Saichol Resort

ที่นี้เขาบอกมีสามฤดูในวันเดียวกัน เช้าหมอก กลางวันร้อน กลางคืนฝน แพสายชล เขื่อนรัชชประภา Rent canoe. Free coffee and tea every morning. Delicious food. Staff good for helping. Electric 18.00pm-06.00 am. Perfect, i will be back.

If you would like a mixture of outstanding beauty ( the lake) and a trip to Dante’s circle of hell all in the same place then book this resort! Honestly, we have slept under a plastic bag in the rain in the jungle in Sumatra and the food, accommodation and service was better. The staff are surly to say the least, do not speak any English and no matter how hard you try to communicate they make it very clear that you are just a nuisance. The rooms are beyond basic, no ac, no fridge and just for that extra bit of comfort the mattress is made from granite like material and then wrapped in pleather to give you that beautiful roasting to death sensation. I made the mistake of asking if I could order some alternative food and was simply told NO. Admittedly chips are a tricky thing to cook. An added bonus is that all your drinks are included as long as you want tepid tea or awful coffee, and if you are very lucky water - but only on the boat. Now, whilst there make sure you do not miss the wonders of the night safari and cave experience with bamboo rafting. I should point out here that they are very strict on health and safety as you can not swim at the resort without wearing a life jacket, which is fine unless you are larger than a 3 year old child. The H & S however does not seem to matter anywhere else. The bamboo rafting for example, which is actually a 5 minute trip across a small stretch of water, was conducted on a raft made from basically broken bamboo and elastic bands powered by an engine that will leave you with permanent hearing loss. Once across the water you get the chance to try not to have a major accident whilst climbing a near vertical wall of mud holding some I’ll secured, frayed and wet rope. Luckily the amazing cave is on a 10 minute visit and then you get to go back on the amazing raft. The free kayaks at this resort were full of holes & we watched 2 couples sink in the middle of the lake, having to swim back. Now if this is not enough adventure for you, after your dinner is served, you don’t have to rush as it is all stone cold and mainly inedible, you can go on the magical night safari. This consists of another trip on the boat with the lovely quiet engine and floating by the shoreline looking in awe at the amazing animals - sorry no you can’t do that, there aren’t any - and then back to the bungalow, or as we lovingly named it, the prison cell. The one benefit at night is that you have electric, this is only available from 6pm to 6am by the way, and then do nothing, literally, I mean nothing. The best bit of our stay was definitely leaving. This is a memory that, however hard we try, we shall not forget. Also be warned this place goes by several different names including Klong Ka Raft House & Sai Chon Raft House.

Don’t get me wrong, Khao sok is a great location. It is beautiful, has a lot of wildlife, and I would 100% visit again. However, I wouldn’t recommend Saichol resort to my worst enemy. When we booked the tour, we were promised the world by the agent, but the real experience was far from stellar. Not sure if the agent worked directly to them, or where exactly the problems happened in the chain of command, but: They picked us up at the airport 2 hours late, because they literally forgot about our booking, even though we paid the deposit upfront. We were promised a guide that could speak in English, and were delivered one that knew maybe only a couple of words. The beds are made from the hardest material known to man, the floor boards are sketchy, broken in different places, and possibly dangerous to walk on at night. Shower water is very cold, generator only runs at night, and if you get unlucky with your room choice, you might have to listen to it humming all night. They advertise wildlife tours, but it’s really only one hour in the boat, and you will not go too far from their cabins. You might have better luck while kayaking (assuming your kayak is not leaking water). If you go Kayak, be aware that they dump their trash into a little island in the back, around 15 meters away from the cabins, so if you go close to the shore you might see monkeys eating from empty ketchup sachets, which I can only assume is not good for them. But the worst part definitely is that they also “forgot” about our schedule for the last day and didn’t get us a tour guide. We were supposed to do lots of activities after returning to the shore, but ended up waiting for 6 hours in the airport for our flight instead. If you book a tour like this, make sure to triple check, and to have in writing what activities you’re paying for, and how long each one of them will take. They might purposely sell you something that sounds like it will be half a day of fun, and when you get there you only have 30 minutes and need to run back to the car. This is exactly what happened when we visited the suspension bridge near the dam. All in all, avoid this establishment and try to not get scammed.

Beautiful exotic location, interesting guided walk and cave, but the experience ends there. The operation is like a run down budget summer camp for kids. Bland, uninteresting cafeteria style food, rotting decking and absolutely filthy mold covered room. Some rooms looked slightly better than others but the family room with toilet we had was dirtier than a jail cell. Smelled funky, sheets were stained, no mosquito netting, and no screens on windows with only a greasy old fan to move hot humid air around. The room would be a biohazard elsewhere with the amount of black mold covering most everything. It was pretty disgusting. At least there is a rock hard mattress to keep you awake all night so you can think of better decisions you’ve made in life than to stay here. When the mold and filth was pointed out to management they made lame excuses and shrugged it off. I suggest you book elsewhere. Also be warned, this place goes by a few different names (e.g. Klong Ka Raft House, Sai Chon Raft House).