Phang Nga is a province in southern Thailand, just north of the Phuket province. I fell instantaneously in love with it when I glimpsed breathtaking views of clouds of mist rolling over the deep green mountains on our first day there. It is the city where what Sarah and I now refer to as “the two perfect days” in Thailand occurred. So if you have had a rough time in Thailand or during other parts of your Southeast Asia travels thus far, Phang Nga may be a great stop to add to your travels!
The seven of us (the British family and boat captain included) set out in the bay on a large wooden longtail boat. The bay is beautiful from the moment you see it and only gets better. We rode through fascinating mangrove forests and saw an extensive number of huge limestone formations jutting out of the water. We stopped on one small island in the bay to get a clear view of the famous James Bond Island (which appeared in the old James Bond movie titled “The Man with the Golden Gun”). It looked like something pulled out of the Avatar movie and was like nothing I had ever seen before (I think you’ll understand why when you look at the pictures). We also stopped on another island and the boat captain gave us each an unusually large headlamp and pointed us in the direction of a wooden ladder that lead to a huge cave (after oddly instructing us to leave our shoes behind). The cave, called “Tham Keaw Cave,” was enormous and fun to explore. We then returned to the boat to eat our free lunch which consisted of fried rice with shrimp, bananas, and a couple bottles of water. Our next stop was an isolated little beach on a different island. It’s a pretty beach and we all went swimming (you also have the option to rent a canoe here for an hour or so if you choose).
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| Mist rolling over the mountains in Phang Nga town. |
Arrival in Phang Nga
After our disappointing and failed attempt to tour the famous Phang Nga Bay via Ao Por Pier in Phuket (see our Phuket post to read that sob story), we decided to try a different approach to seeing the bay (which I was now 100% dedicated to seeing after spending so much time attempting and failing to do so). We decided to take a bus to the city of Phang Nga from the bus station in Phuket. We easily got our tickets for 90 baht each (about $3.00) and the bus conveniently left about 15 minutes after we arrived. The bus ride took about two and a half hours and dropped us off at the bus station in Phang Nga. Soon after we stepped off the bus, a man from a tour agency approached us and asked if we needed directions. He gave us a small map of Phang Nga and circled a place called “Phang Nga Inn” and said he highly recommended staying there. After a little convincing, we took his advice (and an information pamphlet about tours his company gave of Phang Nga Bay) and walked a short 5 or 10 minutes to Phang Nga Inn. The cheapest room they had was 400 baht per night (a little under $13.00) and came with real blankets, bath towels, air conditioning, and even a shower curtain (all things which we now consider luxuries)! It was a very quaint little inn with friendly owners; we would definitely recommend it to anyone planning to stop in this city.
Our next order of business was to figure out which tour to book for Phang Nga Bay. The tour offered by Mr. Kean’s Tours (which we read about in the pamphlet given to us earlier by the helpful man at the bus stop) seemed like a good option. They offer a half day tour (3-4 hours) for 500 baht (roughly $16.50) and a full day tour (7-8 hours) for 800 baht (roughly $25.75). We decided to just do the half day tour, figuring that 3 or 4 hours in the bay would be plenty of time.
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| The longtail boat we toured the bay in. |
Night Markets
There are different night markets in Phang Nga depending on which day it is. All are located in essentially the same area, and anyone can direct you there if you ask. The first night we stayed in Phang Nga, we got a little lost while trying to find the night market for dinner. I walked up to a woman standing on the side of the street and asked her if she could direct us to the night market. She asked if we were planning to walk and said it was kind of far. She then generously said, “I’m just waiting for my husband to pick me up. If you wait with me we can give you a ride there!” Her English was very good and we found out she was an English teacher at a nearby Thai primary school. Her husband pulled up in a car a few minutes later and happily greeted us. We then spent the short car ride asking her to teach us how to pronounce various phrases in Thai (Thai is a tonal language with 5 different tones and hasn’t exactly been the easiest to learn).
When we got to the night market, it was already bustling with people. There were all sorts of foods there, and trust me when I say you will have a very difficult time deciding what to have for dinner. We got large dinners on both nights for about 40 or 50 baht each (roughly $1.35-$1.65). Definitely be sure to check the night markets out while here!
If you do not get dessert at the night market and are craving something sweet (and cold), we’ve found the perfect place. It’s a little shop called “Ice Baby” located on the main street between the Phang Nga bus station and Phang Nga Inn. They serve a delicious concoction that I’m not sure how to describe other than saying it is some sort of mix between shave ice and ice cream. It comes in all different flavors (but Sarah and I both got Thai Iced Tea) and each size comes with a different number of free toppings (I got cookies and sprinkles on mine). Delicious!
Phang Nga Bay
Even with all our built up excitement and high expectations for Phang Nga Bay, it did not disappoint. A small bus picked us up from our hotel around 8:00am the next day and a friendly family of four from England greeted us inside. When we stopped at the tour company office, the same man we had spoken to earlier motioned for us to get off the bus and talk to him. He pulled us aside and told us that no one else had signed up for the half day tour so it would be cheaper for him if we just did the full day tour instead (and showed us some math that I won’t bore you with). He told us that he wouldn’t charge us any more for the full day tour as long as we didn’t tell the family from England what we paid (which we happily agreed to, obviously). He said we’d also get free bottles of water, fruit, and lunch (score). A great start to the day.
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| James Bond Island |
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| Exploring Tham Keaw Cave |
Our last stop of the tour was supposed to be a colorful little fishing village built in the middle of the bay, but the boat engine broke down just before that. The captain spent about 15 minutes trying to fix it. At one point I glanced back at the engine and horrifyingly realized oil was literally POURING out of it directly into the ocean. A minute or two later, the captain grabbed a plastic bottle from a compartment in the boat with some sort of oil/liquid for the engine and poured it into the necessary place in the engine, at which point he haphazardly tossed the empty bottle into the ocean without a second thought! At this point, Sarah and I just started laughing (while cringing inside and planning future “Save the Environment” campaigns in Asia, of course).
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| Phang Nga Bay fishing village |
Eventually, another boat had to tow us over to the fishing village and we got out to look around while the captain worked on fixing the boat. If you choose to do the overnight tour through Mr. Kean's tour agency, this is where you will be staying (the British family chose to do this, so we parted ways here). After walking around the village a bit, where at one point a lady walked up and shoved a sloth/monkey creature (wearing a diaper, I should add) into my arms and asked if I wanted a picture for 40 baht (no.), we headed back towards the boat. When we got back to the dock, the boat still wasn’t fixed and we ended up waiting around for another hour until a different boat could take us back. The bus driver from earlier that morning was conveniently waiting for us when we arrived and took us back to the bus station in Phang Nga. A successful adventure! We would definitely recommend this tour to anyone else wanting to see the beautiful and enchanting Phang Nga Bay.
For more information on Phang Nga Town, click here.
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