Tham Khao Plu Hot Spring

Three named hot springs — Auey Aree Than Thip, Amarit Thara, and Preuksa Chonlathan — feed the pools at Tham Khao Plu, in Lamae district about an hour south of Chumphon town. The water surfaces at 55-56°C, hot enough that locals boil eggs at the source, then cools to a soakable 38-45°C in the main bathing pools. Walking around the site is free; soaking in a pool or private tub costs a small fee, from about 5 THB for the shared pool up to roughly 60 THB an hour for a private tub.

The name gives away the site’s double identity: “Tham” means cave, and a stone staircase climbs from the pool area to Tham Khao Plu itself, a modest limestone cave with a small Buddhist shrine inside. Most visitors treat the cave as a five-minute add-on rather than the main event — the hot springs are the reason people make the drive. Steam drifts off the pools’ surface and the air carries a faint sulfur smell from the mineral content. A cool freshwater stream runs beside the hot pools, so you can alternate between hot soak and cold rinse, a combination Thai visitors treat as therapeutic rather than a novelty.

Insider Tip: Bring a few eggs from a shop in Lamae town if you want to try the local trick of boiling them at the hottest outflow point — it takes about the same time as a stovetop egg and is a genuinely fun five minutes rather than a tourist stunt.

Watch out: Facilities are basic — a few changing huts and simple toilets, no lockers. Bring a towel, a dry change of clothes, cash for the pool fee, and drinking water, since there’s no shop of any size on site.

Weekends bring Thai families for group picnics around the pools, which is part of the appeal if you like a lived-in local spot rather than a polished spa resort, but it also means the site can feel crowded by midday. Early morning, before 9 AM, is quieter and cooler for the walk up to the cave.