Sai Yok Yai & Sai Yok Lek waterfalls (น้ำตกไทรโยคใหญ่)
The distinctive feature of Sai Yok Yai and Sai Yok Lek waterfalls is that they fall right into a river. Waterfalls are located in Sai Yok national park.
GPS coordinates: 14°26’05.5″N 98°51’04.6″E (14.434861, 98.851279)
Entrance to Sai Yok national park in 2020: 300/200 THB for foreigners (adult/child), 100/50 THB for residents. 6:00 – 18:00.
The most picturesque time: from September to December. All pictures that you will see in this article were captured in mid-December. About visiting national parks in Thailand.
Usually these waterfalls are a part of a sightseeing tour to Kanchanaburi province. Also it includes rafting (or simply swimming in life vests) along Khwae Noi river – tourists are put in the water next to Sai Yok Yai waterfall and the river brings them to Sai Yok Lek waterfall, where the staff catches them.
Khwae Noi river is suitable for swimming, but Thais say that it has some changing currents, so one should rather swim wearing a life jacket.
Right on the river there are floating guesthouses. And one of floating buildings is drawn to Sai Yok Lek waterfall from time to time, so the tourists can enjoy standing under falling water. Independent travelers can buy a boat trip along the river.
Waterfalls are ~8-9 meters high. The best view is from the opposite riverside. The most interesting places are located close to each other in this area, so I will mark them on the map in the end of article, rather than put coordinates of each place.
Besides beautiful bamboo thickets, streams running to cliffs and objects I’ve mentioned above, you will find here reminders of WWII (remains of railroad to Burma and Japanese stoves), tiny cave (it looks like a pile of stones actually) and other less remarkable sights that I even won’t mark on the map: there are quite many signposts in Sai Yok park. And like in any national park, the main treasure here is the nature.
Map
Take the map of Kanchanaburi province with you – just click the star and it will be saved in your Google account. Any locations in this region that I will add later will appear on your map.