KHAO LAK CALLING
We are gliding down a shallow stream on bamboo rafts, the forest on either side thick with leaning stalks of bamboo and primordial-looking ferns. Mild rapids occasionally result in wet bottoms. Otherwise, the main thrill is when our oarsman points out the local wildlife, like the mangrove cat snakes that slither along the loamy banks. Above us, monkeys chitter in the branches of giant banyan trees, and colorful birds dart in and out of the overarching foliage.
The organizers of this two-hour rafting excursion call this area Little Amazon, but it actually lies on the edge of Khao Lak–Lam Ru National Park, a sprawling tropical wilderness in southern Thailand’s Phang Nga province. It’s another highlight of a week spent in and around the beaches of Khao Lak, a destination that I’ve only recently come to appreciate.
What makes Khao Lak such a great discovery for me is that it’s been hiding in clear sight all along. Like many other Bangkok residents I know, I’d passed through the area a few times over the years en route to the Similan Islands or Phuket, about an hour’s drive south. But I never stopped. Early this
