Ton Nga Chang Waterfall

Ton Nga Chang Waterfall sits inside Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, about 40 minutes by car from Hat Yai in Songkhla province. The name means “elephant tusk,” describing the tier where the stream splits into two curved cascades that mirror a pair of tusks when the water’s running well. This is a protected wildlife sanctuary rather than a national park, which matters for what’s allowed here: fishing is banned throughout, and rules are enforced more strictly than at a typical roadside waterfall.

Seven tiers climb the hillside — Ton Ba, Ton Pliew, Ton Nga Chang, Ton Dam, Ton Nam Ploi, Ton Rue Si Koi Bo, and Ton Med Chun — connected by trails that get steeper and rougher the higher you go. The lower two or three tiers are the easy, family-friendly stop: wide pools, short walks from the car park, shallow enough for wading. Ton Nga Chang itself, the signature tier, needs a proper walk up a rock-and-root trail to reach, and the tiers beyond it are for visitors who don’t mind scrambling over wet granite.

Water volume swings hard with the season. Expect a strong, photogenic flow in the rainy months, roughly June to November, and a much thinner trickle toward the end of the dry season around March and April. If the twin-tusk shape at the Ton Nga Chang tier is the reason you’re coming, time the trip for after the rains have started rather than the cooler, drier months most visitors default to for Thailand travel generally.

Entry follows the dual-pricing structure typical of Thai wildlife sanctuaries: around 200 THB for foreign adults and roughly 100 THB for foreign children, against a Thai national rate of about 20 THB. Fees at DNP-run sites change periodically, so treat these as a guide and confirm the exact number at the gate. The sanctuary is open roughly 08:00–17:00 daily; parking, food stalls, and toilets sit near the entrance.

Insider Tip: Go on a weekday if you can — this is one of Hat Yai’s default weekend day-trip spots, and the lower pools get genuinely crowded on Saturdays and Sundays in the cooler months.

Watch out: Fishing is prohibited throughout the sanctuary, and rocks on the upper tiers get slick fast once the spray picks up — proper grip shoes matter more here than at a paved waterfall park.

Hat Yai is the obvious base for the trip — it has the transport links and accommodation to make a half-day out of the sanctuary — and Khlong Hae Floating Market makes an easy add-on back in town. The wider Songkhla coastline is worth the extra day if you have time.