chiang mai province

GPS Location
N12°54.758'
E101°43.342'
Central Plains
Nature
WiFi @ Online booking Rafting gear rental
H o w T o G e t T h e r e
From Bangkok, take the
Motorway (Highway 7)
and continue on Highway
344 until you reach Klaeng
district, Rayong province.
Then take Highway 3 at the
junction called “Talat Khao
Din”. Continue for 16 km,
you will see the sign
pointing to the national park
on your right.
Contact person:
Khao Chamao National Park
0 3802 0510
0 3889 4378
Khao Chamao
Kingdom of the carps
RAYONG PROVINCE. Although Khao Chamao can be roughly
translated as “the Get-drunk mountain”, it is not about any
drunkard who fell into the waterfall. That name actually derives from
the second of the seven tiers of this waterfall known as “Wang Matcha”,
or the Palace of the Fish.
Reach it, and you will see a huge patch of black in the clear green
water: they are a big school of Soro Brook Carp swimming and
nuzzling each other. These fish diet on the fallen fruits from the trees
by the pool, which is toxic to humans but seems to be fine for the fish.
The toxin stays in the fish’s system and once you eat them, you get a
light-headed sensation akin to being drunk.
The trail up the seven tiers of the waterfall cuts through a tropical
broad-leaved evergreen forest and mixes exercise with relaxation.
The total distance is about 1.6 km, which is moderately physically
demanding. The initial part is paved with concrete but the rest you
will need to follow a sufficiently well-defined trail and hop from rock
to rock (especially in the rainy season.) Along the way you will see
colourful butterflies and big dipterocarp trees more than a hundred
years old. The name of each tier is descriptive to its characteristic. For
example, the third tier is called “Wang Morakot”, or emerald palace,
where you can swim in the deep green pool.
Khao Chamao Waterfall belongs to the national park of the same
name and it also includes other attractions. Situated about 40 km
to the east of Khao Chamao Waterfall is a complex of 80 limestone
caves in the mountain of Khao Wong (only 16 caves are open to
visitors). There you can explore the stalactites and stalagmites and
small streams inside the caves.•
Left: The cool, clear water from the Chamao mountain top.
Right: "Wang Matcha", the palace of fish.
Discover N
Don’t miss the
second tier of
Khao Chamao Waterfall,
a medium-sized basin,
densely inhabited with
an impressive school
of Soro Brook Carp
(Neolissochilus
soroides).
Feel Y Popular among
locals, this destination
is a must if you manage
to get there during
weekdays. It is much
less crowded and the
trek can be quite a
meditative experience.
Share ❖ In increasingly
popular fish spas, Soro
carp babies are put in a
tank, where clients dip
their feet in and let the
tiny nibblers eat away
the dead skin and make
your feet softer.
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