Pilok

Pilok grew around tin and tungsten mines on the ridge marking the Myanmar border in western Kanchanaburi, first worked by small Burmese prospectors and from 1940 by a Thai state mine and dozens of private ones, with Thai and Burmese labour, and closed in 1985 when prices fell. What is left is a village at around a thousand metres with mining remains scattered through the forest - shafts, tailings, machinery, abandoned houses - and a mixed population of Thai, Burmese and Karen families. Its recent draw is the weather: at this altitude the cool season brings mist and cold that Thai visitors come for, and viewpoints along the ridge, including E-Thong village and the Pilok border-post area, have become cool-season destinations with homestays and campsites. Old shafts in the forest are unfenced and dangerous. The access road is steep and long, phone coverage is patchy, and the border here is closed to crossing.

What to look for

• The mine remains - shafts, tailings and abandoned buildings in the forest.
• E-Thong village - the ridge settlement with cool-season homestays.
• The mist - cloud in the valleys through the cool months at a thousand metres.
• The mixed community - Thai, Burmese and Karen families on the border.

When to go

November to February for the cool and the mist, which is why anyone goes. Book homestays ahead for cool-season weekends. Four-wheel drive is advised for the road.

Before you go

Old mine shafts are unfenced and genuinely dangerous - stay on tracks. The road is steep and long, four to five hours from Kanchanaburi. Patchy phone coverage. It is a sensitive border area with military checkpoints; carry identification.

Nearby

Thong Pha Phum National Park is east; the Myanmar border runs along the ridge.

Key facts