Review of Hintok River Camp - SHA Extra Plus 3*

I tried really really hard to like this place because the location is just ridiculously perfect. The jungle, the river, the mon village etc… all stole my heart from the beginning. However, the all round uncleanliness bordering on filth, the fact that it is not a remote unspoilt "campsite" in the jungle but tacked onto a squalid village surrounded by a trench of raw sewerage, and the sounds of the villager's motorbikes zooming past at all hours all spoil it. The first day we were awoken by a bunch of drunk villagers partying playing loud music from their car. After three hours of this we asked to go back to Bangkok but apparently there were no cars. I was also told not to complain because "Thai ppl work very hard so who are we to tell them they can't have a good time". So, we moved to a different tent which was much quieter until the electricity cut out and it turns out our new tent was immediately next to the petrol generator which was not only noisy but also filled our tent with noxious fumes and made all of our clothes and bedding smell. We asked to go back to Bangkok but again there were "no cars" so we ended up staying for the two nights against our will. Honourable mention to the kittens with worms playing on the food prep areas including the BBQ grill which was stored on the floor and the black mould that covered pretty much every inch of our tent. One lady was feeding some ham to a very sickly cat that was begging for scraps under her table at breakfast. She was told not to bother feeding it since it will die soon anyway because someone stepped on it and broke it's back. There were also some dogs at least 50% covered in mange which was very sad to see. If it hadn't been for the courageous efforts of one staff member Lam, who went above and beyond to cheer us up our incarceration in this prison camp would have been as traumatic as it was unpleasant. I do not recommend you stay here, but if you do I'd keep it to one night only.