Beach

Koh Tapu by René Ehrhardt

Nestled in the Andaman Sea is Phang Nga Bay, famous for its limestone outcroppings jutting out of the greenish blue water and introduced to many by the James Bond movie, Man with the Golden Gun. Some of these limestone structures reach 1,000 feet and are covered by dense vegetation making them even more spectacular. Each of these little islands are named after shapes  which they resemble such as Little Dog Island or Koh Ma Chu. The most popular and iconic image of the little limestone islands is Koh Tapu, meaning Nail Island. It is only 200 meters from the white sands of Phang Nga Bay and stands at 20 meters tall.

I distinctly remember approaching Phang Nga Bay by longtail boat from Krabi on a clear day many years ago. The breathtaking site rising in the distance was awe inspiring to say the least and reminded me of the Philippine islands or the much larger limestone hills in Guilin, China on the River Li. It was a very dramatic scene with a mystical feel to it.

I have to admit though that spending more than a few hours on Phang Nga Bay is more than enough time to get some great shots and some beach time. Apart from that, the number of tourists visiting this site is far more than a healthy does (in my opinion). Despite this fact it should still be on everyone’s list of ‘must-see-beautiful-places.’

Phang Nga Bay is part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park and the Thai government has done a decent job of preserving the site. Although, mass tourism and nature have never seen eye to eye and with more and more people coming into Thailand to see such amazing sites the challenge of preserving Phang Nga Bay, much like many sites around the world, continues to get even more challenging.

Sebastien Tobler

Colliding Continents