Khlong Lan Waterfall (Nam tok Khlong Lan)

Khlong Lan National Park, Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand

About Khlong Lan Waterfall (Nam tok Khlong Lan)


Hiking Distance: 400m round trip
Suggested Time: 15 minutes

Date first visited: 2009-01-05
Date last visited: 2009-01-05

Waterfall Latitude: 16.12961
Waterfall Longitude: 99.27466

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Khlong Lan Waterfall (Nam tok Khlong Lan) was the last major waterfall we saw on our trip to Thailand.

It was a 100m tall by 40m wide giant that was said to have good flow all year long.

Khlong_Lan_028_01042009 - The Khlong Lan Waterfall
The Khlong Lan Waterfall

There were many trees that had grown near its base which made the waterfall a little difficult to photograph without a bit of creativity so that kind of kept this waterfall from being rated higher by us.

However, with the falls’ easy accessibility, it was an understatedly popular place as we didn’t encounter some of the crazier crowds like in many of the country’s other waterfalls that we visited.

The area around the falls contained pretty obvious walks leading to both sides of the stream each affording close-up views.

The path on the right side of the waterfall’s stream allowed us to get almost besides the Khlong Lan Waterfall itself, which was probably as close to it as safely possible.

Khlong_Lan_002_01042009 - Context of the brief walk leading us closer to the Khlong Lan Waterfall
Context of the brief walk leading us closer to the Khlong Lan Waterfall

From there, the falls took on an almost split appearance as a large protrusion in the cliff (possibly a huge fallen rock) split part of the falls on its way down.

With the amount of mist swirling about the plunge pool here, only a few daring types braved the turbulence of the plunge pool with the bombardment of water overhead.

Meanwhile, the path on the left crossed a bridge before meandering amongst trees.

Some of these trees were wrapped with colorful fabrics fronted by makeshift shrines for some spiritual purpose.

Khlong_Lan_021_01042009 - Colorful fabrics tied to trees before the Khlong Lan Waterfall
Colorful fabrics tied to trees before the Khlong Lan Waterfall

Speaking of spirituality, we happened to be sharing the waterfall with a group of orange-robed monks who were also enjoying the falls like tourists as they took photos, posed, and just shared the experience as a group.

I don’t think in all of our travels that Julie and I have ever encountered monks at a legitimate waterfall before.

All in all, Julie and I spent about 90 minutes enjoying the Klong Lan Waterfall from both its sides.

The walkway to get closer was well-developed, but we didn’t swim here like some of the locals did (none of the monks did).

Even though we didn’t do it, we knew there was also a 2-hour return walk (said to be 0.9 miles in each direction) from the entrance gate to the Khao Hua Chang viewpoint.

Khlong_Lan_067_01042009 - Getting right up near the plunge pool of the Khlong Lan Waterfall
Getting right up near the plunge pool of the Khlong Lan Waterfall

This viewpoint supposedly would have let us get a distant view of the waterfall surrounded by the forest as well as its mountainous backdrop.

The park literature said this was actually a good spot to see the sunrise and sunset.

Maybe next time, we’ll spend a bit more time and give that option a go.

Authorities

The Khlong Lan Waterfall resides in Khlong Lan National Park near Kamphaeng Phet in the Kamphaeng Phet Province, Thailand. It is administered by the National Park, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation Department. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Khlong_Lan_008_01042009 - Context of some people and monks chilling out or exploring the area at the base of the Klong Lan Waterfall
Khlong_Lan_014_01042009 - Monks enjoying the bottom of the Klong Lan Waterfall
Khlong_Lan_023_01042009 - Approaching the rocky left side of the Klong Lan Waterfall
Khlong_Lan_031_01042009 - While we were on the left side of the Khlong Lan Waterfall's stream, we tended to get more direct views of it
Khlong_Lan_033_01042009 - Another look at monks enjoying the Klong Lan Waterfall
Khlong_Lan_048_01042009 - This was probably as close as I got to the left side of the Klong Lan Waterfall
Khlong_Lan_053_01042009 - View of the Khlong Lan Waterfall from the left side in context
Khlong_Lan_056_01042009 - Julie approaching the Khlong Lan Waterfall from the right side
Khlong_Lan_105_01042009 - Getting closer to the Khlong Lan Waterfall while there was one lone dude having a swim at its plunge pool
Khlong_Lan_118_01042009 - A couple of bare trees fronting the right side of the Klong Lan Waterfall
Khlong_Lan_027_jx_01042009 - Another group of monks posing for photographs from a mistier spot before the Khlong Lan Waterfall
Khlong_Lan_135_01042009 - Me having a seat and chilling out while looking at the Khlong Lan Waterfall
Kamphaeng_Phet_006_01052009 - A trio of Buddhas (including a reclining one) at the Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park
Kamphaeng_Phet_052_01052009 - At the Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park, the ruins seemed to be older so the statues here possessed an alien-like property devoid of features, or they were being reclaimed by the elements like this one
Sukhothai_140_12312008 - The Sukhothai Historical Park complex (about 121km north of Kamphaeng Phet) was so extensive that Julie and I needed to tour the complex on bike!
Sukhothai_153_12312008 - But for impressive sights like this, riding a bike to take in Sukhothai Historical Park was worth the time and exertion


Khlong Lan National Park is roughly an hour’s drive southwest of the (fairly-off-the-beaten-path) town of Kamphaeng Phet (pronounced “kahm-PANG pet”).

Since we were on an escorted tour, we could only provide the sense of time and logistics but not specifics in terms of driving directions.

Kamphaeng Phet was roughly 2.5 hours drive south of the UNESCO World Heritage Sukhothai. Sukhothai was about 300km (4 hours drive) south of Chiang Mai and 173km (3 hours drive) east of Mae Sot.

For general context, Chiang Mai was roughly 700km north of Bangkok. It would take around 9 hours to drive or a little over an hour to fly between the cities. Had we continued driving south from Kamphaeng Phet, we might have returned to Bangkok in over 4 hours after traversing the 360km distance between the cities.

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Sweep from bottom to top seen from a distance


Sweep from bottom to top from the left side of the falls


Sweep from bottom to top of the falls near the base on its right side

Tagged with: khlong lan, national park, kamphaeng phet, central thailand, thailand, waterfall



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