Phang-nga
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Khao Lak
Information
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When arriving
in Thailand ask for free copies of Thaiways magazine and Thaiways
maps from the information counter at airports or hotels.
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Phang-nga
Town
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| Phung Chang Cave
(Elephant Belly Cave) is located within the precinct of Wat Praphat
Prachimkhet, which is behind the Provincial Hall.
Wat Praphat Prachimkhet |
Inside the cave there are stalagmites and stalactites and a brook
flowing all year round.
Rusisawan and Luk Suea Caves
These two connecting caves are in Phra Si Nakarin Park on Phetkasem
Highway obliquely opposite to the Provincial Court. Rusisawan Cave
is in front of Luk Seua Cave. There are stalagmites and stalactites
and meandering streams.
Sa Nang Manora Forest Park is located in Nop Pring Subdistrict.
To go to the park, you have to follow Phang-nga - Krabi Route (Highway
No.4) about 3 hours, then turn right at the intersection next to
the power station.
Sa Nang Manora Forest Park |
The park is 3 km. down this road. It is a pleasant forest with
various kinds of plants and a lovely fall cascading from a hill
forming several pools suitable for swimming.
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| Ao Phang-nga National Park |
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Ao Phang-nga or Phang-nga Bay is one of the most frequently visited
marine national parks of Thailand. With an area of 40,000 sq.km.,
it comprises more than 40 islands, large and small, located to the
northeast of Phuket. It is almost like an inland lake with its east,
north and west sealed off by land and its south partly enclosed,
too.
The sea is rather shallow with an average depth of a few metres
only. The park is therefore a safe place to visit throughout the
year. The waves never reach one meter high even in the monsoon months
from May to October, though a visit from November to April is still
preferable because then the sky is clear, the sea is calm and the
trip will not be interrupted by rain.
The national park is widely known among foreign tourists for its
unique seascape. The group of islets has become known as Guilin-on-Sea.
According to geologists, the area was once above the sea.
A tour of the bay is inevitably made by boat. Visitors may travel
by a motor boat seating several dozen people, a boat with a long
shafted outboard motor or "long-tail boat" as locally
known, which seats some 10 people, or a canoe which can be ridden
by no more than three passengers and which provides a great opportunity
for tourists to explore the islets closely and even go through small
openings of the islets.
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| Attractions around the bay |
| Tham Lot is a limestone
grotto sculptured by weather and the sea water. The cave is large
enough to allow two or three boats going through side by side. There
are also stalactites hanging down from the roof, but not as beautiful
as those found in a mountain cave, probably because their formation
has been constantly interfered by forces of nature. Tourists popularly
canoe to explore nature here. |
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| Ko Tapu |
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| Khao Phingkan |
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| Phang-nga Bay |
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| Ko Panyi |
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Khao Phingkan
and Ko Tapu which are near each other, some 10 km. from Tham Lot.
Khao Phingkan means (two) hills leaning against each other. In fact,
the two islets (hills) forming Khao Phingkan are connected by a tiny
beach. But one of them is split in two, with one leaning against the
other. Standing alone in the sea some 200 metres from Khao Phingkan
is the tiny Ko Tapu, or Nail Islet. Looking like a spike driven into
the sea, it is perhaps the most photographed object in the whole marine
park. It has become a symbol of the park, especially since the Hollywood
production -The Man with the Golden Gun, starring James Bond, was
partly shot here. |
| Ko Panyi is a popular place
for a seafood lunch. It presents a very special sight with all restaurants
and some 500 houses built on stilts over the sea. In fact, they constitute
a centuries-old Muslim fishing village, complete with a mosque and
a school. |
| Khao Khian or Writing Hill
is where a shallow cave contains coloured drawings of people, crocodiles,
dolphins and sharks estimated to be about 3,000 years old. |
| Ko Hong is a
jewel on Phang-nga Bay due to its beautiful sea views and several
caves on sea accessible only by canoe. The west of the island features
high cliffs and lagoon while the east comprises a bay and a curved
white sand beach. |
| Ko Phanak By canoeing through
its small opening on sea at low tide, visitors will enter a wonderful
hidden world of its emerald lagoon. Here is a favourite spot for tourists
and a new star in Phang-nga Bay. |
| Ko Khai consists of 2 virgin
islands, located in the south of the bay which is easily accessible
from Phuket, taking only 35 minutes. The sand is white and powdery
and the sea is pure and crystal, ideal for people who love tranquility,
swimming and sunbathing. |
| How to Get to Ao Phang-nga |
| The entrance to Ao Phang-nga National Park is 87 km.
from Phuket and about 9 km. from the town of Phang-nga. From either
town just take Highway No. 4 heading southward to Khok Kloi District
until arriving at Km. 8 then turn left to Highway No. 4144 and the
park office is a few kilometres away. |
| Boat Trips |
| Boats can be hired to tour around Ao Phang-nga at the
Customs Checkpoint Pier or Surakul Pier in Takua Thung District. Or
you can contact your tour agent in Phang-nga town who organize half-day,
full-day and overnight tours. Normally the tour includes a seafood
lunch or dinner at Ko Panyi. Most travel agencies in Phuket also arrange
these same tours, at higher prices, of course. |
| For your personal safety and protection
by law, please use the services of travel agencies holding a TAT license
only. |
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