Those days

 

 Pai's tranquil (and natural) hot spring. Source.

A small update with a couple of recent pictures plus what could be described as a number of finds.

 

'Relaxing at the near hot springs'.

By Pedro Solona Villalobos at Mae Taeng / Chiang Dao 

A link to a Thai until now unknown hot spring. Phu Khao Nam Ron in Chaiya district, Surat Thani. This adds further info:

'Ancient hot springs is located at Lamet, Chaiya district, Suratthani Province. Hot spring is 4 km away from the center of Chaiya district. Hot spring is composed of two hot spring wells. From the folklore, Indian people in Srivijaya period enjoy this hotspring and use this hot springs as part of their religious practices. They consider this hotspring as their holy water. In those days, the king at that period created a pool for bathing'.

An instagram of Hin Dad hot springs by shishps.

Another find. I have sought but not found Wichanaburi's Wankhasm hot spring. At least that's what I think. 

Not very surprising but this Thai language website has quite a few piccies (below) as well as directions to find this hot spring. If you need to find this place that is ... 

An upcoming hot spring destination? Krabi's salt water hot spring (below) is seeing some changes. Looks like a hot destination (Too hot? No shade, lots of concrete ...) Source

  

Never heard of, Rommanee hot spring in Takua Pa district, Phnang Nga. On the way to / from Khao Sok. With some history, development activities again have only taken off in the last few years and are still somewhat limited. On and also sterile ...:
 

There are some better natural springs in Kapong. And Khao Sok National Park is a natural haven with lots of (skinny) dipping spots ....

At Chumpon's Tham Khao Plu. Source

Winners?

Votes
Back in 2009 I went to some lengths to find out what would be possibly be the most popular Thai hot springs. Now, considerably overdue, a new overview.

In the interceding years however, there have been some shifts in measuring popularity. I've settled on a mix of google, bing, flickr, google blog, tripadvisor, youtube and instagram as the basis for measuring popularity. 

The following is the line up, with in the brackets are the positions of 4 years back:

1. Sankampaeng, Chiang Mai (3) 

2. Tha Pai, Mae Hong Son (1) 

3. Hin Dad, Khanchanaburi (5) 

4. Fang, Chiang Mai (2) 

5. Klong Thom, Krabi (10) 

6. Phabong, Mae Hong Son (8) 

7. Betong, Yala (4) 

8. Raksawarin, Ranong (-) 

9. Pong Duet, Chiang Mai (8) 

10. Phasoet, Chiang Rai (-)

Pai hot spring, a find from instagram

Between the numbers
Notable in the above list are not necesarily the small changes, but the advance of Krabi's no. 1 hot spring. Certainly in the perspective that the used sources were unlimited in time, meaning that past references remain. So for major changes to take place this implies a huge increase in popularity.

What can't be read are the differences between the toppers? The first 4 are close to each other. Number 5 is in a class of it's own, while the remaining 5 are again quite close to each other.

Phra Ruang hot spring (Kampaeng Phet) is now no. 11 while 4 years ago it was seventh.

Top Thai
I also did some research into Thai language sites, using google image search, limiting myself to finds of the last year. Out of the roughly 200 recognised photo's most were from Sankampaeng with Fang hot springs a good second. Others which were often mentioned were Hin Dad, Chaeson (Lampang) and Wiang Pa Pao (Chiang Rai). 

Significantly absent were the hot springs of Pai and Klong Thom, which are very popular with foreign travellers, as well as a long trip to reach for the bangkok middle class.

On the other hand Wiang Pa Pao is a busy intersection between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai (another far away town), an ideal car/bus stop with the obligatory photo. So we might have to notice a cultural rift ...

Another particularity is the emphasis of Thai hot springs affecionado's for aesthetics. Of the first 100 photo's from the last 12 months, very few contain pictures of soakers themselves (two to be precise). In English the same search notches 12 photo's of soaking. Begs the questions: are Thai more shy? Is soaking more foreign?

With the exception of Hin Dad, the other four prominent hot springs are featured for their photographic value, the ability to make a selfie. 

Finally, whereas in English many findings concern soaaks on the tourist trail, in Thai there is a much broader number of different hot springs in the results, some surprisingly little well-known.

And what does this top 10 add to our knowledge? 
Not much, my favourite Porn Rang (Ranong, below) is way behind and there are still many nice and unseen soaks to be discovered in Thailand!

Hot pot

Just a couple of pieces to share as well as one news piece and a link to a lesser known Siamese soaking site ...: 

 

'another smaller pool, this is the least warm pool, the baby is really enjoyed it'.

Pai hot spring, from Is my place blog by Rachygal

Unfortunately no picture on this allowed, but nonetheless it's a small but interesting write up on flickr, concerning Kapong hot spring, Phang Nga Sam Spicer notes:

'This is a hidden gem and doesn't feature in a single tour itinerary! I wouldn't have known about this lovely natural hot spring if it wasn't for a Japanese friend who runs a delicious restaurant in Bang Niang, Khao Lak. (www.enzointernational.com/). If you want directions to this place, I'm sure Toshi-san will be able to provide them for you!

The hot springs are fantastic, and if you go around sunset, a lot of the locals will be there taking their evening dip! Take a few eggs to heat up in the hot spring sources and then enjoy your boiled eggs with an ice cold beer. It doesn't get much better than that!

This place is just one of the many reasons I love Phang Nga province. There is simply so much nature to be enjoyed here, much of it away from the tour buses too. It's still possible to feel like you're really exploring a jungle or getting off the beaten track'.

A testament to a great experience. I've been there! 

'in the hot pot, but so sabuy'

Yunomori onsen, Bangkok. Instagram

News: An onsen at Khao Yai?

'K.D Asset and Development Co recently invested THB650 million (US$21.87 million) in new project Zen Next, which it has earmarked as the ‘first Onsen Condominium in Thailand’.

It notes that a hot spring will be developed. One must also note that there is no natural hot spring nearby.

Kantang hot spring, Trang province. Source

Couple of images

Webstagram to rule? From instakrysss.

 Klong Thom hot spring, Krabi, Thailand

'Pai. Hot Springs after our jungle trek'

From the flickr page of Alex711

Hin Dad hot spring, Khanchanaburi. aptwentysix: 

'Outdoor hot spring bath. Thank you Gobori on your great discovery while you and your Japanese army troops invasion during World War II ;'

E-marketing:

'At Tham Khao Phlu Hotspring [Chumpon], there is a room for taking a hotspring bath with a rate of 60 Baht/hour for the first hour and then 40 Baht/hour for the consecutive hours, or you can have it all day for 300 Baht'.

Hot spring site threatened? 
The Khuan Kalong hot spring is rather non-descript hot spring in Satun province, South Thailand. Apparently it needs to be upgraded (source). The local administration wants to plough in half a million dollars so as to attract more visitors. What would you rather see? This: 

Or this:

source