sink basin!

The handmade sink basin in our room was decorated with images of Great Hornbills – Cool!

It was special touches like these that made Greenery Panvaree floating raft houses such a unique spot to visit. We learned that the great hornbills hang around in the jungle by the lake quite a bit, and they are a mascot for Greenery Panvaree.

We then had a traditional Thai lunch in the main raft house restaurant, and Mark got a wonderful photo of the pretty young women who had been taking care of us during our stay.

The staff at Greenery Panvaree took great care of us.

Then our captain brought our longtail boat around to the dock once again for an afternoon excursion on the lake.

More adventures ahead!

Again, the exotic scenery of towering limestone cliffs in the background with lush jungle vegetation in the foreground caught our imagination as we slipped by on the lake.

Incredible scenery on Cheow Lan Lake

Eventually we pulled into a cove where the mist of the rainforest moisture hung heavily in the air.

A small settlement emerges on the misty shore.

We got off the longtail boat and began a trek through the jungle to another lake. The path was wide and it was an easy walk despite the truly sultry heat that enveloped us.

Suddenly, someone up ahead pointed into a tree. As we approached we saw something dark and then caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes peering out through the leaves.

A Dusky Leaf Monkey peaks out at us.

It was a dusky leaf monkey, and he was as happy as could be as he quietly sat in the shade of the leaves.

What a cutie pie. Look at that tail!

We had seen longtail monkeys in Kanchanaburi when we visited the Lawa Cave, but this was a monkey of a different color and totally different personality. What wonderful good fortune that he was in the trees watching our parade of humans go by!

“Sittin’ on a corner watchin’ all the girls go by.”

The path opened up and some buildings appeared, and off to one side we saw a pineapple growing.

Down on the ground a pineapple was ready to pick!

Then we saw the lake we had been hiking to, complete with long bamboo rafts waiting for us on the shore.

Long rafts made of bamboo logs were waiting to take tourists out to Coral Cave (Pakarang Cave).

These are very cool rafts that are 100% bamboo. Because the bamboo logs have sealed hollow chambers, they are extremely buoyant and easily support lots of people sitting on them.

Bamboo raft.

We all climbed aboard and our raft pilot maneuvered the engine to get us turned around and headed onto the lake.

Our pilot turned the bamboo raft around to head out on the lake.

We zipped across the small lake and were delivered to a very short hiking trail to Coral Cave (Pakarang Cave). The trail was a little slippery in one spot because of the moisture of the rainforest and the cave, but there were railings to help us keep our balance.

Once inside, we were greeted by fabulous stalactite and stalagmite formations. Some were very long fins.

Coral Cave was filled with beautiful formations.

Others were little crystaline formations and still others were like mammoth fall leaves or giant clams.

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After a refreshingly cool meander through the cave, we hopped back on the bamboo raft and hiked back through the jungle to our longtail boat which was waiting for us on Cheow Lan Lake.

Our longtail boat was waiting for us!

Along with pretty flowers growing here and there, Mark spotted a wonderful pinwheel shaped dried flower on the ground.

Nature’s pinwheel.

There were a few shops and resting areas under simple bamboo shade ramadas near the boat and we roamed around a bit.

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We’d been drinking water like mad, but what fun it was to get a Coke with the beautiful Thai script letters on the side of the can!

Have a Coke and a Smile! (Or a Leo beer!)

As Yohke explained to me later, Thai people love to have organized activities as part of their vacations, and after a brief few hours of relaxing back at our delightful floating bungalow at Greenery Panvaree, we set out on one last longtail boating excursion on Cheow Lan Lake.

Mountain views on Cheow Lan Lake.

The sun was setting and it cast a wonderful golden glow across the tall limestone rock formations on the water’s edge.

What a ride!

Our captain took us to Little Ha Long Bay, which is named for the much more famous Ha Long Bay in Vietnam because of the resemblance in the rock formations.

Little Ha Long Bay is a miniature version of its renowned namesake in Vietnam

This is a favorite spot for selfies, and we all took turns getting our photos taken with the rocks behind us. What a hoot!

Our stay at Greenery Panvaree floating raft house will always be a treasured memory. It is an unusual destination that few foreign tourists know about, and we feel blessed that we found this jewel on the internet prior to our trip and arranged to spend a few days there.

More info and links below.

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More info about Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House:

• The Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House Resort – Official Website

Be sure to choose the “English Only” menu below the top photo on the home page to see the English language pages. To read the Thai language pages auto-translated into English, use Google Chrome and install the Google Translate plugin for Chrome. The resort’s owner Yohke speaks English fluently and she is the one who responds to email inquiries. Email here.

• Rooms and Rates at Greenery Panvaree – Official Website

Rooms are booked in packages of 1 or 2 nights (you can opt to stay longer too). A jungle hike, cave tour, and longtail boat rides at dawn and after dark are included in the package, depending on how many nights you stay. Our 3 day / 2 night tour was 14,900 Baht or about $440 US total for two people (National Park fee of 600 Baht ($18 US) for 2 people paid separately).

• Location of Greenery Panvaree and Coral Cave (Pakarang Cave) – Longtail boat – hike – bamboo raft trip
• Greenery Panvaree Reviews – TripAdvisor Reviews
• Western Union – The most common way for foreigners to put a deposit on a room booking

Other blog posts from our travels in Thailand:

• Snorkeling Ko Rok with Dive & Relax – Underwater Magic in Thailand!
• Cheow Lan Lake Tour in Khao Sok with Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House
• Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House – Khao Sok National Park… Wow!
• Kanchanaburi, Thailand – History, Caves, Monkeys & Exotic Fruit!
• Huay Mae Khamin – Thailand’s Most Beautiful Waterfall – Mellow Adventures
• Erawan Falls – Jewel of Erawan National Park – with Mellow Adventures
• Train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi – A Ride Through Thailand’s Countryside
• Damnoen Saduak Floating Market – Bangkok or Disney’s Epcot Center?
• One Day in Bangkok – A trip on the Chao Phraya Tourist Boat!

Our most recent posts:

More of our Latest Posts are in the MENU.
New to this site? Visit RVers Start Here to find where we keep all the good stuff!!

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January 2017 – While sitting in our fifth wheel trailer in Arizona and planning our Thailand adventure, I wanted to find the most exotic and beautiful landscape possible and to stay in some truly unique lodgings.

We found just that at the Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House on Cheow Lan Lake in Khao Sok National Park.

We had 3 days in paradise at the Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House in Khao Sok National Park

Cheow Lan Lake — also spelled Chiewlarn Lake and Chieow Lan Lake — is the jewel of Khao Sok National Park in the southern jungles of Thailand. It was created in 1982 when the Ratchaprapha dam was built on the Klong Saeng River to supply electricity to the southern half of the country. No one knew at the time just how exquisite the scenery on this lake would soon become.

Now it is a little known gem that offers sublime beauty without the crowds of tourists that are found in other parts of Thailand.

The best way to see the lake is to get out onto it in a longtail boat, and when we arrived, lots of longtail boats were waiting to take people on day trips and to deliver them to unique overnight accommodations at floating raft houses scattered in little coves around the lake’s extensive shores.

We had arranged for a three day and two night stay at the Greenery Panvaree Resort floating raft house, the finest and most deluxe floating raft house on the lake.

Exotic Longtail boats shuttle tourists on exquisite Cheow Lan Lake

Before heading out on the boat, we needed to purchase a ticket to enter Khao Sok National Park, since we would be staying within the boundaries of the National Park. It was 300 Thai Baht per person, or a little less than $10 US. The ticket was very pretty!

Our entrance ticket to Khao Sok National Park – what a neat souvenir!

In no time, we boarded the longtail boat that was bound for the Greenery Panvaree floating raft house. We were joined by an extended Thai family of parents and grown kids (who all live abroad) with their significant others enjoying a family reunion vacation together.

We saw longtail boats in the distance as we traveled across the lake

The magic of this lake is not only the extremely clear green water but the towering limestone mountains that encircle it. As we rode along on the water, we were mesmerized by the views in all directions.

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Longtail boats were skimming across the water both near and far.

Limestone karsts rose up from the depths of the lake.

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The ride was about 30 minutes from the pier out to the Greenery Panvaree floating raft houses. When we turned a corner and saw the row of little bungalows perched on the water, a collective “Ahhh!” went up from all of us on the boat.

Our first glimpse of the Greenery Panvaree floating raft houses. What a setting!

These charming little villas are nestled into a cove backed by enormous cliffs, and they looked utterly inviting and romantic.

What an exotic place to spend a few days.

There are two groups of raft houses on either side Greenery Panvaree’s small and private cove.

Greenery Panvaree has two groups of floating raft houses, the Family Zone (left) and Greenery Zone (right)

The Family Zone is made up of five raft houses with nine rooms that are designed for families along with a main raft house with a common kitchen and restaurant building where meals are prepared and served.

The Greenery Zone, where we were going to stay, is made up of four rooms on two floors designed for couples. They are all located in one building that has a breezeway hall on the first floor. The Greenery Zone also has a main raft building with a kitchen on the first floor and a lovely restaurant with a view on the second floor.

The Greenery Zone has two floating raft buildings.
One has four rooms for guests (left) and the other has a restaurant and common area (right).

As we slipped by the Family Zone, we saw a collection of kayaks in a wonderful rainbow of colors tied up out in front of their restaurant building.

Plentiful free kayaks were waiting for guests to take them out for a paddle at the Family Zone.

As our longtail boat slowed down, a couple paddled by us in a kayak. What fun!

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When we arrived at the Greenery Zone, which is about 100 yards from the Family Zone, anchored to the bottom of the lake with its own mooring system, we stepped off our longtail boat at the dock in front of the main building and were greeted with a delicious and cold fruit juice “welcome drink” that was dark red and incredibly sweet and tasty.

As we sipped this ambrosia with our fellow guests and gaped at the views around us, our bags were whisked away to our room.

Our driver takes our longtail boat to its dock out back.

We hung out on the front dock of the Greenery Zone for a while, chatting with the staff and each other, soaking in this very unique spot.

The clear emerald water was warm, and the air was blisteringly hot and humid in the sun. One of the great things about staying here is not only enjoying the gorgeous setting but being able to jump in the water from anywhere, including right outside your own room!

The main dock by our restaurant raft house had both colorful kayaks for guests to use and big round floating couches and a swing set too.

Water toys.

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We weren’t ready to swim just yet, so we made our way to our floating raft house room. When we looked down into the water we were floored that it was teeming with fish!!

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The raft houses are linked together with floating walkways, and we were as excited as little kids as we strolled around this very cool and very unique kind of accommodations.

We spotted our longtail boat tied up to the raft house where the staff stay.

All the raft houses were connected by floating walkways.

For those who don’t want to walk, another great way to get around is by kayak!

Not only were guests playing in the kayaks, people used them to get around!

“This is Our Happy Place”

We were absolutely smitten with the charm and beauty of this very cool spot.

Super cool…

As we approached our room, we entered an open air hallway, or breezeway, that had a fun waterfront view in each direction.

Looking one way down our “hallway.”

Looking the other way down our “hallway.”

When we got to our room, we just stopped and stared!

A beautiful waterfront room in every sense of the word!

The glass doors opened right onto the water with a small walkway, and a set of stairs led right into the water for easy access to go swimming right from our room!

We opened the doors to our view…

Across the little cove, we could see the sweet floating raft houses of the Family Zone backed by towering limestone pinnacles.

…And what a view it was from our room!

Our raft house was two stories high and had four rooms in it, two on each floor. Our curiosity got the better of us, and when we noticed that two of the rooms were still unoccupied, we snuck in for a look.

Before anyone got settled in, we explored the other rooms in our Greenery Zone floating raft house. All wonderful!

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In the early evening, dinner was served in the dining room on the second floor of the main raft house. Staying at this resort is a very intimate experience, and dinner was served family style. The Thai family staying in the Greenery Zone with us was seated nearby at the next table, and they showed us how to eat some of the more exotic foods.

When we noticed a very yummy looking dark red drink being delivered to their table, I asked for one too. It is called Blue Pea Lime Juice. But it isn’t made from blue peas! It is actually made from a flower, and it is such a wonderfully refreshing drink I had it with every meal after that!

Blue Pea Lime Juice — Delicious (and not made of blue peas)!!

After dinner we wandered around the docks of this unique floating hotel in dusk’s magical light.

During the day, every so often the docks would move ever so slightly if a longtail boat went by on the lake and made a big wake or if the wind came up and rippled the water into waves. But as night fell the lake was still and the lights of the raft houses cast a warm light.

The main raft house glowed at twilight.

Cheow Lan Lake is in Khao Sok National Park, and the Thai government prohibits any building construction along the lake’s edge.

There had been people living on the river before the lake was built, and the government gave them new tracts of land located about 10 kilometers away so they could move and build new homes and lives.

The people who owned land that eventually got buried by water were given permits to build bamboo raft houses since all construction on land was prohibited.

Twelve raft house permits were granted on Cheow Lan Lake, which is about 15 miles long and several miles wide, and the grantees built twelve very simple and truly rustic floating hotels around the shores of the lake. Some were so rustic, lacking electricity and other amenities, some upscale international tourists were a bit unhappy with the accommodations.

As tourism expanded, the government gave out four more permits for prospective raft house developers to purchase, but they required them to be made of better materials and built to a higher standard.

Greenery Panvaree was one of those properties, and the young Thai couple who owns the resort, Ton and Yohke, have created a spectacular retreat that is without doubt the most beautiful and well appointed raft house on the lake.

The restaurant and kitchen building in the Greenery Zone.

Many of the raft houses, including Greenery Panvaree, are also used for packaged day trip tours. Mini-van based tour groups coming from the town of Khao Sok or Surat Thani or Khao Lak drive to the lake, jump in a longtail boat for a ride out to the raft house, spend a few hours enjoying swimming from the raft house or doing a hike in the jungle or to a cave and then return to their hotels by longtail boat and minivan.

I found it really difficult to figure out how to put together a visit to a raft house on Cheow Lan Lake that would be a 5-star adventure, despite reading endless TripAdvisor reviews and some blogs. Most people seemed to have arranged their tour to Cheow Lan Lake and a floating raft house once they arrived in a hotel that was within a one to three hour drive from the lake.

I also found travelers’ experiences at the raft houses varied tremendously, since some are simply too rustic for the tastes of many international tourists. But it was difficult to find detailed information about each individual floating raft house destination, especially contact information for the hotel managers, to be able to compare one hotel to another and get answers to questions.

Greenery Panvaree stood out as unquestionably the finest and most luxurious raft house on the lake, and reviewers loved their stays there, whether on daytrips or overnight. But again, I couldn’t figure out how to arrange to visit Greenery Panvaree specifically, as most pre-packaged tours don’t explicitly state which raft house would be on their itinerary.

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I finally found the Greenery Panvaree website, but it was written mostly in Thai. I began to realize that this is a special resort that Thai tourists cherish but that international tourists don’t visit very often. How cool is that — visiting a place in Thailand where local Thai people choose to vacation!!

I emailed the resort, and the owner, Yohke, who is fluent in English and is very well traveled herself, answered all my questions.

When I met her during our stay at Greenery Panvaree, I found out she lived in Seattle for a year and she was also a flight attendant on international flights for over a decade. No wonder she is so comfortable with English!

Because this is a small operation, Greenery Panvaree requires a 50% deposit to book a room to insure that the customer is serious about coming. Because this resort has been primarily a destination for Thai people, the transaction is done via wire transfer, which is a common method of payment for Thais in Thailand.

Western Union is easy for foreigners to use, and even though it seems scary to wire money to a far distant country to book a room, the rich reward is an incredible experience at Greenery Panvaree.

The view of sunrise from our room was breathtaking.

The remaining 50% is paid at the resort. This remaining portion must be paid in cash because the floating raft house is so remote there is no signal for credit card transactions. There is a low grade cell phone signal some of the time, and the TV in the restaurant broadcasts a Thai station. But who goes to a place like this sit on Facebook or watch TV?

A day of adventure awaits…

The owners of Greenery Panvaree are working on setting up PayPal so they can accept online credit card transactions for room deposits to make it easier for foreign tourists, but until that is up and running, tourists shouldn’t be concerned at all by the requirement to wire funds to book their room.

Greenery Panvaree was our home base for three glorious and fun-filled days. Pics and stories from those adventures will be coming soon!!

More info and links below…

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More info about Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House:

• The Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House Resort – Official Website

Be sure to choose the “English Only” menu below the top photo on the home page to see the English language pages. To read the Thai language pages auto-translated into English, use Google Chrome and install the Google Translate plugin for Chrome. The resort’s owner Yohke speaks English fluently and she is the one who responds to email inquiries. Email here.

• Rooms and Rates at Greenery Panvaree – Official Website

Rooms are booked in packages of 1 or 2 nights (you can opt to stay longer too). A jungle hike, cave tour, and longtail boat rides at dawn and after dark are included in the package, depending on how many nights you stay. Our 3 day / 2 night tour was 14,900 Baht or about $440 US total for two people (National Park fee of 600 Baht ($18 US) for 2 people paid separately).

• Location of Khao Sok Pier and Greenery Panvaree – The Longtail boat ride goes from the pier to Greenery Panvaree
• Greenery Panvaree Reviews – TripAdvisor Reviews
• Western Union – Send money online
• General Info on Cheow Lan Lake Raft House Tours – This link is for reference only

Please note that all pre-packaged tours to floating raft houses on Cheow Lan Lake in Khao Sok, like the ones listed by the company at the above link, are as much as twice as expensive when booked through them as they are when booked directly with the raft house owners. The “tour package” you receive is identical. You are simply paying more to book through a third party.

Other blog posts from our travels in Thailand:

• Snorkeling Ko Rok with Dive & Relax – Underwater Magic in Thailand!
• Cheow Lan Lake Tour in Khao Sok with Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House
• Greenery Panvaree Floating Raft House – Khao Sok National Park… Wow!
• Kanchanaburi, Thailand – History, Caves, Monkeys & Exotic Fruit!
• Huay Mae Khamin – Thailand’s Most Beautiful Waterfall – Mellow Adventures
• Erawan Falls – Jewel of Erawan National Park – with Mellow Adventures
• Train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi – A Ride Through Thailand’s Countryside
• Damnoen Saduak Floating Market – Bangkok or Disney’s Epcot Center?
• One Day in Bangkok – A trip on the Chao Phraya Tourist Boat!

Our most recent posts:

More of our Latest Posts are in the MENU.
New to this site? Visit RVers Start Here to find where we keep all the good stuff!!

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