Arokayasala Pong Kham Ram (Pong Kham Ram Hot Spring)

Arokayasala Pong Kham Ram is a free geothermal spring at Ban Nam Dip in Mae Kasa subdistrict, north of Mae Sot, built around Japanese-style oak-barrel onsen baths rather than open pools. Water surfaces at around 60°C and is drawn off through bamboo taps straight from underground, so bathers soak in the barrels rather than the source itself.

The site is one of three separate hot springs clustered within a few kilometres of each other in Mae Kasa — a geothermal belt on the mountain range dividing Mae Sot from the rest of Tak province. Unlike Mae Kasa Hot Springs, where visitors cook eggs in open 70-80°C pools, Pong Kham Ram is set up for a proper soak: separate changing and bathing zones for men and women, with oak barrels sized for one or two people at a time. The mineral water carries calcium and magnesium and is largely odourless, unlike the sulphur smell typical of hot springs elsewhere, and locals credit it with easing sore muscles and general stress, though these are traditional rather than clinically established claims.

The name “Arokayasala” borrows from the Thai word for a place of healing, and the site is run more as a community health spot than a tourist attraction — there’s no ticket booth or gift shop, just the baths, changing rooms, and a caretaker collecting the small rental fee for towels or outfits.

Facilities are basic but functional — changing rooms, restrooms, and parking, with simple rental outfits available for those who show up without swimwear. The setting is rural and unhurried, a working village hot spring rather than a resort spa, and weekdays are noticeably quieter than weekends when local families turn up in numbers.

Insider Tip: Pair this with Mae Kasa Hot Springs and Mae Ka Sa Thermal Bath on the same trip — all three sit within a short drive of each other in Mae Kasa, so you can compare the oak-barrel soak here against the open egg-boiling pools elsewhere without much extra travel.

Pong Kham Ram sits in Tak province’s Mae Kasa geothermal cluster, alongside Mae Kasa Hot Springs, worth pairing on the same trip.