TL;DR: Erawan National Park, home to Thailand’s famous 7-tier emerald waterfall, is about 65km (1.5 hours) from Kanchanaburi town. Foreign adults pay ฿300 (US$9) entry, children ฿150 ($4.50), plus a ฿20 ($0.60) motorbike or ฿30 ($0.90) car fee. The park runs 8am-4:30pm daily, but rangers close the trail to tier 7 around 3-3:30pm and clear the upper tiers first, so arrive early if you want to reach the top. Budget 3-5 hours to hike all 7 tiers and swim, and bring cash plus a reusable bottle to avoid the ฿20 plastic-bottle deposit.
Erawan Waterfall is the single most photographed thing in Kanchanaburi province, and for good reason: seven tiers of turquoise, mineral-rich pools stepping up a forested hillside, each one a little different from the last. It’s popular enough to get crowded on weekends, but it earns the reputation. This guide covers exactly what it costs, when the gates and trails actually close, what each tier is like, and the practical details (the bottle deposit, the nibbling fish, how to get there) that most first-timers don’t find out until they’re already at the entrance.
Every price and time below is sourced and dated; see the Sources section for what we used.
Quick facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Entry fee (foreign adult) | ฿300 (US$9) |
| Entry fee (foreign child, 3-14) | ฿150 (US$4.50) |
| Vehicle fee | ฿20 ($0.60) motorbike / ฿30 ($0.90) car |
| Park hours | 8am-4:30pm daily |
| Upper-tier trail cutoff | Roughly 3-3:30pm (rangers clear top-down) |
| Distance from Kanchanaburi town | ~65km via Route 323/3199 |
| Getting there | Bus 8170 (~฿60-70, ~1.5 hrs), car/taxi (~1.5 hrs), or day tour |
| Bottle deposit | ฿20 ($0.60) per single-use plastic bottle, refundable |
| Time needed | 3-5 hours for several tiers; full day for all 7 plus travel |
| Best time to visit | Nov-Feb (dry, best footing); Sept-Nov (fuller flow, wetter rocks) |
Conversions at ฿33 = US$1 (July 2026).
How much does it cost to enter Erawan Waterfall?
Foreign adults pay ฿300 (US$9), children ages 3-14 pay ฿150 (US$4.50). Thai nationals pay a discounted ฿60 (US$1.80) for adults and ฿30 (US$0.90) for children, standard practice at Thai national parks. On top of the entry fee, there’s a separate vehicle charge: ฿20 (US$0.60) for a motorbike and ฿30 (US$0.90) for a car, paid at the gate if you’re driving in yourself. Bring cash; card payment isn’t reliably available at the park entrance booths.
| Fee | Price (THB) | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign adult entry | ฿300 | $9 |
| Foreign child (3-14) entry | ฿150 | $4.50 |
| Thai adult entry | ฿60 | $1.80 |
| Motorbike parking/entry | ฿20 | $0.60 |
| Car parking/entry | ฿30 | $0.90 |
| Plastic bottle deposit (refundable) | ฿20 | $0.60 |
What are the park hours, and when do the upper tiers actually close?
The park is open 8am to 4:30pm daily, but that’s not the same as being able to reach every tier until closing time. Access to the upper tiers, especially tier 7, cuts off earlier, generally around 3pm to 3:30pm, and rangers work top-down, clearing hikers off the highest tier first and moving down the trail as the afternoon goes on. If seeing tier 7 matters to you, don’t treat 4:30pm as your deadline; treat early-to-mid afternoon as the real cutoff, and earlier still on a weekend or holiday when the trail is busier and the walk up takes longer.
Arriving close to the 8am opening is the single best move: cooler temperatures, thinner crowds, and the full run of tiers still open ahead of you.
What are the 7 tiers of Erawan Waterfall, and how hard is the hike to the top?
The seven tiers, in order from the entrance, are Lai Kuen Rung, Wang Macha, Pha Nam Tok, Oke Nang Phee Sua, Buea Mai Long, Dong Prueksa, and Phu Pha Erawan. The full trail runs roughly 1.5-2km, and the character of the hike changes noticeably as you climb.
| Tier | Name | What it’s like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lai Kuen Rung | Flat, wide, easy; busiest tier, closest to the entrance |
| 2 | Wang Macha | Flat, spacious pool; home to the nibbling fish; food and restrooms nearby |
| 3 | Pha Nam Tok | Taller cascade, deeper pool (up to ~2.5m); some stairs |
| 4 | Oke Nang Phee Sua | Natural rock slide feature; more stairs and uneven ground |
| 5 | Buea Mai Long | Wide, scenic pools; quieter than the lower tiers |
| 6 | Dong Prueksa | Longer stretch of trail to reach; limited swimming |
| 7 | Phu Pha Erawan | Steepest, most humid climb; tallest cascade; no technical scrambling, but a steady stair climb through slippery jungle terrain |
Getting from the entrance to tier 7 takes roughly 45 minutes to 1.5 hours one-way, depending on your pace and how many stops you make to swim. None of it requires ropes or scrambling over boulders, but the upper stretch is genuinely steep, humid, and often wet underfoot, so proper closed shoes with grip matter more here than flip-flops. The lower tiers (1-2) are easy enough for almost anyone, including families with young kids; tiers 3-6 add a moderate step up in stairs and uneven ground; tier 7 is the one that separates casual visitors from those who make the full push to the top.
Can you swim, and is it true the fish nibble you?
Yes, swimming is allowed in most of the pools, and it’s the main reason people spend hours here rather than just snapping a photo and leaving. The water is a striking turquoise-green from the limestone minerals dissolved in it, and several of the lower tiers, tier 2 especially, are home to small fish that nibble dead skin off your feet and legs if you hold still in the water. It’s a mild, ticklish sensation, not a bite, and it’s become a minor attraction in its own right. Skip sunscreen and insect repellent right before swimming, since both wash off into the pools the fish and other swimmers share.
What should you bring, and what’s the ฿20 bottle deposit about?
Bring cash for the entrance fee, swimwear, a change of clothes, closed shoes with real grip for the climb (not flip-flops), sunscreen and a hat for the trail sections in direct sun, and a dry bag for your phone if you’re swimming near a waterfall spray. Food and bags are generally fine to bring in, though heavier picnic setups are more realistic near the lower tiers.
The park charges a ฿20 (US$0.60) deposit on single-use plastic bottles, refunded when you bring the empty bottle back out at the checkpoint. It’s a straightforward anti-litter measure on a trail that gets heavy foot traffic. Bringing your own reusable bottle sidesteps the deposit entirely and is simply the easier option, since you’ll want water on the hike either way.
How do you get to Erawan Waterfall from Kanchanaburi?
The park sits about 65km from Kanchanaburi town, via Route 323 and then Route 3199, and the drive takes roughly 1.5 hours.
Public bus. Local bus 8170 runs from Kanchanaburi’s bus station to the park, with departures roughly every 1.5-2 hours starting around 8am. The fare runs approximately ฿60-70 (US$1.80-2.10) one-way, and the ride takes about 1.5 hours. It’s the cheapest option and runs directly to the park gate, but it ties you to the bus schedule for the return trip, so check the last return departure before you commit to a late finish.
Car, taxi, or scooter. Driving yourself, whether by rental car, hired taxi, or scooter, gives you control over timing, which matters given the early trail cutoffs on the upper tiers. The road is a well-traveled route, not a mountain track, so it’s manageable for most drivers.
Organized tour. A day tour from Kanchanaburi bundles transport, sometimes a guide, and occasionally the entrance fee into one price, and removes the scheduling guesswork. It’s a reasonable option for a first visit or if you’d rather not deal with bus timetables or driving logistics.
Whichever way you go, this pairs naturally with a broader look at what else Kanchanaburi has to offer: see outthailand.com’s things to do in Kanchanaburi guide for how a day at Erawan fits alongside the town’s other sights, or the Bridge Over the River Kwai guide if you’re building a two-stop day.
Honest downsides
Erawan is genuinely worth the trip, but go in with realistic expectations. The upper tiers (3-7) get steep, uneven, and slippery, especially after rain, so this isn’t a casual stroll in sandals if you want to reach the top. Weekends and Thai public holidays bring real crowds, particularly at tiers 1-2 near the entrance, which can mean queuing for photo spots and a much busier swim than the postcard shots suggest. The park closes access to the upper tiers by mid-afternoon, well before the general 4:30pm closing time, which catches out visitors who arrive after lunch expecting a full afternoon to explore. And while the fish-nibbling novelty is fun, standing still long enough for it to happen means sharing the water with everyone else trying the same thing at a popular tier.
Best time to visit
Dry season, roughly November through February, gives the best footing on the trail: less mud, less slippery rock, and generally clearer water. It’s also Kanchanaburi’s more comfortable weather window overall.
Wetter shoulder months (September into November) bring a fuller, more powerful flow over the falls, which can make for a more dramatic waterfall experience, at the cost of a slicker, muddier trail and a higher chance the color of the water is less clear. If a strong, full waterfall matters more to you than easy footing, this window is worth considering; if you’re planning to hike all the way to tier 7, the dry season is the safer bet.
Planning the rest of your trip
Once Erawan is on the itinerary, check outthailand.com’s live Kanchanaburi events for what else is happening in the area the same week, and see the Kanchanaburi day trip guide for how to pair the waterfall with other stops like the Bridge Over the River Kwai without overloading a single day.
Sources
- Thai National Parks: Erawan National Park: entrance fees, hours, tier overview
- Thai National Parks: How to get to Erawan National Park: distance, route (Route 323/3199), bus 8170 fare and duration
- Portail Asie: Erawan National Park Guide 2026: hours, bottle deposit rule, tier access details, best time to visit
- The Brown Etown: Erawan Falls Guide, All 7 Levels Explored: tier names, difficulty per tier, closing times, bottle deposit
- Migrationology: Kanchanaburi’s Erawan Waterfall: tier distances, entrance fee, hours, bottle deposit
- Maratnomad: Erawan Waterfall Guide: fees, hours, tier progression
- thaiest.com: Bus Kanchanaburi to Erawan Falls Schedule: bus 8170 schedule, fare, frequency