About Khlong Lan Waterfall (Nam tok Khlong Lan)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Find A Place To Stay
Related Top 10 Lists
Trip Planning Resources
Nearby Accommodations
Featured Images and Nearby Attractions
Visitor Comments:
Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...No users have replied to the content on this page
Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:
If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall