Gap

ape_friedl 

I'd like a piece of that Pai! #thetowniscalledpai #ithashotsprings

They don't come much better than the hot springs of Pai (above), Chiang Mai province. 

A decidedly laid back area, it's lush valley is surrounded by nature's bounty and a pluralistic culture. Firmly established on the backpack trail, there's little negative to mention. Recent headlines focus on the town's river being a backdrop to a mid-day skinny dip, so go figure.

Elsewhere in the province, an experience (by theBlond Travels) at the Pongkwao hot springs:

'On our way we saw very old and worn out signs to the Samoeng Hot Springs. A few times the name changed to Pong Kwao Hot Springs as if someone couldn’t decide how to call it. We decided to check it out. At one point the asphalt road turned into a dirt road with no buildings in sight. Finally, we got to the end of the route where we found some fancy looking bungalows and the entrance to the Pong Kwao Hot Springs.

...

As it turned out, for 150 Baht you could have your own private hut, where you could spend as much time as you wished.

We picked one with a sign ’empty’ on its door and went it. We were tempted to just go into the water naked, but there was a big gap between the ground and the wall through which people from the nearby bungalows could see us, so we changed into the clothes we had been given.

...

it was a great experience and one that I can recommend to anyone'.

Doi Saket hot spring (also located in Chiang Mai province) has a peculiar tradition, though very Thai: bamboo shoots are boiled here in the springs. manager.co: 

'There are also people in the area. "Ban Pong Samakkee hot springs" boiled bamboo shoots for a substantial income throughout the season, by Mr. Anon Tainin, 51, Banpong Samakkee, Pa Mian, Doi Saket, Chiang Mai, said that each day he would collect bamboo shoots from the nearby forest. Villages and forests in Mae On District, Chiang Mai, were purchased from local villagers at 12 baht per kilogram. This hot water was boiled for about 12 hours before being sold. the And the city Including selling to tourists 25 baht per kilogram. 
Mr. Anon said Boiled bamboo shoots from the hot springs are fragrant. The taste is much better than the boiled bamboo with hot water. It is not enough to make good sales. Some days sold out at 100 kilos in less than 20 minutes. 
Mr. Anon said: The bamboo shoots are boiled in the hot spring of Ban Pong Samakkee. The cost to the community is 20 baht per bag to maintain the management of the community. Each sack of about 40 kilograms can generate income after deducting expenses over a period of 3 months is not less than one hundred thousand baht, this year bamboo shoots are still expensive. From the original sales of 20 baht per kilogram of this year sold 25 baht per kilogram'.

Tranquilo

trouxedela 

✈ Helder examinava e reexaminava o mapa em suas mãos, um tanto apreensivo. Tornou a indagar à recepcionista do hotel a mesma pergunta que havia feito à locadora da scooter, à garçonete do restaurante e a qualquer tailandês que encontrava na rua: "to Hotsprings, scooter OK?". Apontava o dedo para onde queria ir e esperava, mais na feição que produziria em seu interlocutor do que na frase que escutaria, uma resposta se sua façanha seria absurda ou não. Até aquele momento, ninguém havia enrugado o rosto ou esbugalhado os olhos em excesso, reprovando a idéia.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Depois de coletar toda a informação que precisava quanto à segurança do trajeto, me garantiu: "vumbora que dá pra ir!". Na manhã do dia seguinte, na praia de Ao Nang, subi na garupa da motoneta 🛵, botei o capacete rosa e abracei seu corpo: começávamos nosso trajeto de 80km para as Piscinas Termais de Khlong Thom, em Krabi, na Tailândia.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Na estrada, o meu medo se dissipou por completo quando vi que todo o acostamento era exclusivo para motociclistas e ciclistas. Afastados dos carros, dei um grito de alegria e falei "ACELERA POHA", mas sempre que alcançava os 50km/h, eu perguntava se ele queria nos matar e ordenava que reduzisse a velocidade.⠀⠀⠀⠀Demoramos tanto para chegar em nosso destino que encontramos a selva vazia; os turistas que abarrotavam as excursões matinais já regressavam para a cidade. Helder avançou com cuidado nas banheiras naturais da cachoeira Namtok Ron e sentiu o fervor das águas a 40°C. Debruçou-se na mais linda sacada e dali apreciou a tranquilidade de uma floresta silenciosa.⠀⠀⠀⠀

Less uplifting news, there's a hint of a need to upgrade everything including the above, the already very popular hot spring of Klong Thom, Krabi province (photo above). Thaivisa (Apr. 11):

'The Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports have recently held a discussion on approaches to promote two of the Kingdom's hot springs as new international tourist destinations. 

The discussion was part of a meeting between committee members on developing Thailand as a hub for health and wellness. The meeting was attended by Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanawarangkul and other relevant government officials.

According to the minister, the Ministry of Public Health has verified that a hot spring in Chae Sorn National Park in Lampang and Khlong Thom hot spring in Krabi province are safe for bathing. She is hoping that the two hot springs would eventually gain international recognition the same way as Japanese hot springs, which are known as "onsens."

The minister will instruct the Department of Tourism to conduct feasibility studies on development directions, adding that specific details of the project will be discussed with local government agencies directly responsible for the hot springs.

She is of the opinion that the tourist sites must at least have shopping venues, enough parking spaces, and enough public toilets, in order to add values to the tourist experience and ensure a fair income distribution among members of the communities'.

Banmuang has a Thai language article (Jun. 3) on the near Klong Thom located Saline hot springs of Krabi province. Once translated by google, there's not much to add:

'With more than 10 wells completed, more tourists are arriving. Especially during the holidays. There are over 1000 tourists per day'.

samspicerphoto

Natural Hot Springs paradise #amazingthailand #phangnga #thailand_ig #onsen #hotspring #khaolak

samspicerphoto

 Hot Spring paradise in Thailand - still hidden away from mass tourism #hiddengem #thailand🇹🇭 #tropicalvibes #khaolak #hotspring #thaistyle #onsen

Staying in the neighbourhood, Aladynamedfern (Nov. 2016) seeks out rural hot springs in the southern  province of Phang Nga. 

An expansive blog entry for 2 hot springs, the natural one as pictured above (and note: manager.co mentions that this place is seen by authorities as a great place to develop ...) and the more organised (though still a bit rustic) one by the name of Rommanee hot spring:

Wrapping up this posting is a photo of the little known hot springs of Krungshing (or Krungching) also located in the southern Thailand, notably the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

  pumpkin_pj 

Hot spring bathing #hotspring #hotspringbath #nakhonsithammarat #krungching #noppitam #nature #backtonature

ilovewhatido

 recharge your energy at the free local tub hot spring. birthday travel #chiangdao #travelbug #ilovewhatido #hotspringchiangdoa #hotspring #seabackpacking #birthday #scorpio #october #ilocetravelling #amazinghailand #norththailand #ilovetravelling #life #explore

source

Stinky
In all honesty there seems to be little to update to you: rains come, rains go, Governments come, governments go. Basically nothing changes.

Prices go up. And up.  In this case the entry prices to Thailands national parks. Which by the way host to many a natural soak.

If you are an obvious non-Thai then the authorities believe that a 10 fold entrance premium is required to see some of Thailand's natural secrets. 
But this does not mean that whatever national park / natural secret you are visiting is well-managed. Very often they are either overrun or visitor facilities are non-existent.

Now once more there is a new government in place, a military one which is very careful not to suggest tough measures for their peoples: the quick fix is to tax the foreign looking visitor.

Such that the government is now proposing a new fee structure with respective parks being able to charge fluctuating fees: non-transparent. TTR (Oct. 10) lists an overview but I'm pretty unsure what you pay where. What does seem pretty clear: 

'It just stinks of greed and opportunism'.

What's this to do with hot springs? Many a hot spring in Thailand has remained public and become a national park, f.i. the popular hot spring of Pai. It means that visiting a hot spring has become more expensive and one must understand the underlying message: your welcome is only genuine if you are willing to continue to pay ...

More info on the price structure of Thailand's national parks can be found on Waterfalls of Southeast Asia, here and here.

Is the hot spring of Pai your moneys worth? Source:

Tha Pai Hot spring. #hotspring #thailand #pai #relax #picoftheday

Untrained

A short blog entry on trips to Thailand (Nov. 14) on a visit to Surat Thani's Chaiya district. Famed for it's religious temples and sorts it also has a few hot springs. His finds:

'I eventually ventured along a gravel road that lead to a temple on the top of a hill. Just at the foot of the hill, a couple of ponds had been constructed from concrete. But, again, the area and the facilities appeared deserted and unused. The mineral water overflow from the concrete ponds discolored the rocks as it made its way down hill for form a small lake. The rocks looked to my untrained eye somewhat like lava, but was in Thai named Lan Lonk Prachan'.

Trips to Thailand has also recently been (Aug 10) to Samo Thong hot spring, Uthai Thani province. No report on the soaking ...

A hot spring in Tak's, Umphang district (source):

#thailand #hotsprings ️

No cooling down
Bangkok Post (Jul. 25) has some soaking related news:

'Ranong municipality has prohibited people from taking a cool dip in a canal in front of Ranong's mineral hot springs, because a strong current could cost them their life'. 

So only hot springs in the offering here.

A little made visit to Krung Ching hot springs in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Tambralinga (Sep.) stumbles onto these while making his / her way to the waterfall with the same name. The site is a good site for natural secrets of this overlooked southern province.

Tarzan & Jane #thaiSland #day1 #junglegirl #gopro #hero4 #hotsprings #krabi #vscocam

source