Knowing who to trust when you get off a train or a bus is tricky. Backpackers stick out like a sore thumb. It isn't difficult for touts to pick out the walking ATM, like shit attracting flies you attract touts and tuk-tuk drivers. In the end you have to trust someone, and this Thailand land of the Buddha and smiles. I find it dificult to trust tuk-tuk drivers at the best of times but when they are the first to greet me I am even more suspicious. When I am jumping off of a train and I am immediately approached "Where you go?" my defensive barriers are up and I go and find information somewhere else. It might be easier just to go where the tuk-tuk driver wants to take me and just pay the extra but I like to think that I can get there under my own steam. In Lopburi I didn't have a map, I couldn't find anyone who could help apart from a cycle rickshaw driver who had fixed his sights on me even before I had gotten off of the train. I choose not to give in and wandered outside. I immediately stumbled upon a Tourist Authority Thailand sign and was sitting in the office chatting to a guy about the merits of Lopburi in minutes. When I arrived in Phitsanulok station I found a bus stop (passing the ever would be helpful tuk-tuk drivers) and was on a local bus to the coach station amongst locals. The conductor seemed to take a particular interest in me.
While being somewhat suspicious of people's intentions can be useful it can also turn you into a defensive traveller with all locals who offer help. This is Thailand and people are naturally helpful and friendly. The people who are most likely to want to get more baht out of you are those who deal with tourists most often. When one farang doesn't kick up a fuss about a high price why should the next? Even so these Thais should not be treated with contempt. In the end if they do rip you off it won't be a huge amount of money. After all "You'll never be screwed as sweetly as you will in Thailand" (I don't know who to attribute this quote to, but it's a good one).
Khao Sok National Park is beautiful. I have heard it described not inaccurately as the Garden of Eden. When you arrive on the coach from .... you are dropped off at the junction with the main road and the entrance road to the park. Along this entrance road are a series of bungalow enterprises. When you get off of the coach you are surrounded by bungalow touts. The natural response is to get defensive and ignore all these requests for your interest. I saw one guy get off the coach walk through the scrum, sit down and have a cigarette still ignoring the touts and then walk to the park gates with his pack on his back. However, the touts at Khao Sok are a tight knit bunch consisting of locals who have grown up in the area and have started businesses catering for the farang. The tout for Smiley Bungalows is the owner. I along with another couple choose Smiley Bungalows over all the other competition. Once we had the rest of the touts started moaning comically, "everyone chooses Smiley", "smiley, smiley smiley", "go off to your Smiley bungalow". When I left Khao Sok I missed the first coach and the second coach drove passed without stopping. During my two hour wait I was invited to sit down with the touts and play cards with them. I even managed to win enough money off of the owner of Smiley Bungalows to pay for my coach journey. It was a fun and friendly atmosphere.
Khao Sok has grown steadily more popular in recent years, as a highway has been built passing the gates of the park. It is still relatively quiet and peaceful in the tourist town built outside the gates although I can see it becoming overdeveloped in not too many years. Activities have sprung up to cater for the tourists. I did an Elephant trek. It was disappointing. It cost 850 Baht and lasted about two hours. It is quite something to be sitting on a bench on top of an elephant and to plod along. However, the trek element was sorely lacking. The impression in the advertising is that you will go through jungle, in fact you go up the road you drove in on and then down another dirt track to a pool. The journey back is reversed. I have been told that there are much better treks in northern Thailand, where there is more trekking for less money. The Elephants didn't appear to be mistreated by their mahouts, they had wooden canes which they used to prod the elephants. The control came from their voiced commands. I have heard stories of some very rough treatment being doled out to elephants on other treks in southern Thailand. The activities offered don't actually take part in Khao Sok. There are plenty of trails to follow in Khao Sok and you can hire a guide if you want to go further afield.
Smiley Bungalows was a particularly nice place to stay. It is the best value accommodation I have stayed in in Thailand. The bathroom had the luxury of a lukewarm shower and there was a big balcony to strecth out on. The woman who runs it is very friendly and speaks very good English. She is more than happy to sit down and have a chat with you (and play cards if you are waiting for a bus). I was charged the rate of 300 baht for a large bungalow because they didn't have any small ones left (the normal rate is 500 baht). The top photograph is the view from my balcony. They will also take you to feed the monkeys at sunset for free (most of the bungalows offer this aswell).While the town that has grown outside the gates is for tourists it has a very friendly feel. They don't seem to be fed up with the farang quite yet. There are plenty of places to eat and prices are reasonable. 
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