Tak - Getting to Thi Lo Su

Before going, I heard many warnings about the tough conditions and Thai web-boards are full of warnings that the road to Thi Lo Su can only be driven by a 4WD vehicle.

I heard and read similar warnings before going to Panoen Tung and they turned out to be way off the mark.

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2012/05/petchaburi-kaeng-krachan.html

The same can be said about warnings about getting to Thi Lo Su.

The distance from the entrance to Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary to the ranger station near the waterfall is around 26 km. Only pick-up trucks and SUVs are allowed onto the road, but 4WD is not compulsory. 

The 26 km cannot be said to be much of an off road challenge. I did most of the first half of the track in second gear and most of the second half in third gear. The road is better than the road to / from Somsak Mine

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2012/02/kanchanaburi-somsak-mining.html

I just recently saw a Nissan X-Trail going to Somsak and Pilok without any problems, and if such a "baby-SUV" can handle a road, then it is not that bad.

On the way to Thi Lo Su, I only engaged 4WD twice when having to drive across some muddy parts of the road. However, I think that having the right tires (All-Terrain) is more important than using 4WD. As the picture shows, having standard Highway-Terrain tires and 2WD can leave you stranded when climbing a muddy and thus slippery patch.  

After having helped the two hapless 2WD Toyotas out of their muddy mess, a 4WD Toyota with AT tires showed how not to do. Like the others, he put pedal to the metal, presumably to gain momentum going up hill. But this caused the wheels to spin, so he almost got stuck despite having all the correct "hardware". I went up the hill in second gear supplying a steady measure of torque to the wheels and avoided wheel spin.

At another soft spot, another 4WD Toyota with AT got into a mess by driving too fast. Mud can hide serious bumps and pot holes. He banged his engine block into the ground and got stuck when his front suddenly dived into a hidden hole.

So, while the park rangers are correct in not requiring visiting vehicles to have 4WD, I recommend visitors to consider their tire choice and to ensure that vehicles have extra ground clearance. Cars obviously sink down in mud and several places I could see normal pick-ups had sunk in so deep that their "under belly" had scraped along the ground.