Raksawarin Hot Springs

Ranong sits on a fault and its geothermal water is the town's defining feature - the springs at Raksawarin produce water at around sixty-five degrees, hot enough to cook with, from three main sources named father, mother and child. The water is unusual in being free of sulphur, so there is no smell, and it is piped around the town to hotels and to public bathing pools. Raksawarin Park is where the springs surface: a landscaped municipal park with the source pools fenced off, foot-soaking channels, and free public bathing pools where the water has been cooled to bearable temperatures, used by Ranong residents daily rather than by tourists. A separate spa complex charges for private rooms. The park is ordinary and municipal rather than scenic, which is the honest description; the point is that it is a functioning local facility. Source water scalds and the barriers around it exist for that reason.

What you actually see

• The three sources - father, mother and child springs at sixty-five degrees.
• The public pools - free bathing where the water has been cooled.
• The absence of sulphur - unusually odourless geothermal water.
• The local use - Ranong residents using it daily as a facility.

When to go

November to April for the driest weather; Ranong is the wettest province in Thailand and the rest of the year is very wet. Mornings and evenings are when locals use the pools.

Honest expectations

A municipal park rather than a scenic setting. Source water is at sixty-five degrees and scalds - stay behind the barriers. Modest swimwear expected at the public pools. Ranong gets extraordinary rainfall outside the dry months.

Nearby

Ranong town and the Myanmar border crossing are close; Ko Phayam is offshore.