Budget Hotels in Khao Yai
8 Cheap Hostels & Small Resorts
in Pak Chong & Thanarat Rd!

At Home was one of the first hostels in Pak Chong and is still the best value in Khao Yai, scoring 9.4 on Booking and 4.9/5 on TripAdvisor — #2 of 73 stays in Pak Chong. It sits in town, down a lane across from the night market, about a 600-metre walk to the train station and the Bangkok bus stops, and 2 minutes to the market. The two-storey polished-concrete building is done up in loft style with bamboo, with both dorm beds and private air-con rooms with en-suite bathrooms. Guests praise the cleanliness and the owners (Nice and Cho), who help plan trips and arrange park tours. There's a shared kitchen, a simple free breakfast and motorbike rental — ideal if you arrive by train or bus and book a tour into the park.

More Than Sleep is a hostel renovated from an old building in the heart of Pak Chong town on Mittraphap Rd, opened in late 2019, scoring 8.9 on Booking and 9.5 on Trip.com with no negative reviews. It's about a 5-minute walk to the night market and street food, and roughly 10 minutes to the train station and bus stops. There are dorm beds, private rooms and group rooms, finished in warm wood, with separate men's and women's shared bathrooms with hot water and a hair dryer. What sets it apart from a typical in-town hostel is free private parking, handy if you drive, plus a shared kitchen, an outdoor mini-bar with a hill view, and a free breakfast with seasonal Thai fruit.

Proud Khaoyai is a small, affordable resort with a swimming pool on the lower stretch of Thanarat Rd (km 2), scoring 8.9 on Trip.com from 73 reviews, opened in 2019. The draw is getting a resort with a pool for far less than a design resort — rooms are clean and spacious, with a smart TV that streams Netflix, in a quiet setting. It sits at the start of Thanarat Rd, within a walk of a 7-Eleven and close to the motorway and Mittraphap Rd, so it's easy to drive into Pak Chong town and out to the cafés, though it's still a further drive to the park gate. There's free parking — a good fit for a family or a couple who want a pool on a budget.

Fortune D Plus is a 3-star hotel in the Fortune group with a low starting rate but a swimming pool and hill-view rooms, on Thanarat Rd in Mu Si, scoring 8.7 on Trip.com from 223 reviews, opened in 2018. It's a 6-storey building opposite the flower garden; many rooms have a balcony looking out to the green hills, and there's an adult pool and a kids' pool, a gym and free parking. Guests praise the friendly staff and the full breakfast. Its Thanarat Rd location makes it an easy drive to the main cafés and restaurants — a good pick if you want a hotel with a pool and brand-standard reliability at a budget rate.

Avarin is a small resort that opened in 2020, whose selling points are how clean it is and a breakfast guests mention again and again, scoring 8.4 on Booking and 8.7 on Trip.com. The modern wood-and-orange building has rooms with a private balcony, many looking out to the hills; reviewers repeatedly note how spotless it is and how the front-desk team smiles and points you to good spots. There's an on-site café and restaurant, plus free parking. It sits on the Chan Thuek side near Pak Chong town, about a 10-minute drive from town — a good base if you want a clean, newer resort on a budget and plan to drive out to see the area.

Phu View Resort is a small, affordable resort with an outdoor pool and a natural setting, in Mu Si on the Thanarat Rd side, scoring 8.2 on Trip.com. It's a 60-room resort built around quiet, spread-out gardens, with a pool, a children's playground and an on-site restaurant. Weekday rates start around ฿1,100, but weekends climb to about ฿2,000 — typical of Khao Yai, which is busiest at the weekend. It suits a family that wants a pool and room for kids to run around on a budget, used as a base to drive out to the park and the cafés.

Rimtarn is a budget in-town hotel in Pak Chong with a swimming pool and a small riverside restaurant behind it, with an overall score of about 7.8–7.9 from more than 430 reviews. The appeal is being an in-town hotel that still has a pool — air-con rooms with a fridge and TV — and about a 5-minute walk to the train station, the bus stops, the night market and a 7-Eleven. The restaurant by the water serves Thai and international food and breakfast, and there's free parking. A good fit if you arrive by train or bus and want an in-town hotel with a pool at a low rate, bearing in mind it's about 30 minutes' drive to the park.

Greenleaf is a legendary backpacker guesthouse in Khao Yai — the cheapest in this list and famous for its park tour, scoring around 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor across many reviews. It sits on Thanarat Rd at km 7.5, between Pak Chong town and the park gate. Rooms are simple fan bungalows (no air-con, cold water) with an en-suite bathroom, from about ฿350, set in a quiet green garden — basic but clean and well looked after. What brings travellers from around the world is the half- and full-day park tour, with knowledgeable guides who get you to the wildlife (gibbons, hornbills, sometimes elephants), from roughly 500–1,500 baht with pickup and drop-off in Pak Chong. There's a tasty on-site restaurant — best for backpackers focused on the park on a tight budget.