Biking to Krasieo Dam, Suphanburi

(Hardly a local insight… let alone a foreigner)

Last Saturday, I had a strong desire to mount my Tiger Girl again; I think I’m starting to become addicted to her. Krasieo Dam is about 85 km away from Suphanburi town in Dan Chang district the northern most point of Suphanburi province .

After doing a bit of research, I found out that Krasieo Dam is the largest earthen dam in Thailand. It is a storage dam holding a massive basin under her control, which contains about 393 million cubic meter of water. The water in the reservoir is mainly used for agriculture and water supply during the dry season – kind of a vast reserve tank.
I reached the park after a one hour ride only from Suphan town. It is not allowed to ride any vehicle on the dam but I was able to witness breathtaking surroundings. The clouds put a bit of a dampener on the day, because there wasn’t a blue sky. On the other hand, the skyline was filled with a nice range of mountains.

Fish farms are scattered all over the lake. The farms are all small scale fish farms, probably to maintain and respect nature’s prettiness. Only two species of fish are farmed here .The well known ‘pla nin’ (tilapia) and Plat thap thim’ (ruby fish. I had a short conversation with an ever friendly local farmer who told me he had to pay 100 baht tax, which allows him to farm fish for one year – ridiculously low.

(Time for lunch…… then take your pick)

At lunchtime I left the dam to search for a local restaurant near the lake. After only five minutes I was successful enough to find a nice fish one right next to the lake. I went for a grilled ruby fish. It took about 30 minutes to grill the fish. It had thought that everything was done here instantly with a fresh ruby fish from the lake. And I was right, nothing was prepared beforehand – my way of thinking was confirmed. When the dish was served there was a 1,2kg fish which filled the tray. This was one of the best fish dishes I have ever eaten in my entire life. Total damage for lunch was the ridiculous amount of 370 baht all in.

With my belly full, I went back into action with my Tiger Girl. The lovely restaurant holder told me there was a dirt road around the lake. I was eager to know just how long the reservoir was, as there was hardly any information available on the Net about this place. The scenic dirt road is covered with pebbles and holes some of them quite deep, a bit of caution is advised here. A 4x 4 car or a large tired motorbike as mine is well in place here. Riding along the dirt road, you can witness dazzling views and experience total silence, which is hard to find in this era of machines and technology, even in the countryside. The average speed on this dirt road was only 25 km/h. I had to decide against my previous idea to go around the lake, as it wouldn’t have been possible anymore to be back home on the same day. I noticed that the total length of the reservoir is about 15 km long.

I finished my visit to this great lake with a great feeling; another beautiful day well of the beaten track in Thailand. I’m a bit disappointed though, that there is hardly anything to find on the Internet about unspoiled nature like this in Thailand. Nearly everything is geared towards the well known tourist attractions. Thailand has a lot more to offer than that..
Hope you enjoyed the read and hope to bump into you again on my next exploration.

If you don’t have your own transportation, you can simply ask a tuk-tuk driver in Dan Chang to take you there. To get to Dan Chang there are direct buses from Bangkok’s Southern Bus Terminal and Suphanburi Town.