Waterfalls in Bangkok
A visual guide from the Bangkok travel guide — see all posters in Visual Guides.
Bangkok sits about a metre and a half above sea level on a river delta, so nothing falls anywhere near it. Two to three hours out, the ground finally rises: Erawan's seven limestone tiers step down through Kanchanaburi forest in pools the colour of green glass, with small fish nibbling at ankles in the shallow ones. Khao Yai has the bigger, louder drops. Nakhon Nayok, the closest hill country to the capital, is where Bangkok families head on a hot Sunday with a cool box in the boot.
Which falls, and how far
Erawan, in Erawan National Park roughly three hours west, is the one worth the drive — seven tiers over about two kilometres of trail, with tiers two and four the best for swimming and the top two a genuine scramble. Nearby Sai Yok Noi sits beside the Nam Tok railway terminus, so it pairs neatly with the slow train along the old Burma line. Khao Yai National Park, about three hours north-east, holds Haew Suwat and the much bigger Haew Narok. Closest of all, Sarika and Nang Rong falls in Nakhon Nayok are a comfortable two to two and a half hours out.
Timing and practicalities
Flow is the whole story. September to November, at the end of the rains, is when these falls actually look like the photographs; by March and April several are down to a trickle, and Khao Yai's Haew Narok can be closed for safety after heavy rain. Weekdays are calmer — Thai weekends fill the pools and the car parks. National parks charge a foreign-visitor entrance fee, usually a few hundred baht, and Erawan operates a plastic-bottle deposit above the lower tiers. Last entry to the upper trails is typically mid-afternoon, so an early start out of Bangkok matters more than it sounds.