Award-winning Anurak ecotourism experience reopens in southern Thailand

Anurak Com­munity Lodge, an award-win­ning eco­tour­ism exper­i­ence in south­ern Thai­l­and, has fully reopened fol­low­ing two years of COV­ID-related uncertainty. 

The 19-unit nature retreat, which won the PATA Grand Award for Sus­tain­ab­il­ity in 2020, and is Trav­elife Gold cer­ti­fied, offi­cially reopens 1 August with room enhance­ments, a refreshed food and bever­age menu – includ­ing south­ern ‘jungle’ din­ners – and new guest activ­it­ies, such as hik­ing the Anurak Trail, cyc­ling, and guest par­ti­cip­a­tion in the ecolodge’s ‘Rain­forest Rising’ refor­est­a­tion project.

“Our new focus on reopen­ing is to make Anurak Lodge a fully func­tion­ing base­camp for qual­ity eco­tour­ism exper­i­ences in the area.” 

Chris­toph­er Cribbs, man­ager, Anurak Com­munity Lodge

Anurak Com­munity Lodge offers mem­or­able views of the adja­cent and moun­tain­ous Khao Sok Nation­al Park.

Guests can pay THB300 (US$8) to plant indi­gen­ous tree sap­lings as part of Anurak’s Rain­forest Rising pro­ject, which was cre­ated by Chi­ang Mai University’s Forest Res­tor­a­tion and Research Unit. The pro­ject is sup­por­ted by Khao Sok Nation­al Park author­it­ies. The aim is to foster plant­life diversity to encour­age pol­lin­a­tion and feed­ing by insects, birds and mam­mals such as civ­ets and badgers.

For its reopen­ing, Anurak has also sign­posted the Anurak Trail, a one-kilo­metre cir­cu­lar hike start­ing and fin­ish­ing at the lodge. It takes around 45 minutes to com­plete and passes massive fig trees, bam­boo and vine groves. The path enters a small cave and fin­ishes with a walk through cof­fee and rub­ber plantations.

On food and bever­age, Anurak’s new menu draws inspir­a­tion from loc­al south­ern Thai tra­di­tions. It includes dishes such as yel­low fish curry (pla tup­tim), stir fried pork with yel­low curry paste (kua kling moo), shrimp paste sauce with veget­ables fried egg and fish (nam prik kapi), chick­en soup with tur­mer­ic (gai tom kam­in), and spicy veget­able salad (yam puk kut).

“Many of our guests are pas­sion­ate about exper­i­ment­ing with loc­al fla­vours. It’s a big part of their south­ern Thai­l­and des­tin­a­tion experience.”

Chris­toph­er Cribbs, man­ager, Anurak Com­munity Lodge

Trips to Anurak Lodge in Khao Sok are often com­bined with vis­its to beach des­tin­a­tions such as Khao Lak, Krabi, Koh Samui and Phuket, all of which are rel­at­ively close by.

An over­view of Anurak’s Trav­elife sus­tain­ab­il­ity cre­den­tials can be viewed here. A video sum­mary of the Anurak travel exper­i­ence is here.

More inform­a­tion: AnurakLodge.com.

About Anurak Community Lodge

Loc­ated a 75-minute drive from Sur­at Thani air­port, 2 hrs 30 mins from Phuket air­port and 2 hrs from Krabi air­port, Anurak Com­munity Lodge is an award win­ning eco-retreat for act­ive life­style vis­it­ors who respect nature and loc­al com­munity tra­di­tions. The 19-key lodge offers Deluxe Green Double, Eco Double, Eco Twin options, plus one Super­i­or Safari Tent. Sur­roun­ded by spec­tac­u­lar lime­stone karst scenery, the lodge is an ideal base to explore adja­cent Khao Sok Nation­al Park and majest­ic Chiew Larn Lake. Anurak Com­munity Lodge is Trav­elife Gold Cer­ti­fied. Full inform­a­tion and book­ing at AnurakLodge.com.