LOCAL EXPERTS SINCE 2002
+66 62 424 9832 M-S 6am-11pm ET
THREE LIMESTONE TOWERS. ONE ICONIC LANDSCAPE.
The Iconic Limestone Landmark of Cheow Lan Lake
KHAO SAM KLOE – THE ICON OF CHEOW LAN LAKE
Khao Sam Kloe, also commonly written as Khao Sam Kler, is one of the best-known landmarks on Cheow Lan Lake. Three limestone towers rise directly from the water, creating the view most visitors associate with the lake. Longtail boat tours normally slow down here for sightseeing and photographs before continuing deeper into Cheow Lan Lake.
THE ICON OF CHEOW LAN LAKE
Three Limestone Towers Rising from the Lake
Khao Sam Kloe (เขาสามเกลอ)—also commonly written as Khao Sam Kler and known to international travellers as the Three Brothers—is one of the most recognisable natural landmarks of Cheow Lan Lake.
Three distinctive limestone towers rise dramatically from the emerald water, surrounded by the vast karst landscape and tropical rainforest of Khao Sok National Park. Their unusual formation has become one of the defining images associated with Cheow Lan Lake and a favourite stop for travellers exploring the lake by longtail boat.
Unlike a viewpoint reached by road or hiking trail, Khao Sam Kloe is experienced from the water. Visitors approach by boat, gradually watching the three limestone formations emerge against the surrounding mountains.
The experience changes with the conditions. On clear mornings, the limestone towers stand sharply against the sky; after rain, mist may drift between the surrounding mountains; and when the lake is calm, the formations can reflect beautifully across the water.
For many travellers, arriving at Khao Sam Kloe is the moment the landscape they have seen in photographs finally becomes real.
THE ICON OF CHEOW LAN LAKE
LANDMARK
Three Brothers
LOCATION
Cheow Lan Lake
ACCESS
Longtail Boat
BEST EXPERIENCE
Scenic Boat Cruise
Good to know:
Khao Sam Kloe is a natural landmark rather than a developed attraction. There is no building, ticket office, restaurant, or walking trail at the formations themselves—the experience is about seeing and photographing them from the lake.
WHY IS IT CALLED “THREE BROTHERS”?
KHAO
Mountain
SAM
Three
KLOE
Close Friends / Companions
The Meaning Behind Khao Sam Kloe
The Thai name Khao Sam Kloe (เขาสามเกลอ) refers to the three distinctive limestone formations that stand close together above the waters of Cheow Lan Lake.
In Thai, “Khao” (เขา) means mountain, “Sam” (สาม) means three, and “Kloe” (เกลอ) is an old and affectionate word for close friends or companions. The name can therefore be understood as “Three Companion Mountains.”
For international visitors, the landmark is commonly known as the “Three Brothers,” a simple name inspired by the appearance of the three limestone towers standing together in the lake.
Seen from a longtail boat, the formations appear almost like three companions rising side by side from the water. Their shapes and apparent spacing change as the boat moves around them, making the landmark particularly interesting to experience from different angles.
MORE THAN A PHOTO STOP
Khao Sam Kloe has become one of the signature sights of Cheow Lan Lake, but the experience is about more than taking a photograph.
The journey toward the formations reveals the scale of the surrounding karst landscape—steep limestone cliffs, forest-covered mountains, hidden waterways, and open stretches of emerald water.
Boat captains will normally slow down near the formations when conditions allow, giving visitors time to appreciate the scenery and take photographs before continuing deeper into the lake.
Local Insight:
The Thai word “เกลอ” (Kloe) carries the sense of a close friend or companion. For that reason, the literal feeling of Khao Sam Kloe is closer to “Three Companions” than “Three Brothers,” although Three Brothers has become the familiar English name used for the landmark.
HOW KHAO SAM KLOE WAS FORMED
An Ancient Landscape Before the Lake
The limestone towers of Khao Sam Kloe were here long before Cheow Lan Lake existed.
They are part of the vast limestone landscape of southern Thailand, shaped over immense geological timescales by the accumulation, uplift, weathering, and erosion of carbonate rocks. Rainwater gradually dissolves limestone along cracks and weaknesses, helping create the steep cliffs, isolated towers, caves, and dramatic karst formations that characterise the wider Khao Sok landscape.
What visitors see today, however, is a relatively recent transformation.
When Ratchaprapha Dam was constructed and the reservoir began filling in the 1980s, water spread through former valleys and low-lying forest areas. Higher limestone formations remained above the new water level, creating the extraordinary landscape of forested islands, cliffs, narrow waterways, and isolated rock towers now associated with Cheow Lan Lake.
Khao Sam Kloe became one of the most distinctive examples of this transformed landscape: three ancient limestone formations rising directly from the reservoir.
ANCIENT LIMESTONE, MODERN LAKE
An Ancient Landscape Before the Lake
01 — ANCIENT LIMESTONE
Formed Over Geological Time
The limestone belongs to a much older geological landscape that existed millions of years before the reservoir.
↓
02 — KARST LANDSCAPE
Shaped by Water & Weathering
Over long periods, tropical rainfall and natural erosion helped sculpt the limestone into cliffs, caves, ridges, and isolated towers.
↓
03 — CHEOW LAN LAKE
A New Landscape Emerges
After Ratchaprapha Dam was completed in 1987, water filled the surrounding valleys, leaving the higher limestone formations rising dramatically above the reservoir.
WHY DO THE MOUNTAINS APPEAR TO RISE FROM THE WATER?
The limestone towers were not created by the reservoir. They are remnants of a much older landscape. The rising water simply transformed the valleys around them, producing the striking appearance of limestone mountains emerging directly from the lake.
THE MOUNTAINS DIDN'T COME FROM THE LAKE
The limestone formations are ancient. The reservoir changed the landscape around them.
WHERE IS KHAO SAM KLOE?
The Iconic Three Brothers of Cheow Lan Lake
Khao Sam Kloe is located within Cheow Lan Lake in Khao Sok National Park, Surat Thani Province. The landmark can only be reached by boat and is one of the best-known stops on journeys departing from Ratchaprapha Pier (Cheow Lan Lake Pier).
Unlike an attraction with a road, entrance gate, or walking trail, Khao Sam Kloe stands directly within the lake landscape. Visitors experience the formations from a longtail boat as they travel between the pier, floating resorts, and other parts of Cheow Lan Lake.
For many itineraries, the Three Brothers are not a separate excursion at all—they are naturally incorporated into the boat journey across the lake.
FROM RATCHAPRAPHA PIER
Reaching the Three Brothers by Longtail Boat
The journey begins at Ratchaprapha Pier, the main boat departure point for Cheow Lan Lake. From the pier, longtail boats travel through the reservoir toward Khao Sam Kloe, passing increasingly dramatic limestone scenery along the way.
ACCESS
Longtail Boat
DEPARTURE POINT
Ratchaprapha Pier
LOCATION
Cheow Lan Lake
EXPERIENCE
Scenic Boat Stop
HOW DO YOU VISIT KHAO SAM KLOE?
CHEOW LAN LAKE DAY TRIP
The Classic Visit
Khao Sam Kloe is commonly included as a scenic stop during Cheow Lan Lake day tours. Boats normally slow down near the formations, allowing time to enjoy the landscape and take photographs before continuing to other destinations.
2 DAYS 1 NIGHT
Part of Your Floating Resort Journey
Many overnight itineraries include the Three Brothers either while travelling deeper into the lake or during the return journey toward Ratchaprapha Pier.
This makes it easy to combine Khao Sam Kloe with a floating resort stay, cave exploration, kayaking, swimming, and wildlife experiences.
3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS
Combine It with Deeper Exploration
Longer journeys allow the famous landmark to become one part of a much broader Cheow Lan Lake experience, with additional time for rainforest, wildlife, waterfalls, remote waterways, and areas deeper inside the lake.
DO YOU GET OFF THE BOAT?
No — The Lake Is the Viewpoint
Khao Sam Kloe is primarily experienced from the boat. There is no conventional visitor platform or walking trail at the Three Brothers themselves.
Your boat captain will normally approach an appropriate viewing position when conditions allow. From there, visitors can photograph the three limestone towers with the surrounding lake and mountains as the backdrop.
LOCAL EXPERT TIP
Don't rush the photo. The shape and separation of the Three Brothers change as your boat moves around the formations. A few metres of movement can create a very different composition, so allow the captain to position the boat before choosing your photograph.