Pha Hin Koob trek (Khao Soi Dao wildlife sanctuary)

A nice mountain hike in Chantaburi good for a weekend trip from Bangkok. As far as I know this only runs on weekends - up Saturday, down Sunday. All year. Turn up at the trailhead on Saturday before 9am. No need to prebook unless you are a large group or you are going on a public holiday/long weekend. Fixed price of 300 baht per person. No extras and no dual pricing. You need to take all your own gear. A lot of people don't bother with a tent as the huge boulders provide shelter. There is also water supply (stream) at the top so you don't need to carry any. Downsides are no toilets, little English spoken and no public transport from Chantaburi (there might be a songtaew but everybody arrived by private car so if you do get a songtaew it might end up being private hire since nobody to share with).

Edit: I have read that due to elephant activity at some times of year they will not always run the trek and so if you want to be sure before driving a long way it would be best to call a day or two in advance, or try and message on Facebook, I think this is the right page, phone number on right-hand side (will probably need a Thai speaker). web.facebook.com/PhaHinKup.Chanthaburi/?_rdc=1&_rdr Also I have just noticed on that Facebook page that at least one date is 'full', although that is a public holiday. So it would seem advisable to organise in advance if going on a public holiday.

This trek is not far from the highest point in Soi Dao WS (you are climbing the same mountain) at 1600m however there is no path to the top, you finish a few km from the very top.

There is a lot of elephant activity in the area and because we camped at the ranger station the Friday night they took us with them to see an elephant that regularly comes into the fields to eat pineapple and durian. In the area there's also Ang Beng Waterfall which is small but nice. Didn't see any animals of interest on the actual trek but then you're never likely to midday in a large group (we were 30 people). The trek itself is fairly flat for the first 4km and after that it's steep for the final 4km. Porters are available and might be advisable for some. Trek starts behind the huts at หน่วยพิทักษ์ป่าบ้านทุ่งเพล - Google map it. I'll add some pictures: