I’m always on the lookout for new resorts which open and like to go and see what they have to offer. Sometimes, they prove to be kinda special and Pu Fa Eng Nam Resort is one such place.
First however, it must be said that it’s a long way from anywhere! It’s about 240 kms from Bangkok – Nonthaburi actually – and 115 kms out of Kanchanaburi.
The map here is in Thai but you just take the Erawan National Park road out of town, which is the 323 and after the Srinakarin Dam you’ll come to the ferry crossing. From there the road changes to the 3199 and the resort is well signposted in English along the way.
Seeing as the Srinakarin Dam is right on the way, it seemed a good idea to take the small detour to the top just to check it out. It has been in the news off and on for the past few years as various parties debate its readiness to withstand an earthquake, which seems a fair point as it is located on a known fault line.
When you look at the expanse of water in the lake it’s clear that you’d rather be upstream than downstream should it go. Probably only take a couple of hours to reach the town of Kanchanaburi and would do some monumental damage along the way.
Once you cross the dam, there’s a nice parking area but food is only available there on the weekends. Take time to have a look at the rather nice Buddha which is facing the lake at the end of the park.
You’ll need to backtrack to the main road and go left and just a couple of kms along the road there’s a nice place to have a bite to eat. Sorry, forgot to take any piccies there. Once you get to the ferry you can cross in 15 minutes at a cost of 60 Baht. Because we had never been there before we took the road, but it adds an extra 30kms to the journey. We took the ferry on the way back.
I counted 14 people get out of the front MU7, which by definition has seven seats. One old dear confused the cars and got in the back of ours. She got a real shock when she saw my white face!
Once across the lake the road is pretty narrow, but it’s a lovely drive and obviously if you’re going there you’re not in a mad rush so you’ll have time to enjoy the scenery along the way. The road was quite wet from the cloud which was hanging around the hills, so a tad of caution is warranted. The entrance is hard to miss on your left.
The resort is set on a headland on the edge of the Srinakarin lake and there’s plenty of green space here. You can drive right up to reception because the road is circular throughout the resort.
The accommodation is well spread out so you don’t have an immediate neighbours, but you’ll need to be well fit as it’s a decent walk from wherever you choose to stay to the restaurant or swimming pool.
You can have your choice of bungalows or raft accommodation and we chose the bungalow, mainly because it was closer to the restaurant. The way they are placed makes each one private with great views.
There’s a beautiful rotunda which can be used for meetings and just a good place to chill out in the evenings. Downstairs is a very plush VIP room complete with huge jacuzzi and the obligatory karaoke set-up.
There’s a nice little bar between the rotunda and the pool with magnificent views out over the lake.
If you have brought your driver, they have special a/c rooms for them as well and they get the same view you have.
If you prefer to stay on the floating raft they have a number of choices, depending on how many people are in your group. They range from one couple right up to eight rooms accommodating 16 or more people.
As in most resorts, the swimming pool is a feature in itself and this one flows down over three levels.
You can take a boat trip across the lake to the waterfall which is only accessible by boat and the return trip takes about three hours. They are in the process of restoring this old boat to take people on the lake for dinner.
Rooms are about 4000 Baht but if you book online they discount 50%. The restaurant was surprisingly cheap, considering there’s no other choices and while they don’t actually have a menu per se, they do have a few choices and the food was very tasty. Two people cost about 400 Baht.