Wender·Vista
Khao Sok
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileThailand
in the rainforest of southern Thailand

Khao Sok

— — limestone towers rising out of green water.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“An old rainforest in Surat Thani province, kept under one name since 1980. Cheow Lan Lake sits inside it, a flooded valley where karst peaks come straight out of the water. Floating bamboo bungalows line the quieter coves. Long-tail boats run the lake at first light, when the cliffs hold the mist and the gibbons start. — from the studio

from the studio
Khao Sok
— bring it home

Khao Sok, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Khao Sok

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Khao Sok National Park covers about 740 square kilometres of evergreen rainforest in Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, gazetted in 1980. It sits roughly 110 kilometres west of Surat Thani town and 100 kilometres north of Phuket. The park forms part of a larger contiguous forest block of more than 3,500 square kilometres that includes the Khlong Saeng and Khlong Nakha wildlife sanctuaries. Botanists describe the rainforest here as among the oldest evergreen forest on the planet, older than the Amazon, surviving the dry climatic shifts that thinned mainland Southeast Asia.

— the water

Cheow Lan Lake, the heart of the park, is not natural. It was formed in 1982 when the Ratchaprapha Dam closed across the Khlong Saeng, flooding 165 square kilometres of valley floor and leaving the karst summits standing as islands. The dam supplies hydroelectric power to peninsular Thailand. The lake holds wild Asian elephants, gaur, and a small surviving population of clouded leopard in the surrounding forest. Long-tail boats run from the Ratchaprapha pier; the journey out to the floating bungalows takes about an hour.

— the air

Khao Sok sits in the wettest part of mainland Thailand, drawing rain from both the southwest and northeast monsoons. Annual rainfall passes 3,500 millimetres in places and the rainforest is thick year. The driest, clearest months for the lake run roughly January through April; June through October bring heavy rain and the rare bloom of Rafflesia kerrii, the giant parasitic flower that can reach 70 centimetres across. White-handed gibbons call at first light from the canopy, the sound that defines the park's mornings.

— where
Thailand · Surat Thani Province
— within
Khao Sok National Park
— position
8.9134° N · 98.5483° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
65 km E
Cheow Lan Lake
reservoir
110 km E
Surat Thani
provincial capital
160 km S
Phuket
island province
N
Khao Sok
Cheow Lan Lake
Surat Thani
Phuket
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Khao Sok — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Khao Sok National Park lies in Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, about 110 kilometres west of Surat Thani town and 100 kilometres north of Phuket. It covers roughly 740 square kilometres of rainforest.

Botanists consider it among the oldest evergreen rainforest on Earth, older than the Amazon. The block survived past dry climatic periods that thinned much of mainland Southeast Asia's forest cover.

Cheow Lan is a 165 square kilometre reservoir formed in 1982 when the Ratchaprapha Dam closed across the Khlong Saeng. The flood left the surrounding karst peaks standing as steep limestone islands.

The drier, clearer months run roughly January through April. June through October bring heavy monsoon rain, swollen rivers, and the rare bloom of the giant Rafflesia kerrii flower in the forest.

Wild Asian elephant, gaur, sun bear, Malayan tapir, white-handed gibbon, hornbill, and a small surviving population of clouded leopard. Gibbon calls at dawn are the park's signature sound.

Most visitors drive or take a transfer to the Ratchaprapha pier on the lake's east side. From there, long-tail boats run roughly an hour to the floating bamboo bungalows in the western coves.

— about the piece in your home

It carries the memory well. The karst-on-water silhouette is the image returning travellers keep. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio sits cleanly on a shelf or above a desk.

Deep greens and limestone whites work in Tropical-modern, Biophilic, and warm Minimalist rooms. The tile sits well against teak, raw linen, and rooms with one or two large green plants.

Yes. Biophilic interiors have moved past leaf prints toward real landscape imagery and quieter palettes. This tile lands inside that move as a single piece, not a pattern run.

Above a standard sofa or console, a single Large reads well at eye level. A 4-tile or 9-tile Mural carries the same wall at scale when the room asks for one anchor piece.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for vertical installs in wet rooms. The colour lives inside the ceramic surface, so steam, splash, and routine cleaning do not affect it.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No abrasive sponges, no ammonia, no bleach. The finish is hand-applied and a gentle wipe keeps the surface true over time.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created in-house by Reid Wender and finished by the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nothing is licensed in or printed under another studio's name.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.