Pang Oung (Pang Tong Royal Development Project 2)

Pang Oung is the reservoir at the heart of Pang Tong Royal Development Project 2, a pine-forested royal project near Ban Rak Thai in Mae Hong Son, close to the Myanmar border. Entry costs 100 THB for foreign adults and 50 THB for children (20/10 THB for Thai nationals), and the gates run daily from 06:00 to 20:00.

The lake itself is small enough to walk around in under an hour, ringed by tall pines that were planted as part of the project’s reforestation work. Black-and-white swans — a gift from Queen Sirikit that have since become the lake’s signature sighting — glide across water calm enough to mirror the tree line on a still morning. Wooden walkways and a couple of viewing platforms give clean sightlines for photos without you needing to leave the path.

Insider Tip: Show up at first light. Between November and February, cool overnight air pools over the water and produces a low mist that burns off within an hour or two of sunrise — arrive after 8 AM in high season and you’ve likely missed it, along with the quiet, since day-trippers from Mae Hong Son town start arriving mid-morning.

Bamboo rafts start operating around 7 AM, roughly 150 THB for a 30-minute paddle with up to two people aboard. Camping is the other reason people stay past the day trip — tents with bedding rent for around 300–500 THB depending on size, with shared toilets and showers on site. Nights drop cold at this elevation even outside the cool season, so pack a proper layer regardless of when you visit.

Watch out: the access road switchbacks through forest for the last stretch, and it’s narrow in places with limited passing room. Drive it in daylight if you can, and slow down for the blind corners — it’s not a road for rushing.

Thailand’s border-area royal development projects, of which Pang Tong 2 is one, share a common purpose: resettling and supporting highland communities with alternative livelihoods to opium cultivation, while reforesting watersheds that decades of slash-and-burn farming had stripped. The pine plantations ringing the lake today are a direct result of that reforestation work, which is why the landscape here looks so different from the tropical forest typical of lowland Thailand.

Pang Tong isn’t only the lake. The nearby Pang Tong Palace grounds and the waterfall and cave system at Namtok Pha Suea and Tham Pla–Namtok Pha Suea National Park make natural add-ons if you’re spending a full day in the area.