Dramatic karst landscape of Phang Nga Bay, Thailand

Phang Nga Bay ( th, อ่าวพังงา}, ) is a bay in the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

between the island of

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands o ...

and the mainland of the

Kra Isthmus The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) in Thailand is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. The ...

southern Thailand Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus. Geography Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounde ...

. Since 1981, an extensive section of the bay has been protected as the

Ao Phang Nga National Park Ao Phang Nga National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติอ่าวพังงา) is in Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand. It includes coastal sections of Mueang Phang Nga District and Takua Thung District. Most of ...

. The park is in Phang Nga Province, at .

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coa ...

with

caves A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

, collapsed cave systems, and

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

sites are found about Phang Nga Bay. Around 10,000 years ago, when sea levels were lower, it was possible to walk from

and Krabi.

Etymology and history

''Phang Nga'' is the modern Thai transliteration of the Malay word ''pangan'', literally 'heathen, pagan, primitive people,' or as proper noun, ''Pangan'' in reference to a generalised tribe or people typically inhabiting jungle areas of the Malay Peninsula and its offshore islands. Historically, in 1824 when Siamese troops defeated the Burmese and the challengers were expelled, King Rama III renamed a major area adjacent to the bay ''phang-nga''. This bastardisation of Malay ''pangan'' offers vivid indication that the entire region was likely populated by Orang Asli or other aboriginal people.

Ramsar site

Phang Nga Bay Marine National Park was declared a protected

Ramsar Site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

with 42 islands, comprising shallow marine waters and

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

, with at least 28

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

;

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families ( Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the ...

beds and

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. ...

are also present. At least 88 bird species, including the globally threatened

Malaysian plover The Malaysian plover (''Charadrius peronii'') is a small (c. 35–42 g) wader that nests on beaches and salt flats in Southeast Asia. Description The Malaysian plover is 15 cm (5.9 in) in length. The male can be recognized by a thin b ...

(''Charadrius peronii'') and

Asiatic dowitcher The Asian dowitcher (''Limnodromus semipalmatus'') is a rare medium-large wader. Description Adults have dark legs and a long straight dark bill, somewhat shorter than that of the long-billed dowitcher. The body is brown on top and reddish under ...

(''Limnodromus semipalmatus''), can be found within the site, as well as 82

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

species, 18

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalia ...

s, three

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...

, and 17

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

species. These include the

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulnera ...

), white-hand gibbon (''Hylobates lar''), the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

serow The serows ( or ) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under ''Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals. Extant ...

(''Capricornis sumatraensis''), and the black finless porpoise (''Neophocaena phocaenoides''). A number of diverse

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

s co-exist in local communities, which practice

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

, harvesting Nypa palm fronds for

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

, and catering to an international

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

presence drawn both by the natural beauties and by the archaeological sites, which have

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

s more than a thousand years old. "The Annotated Ramsar List: Thailand", The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
/ref>

In pop culture

The most famous of the many islands in the bay may be the pair of Khao Phing Kan and Ko Ta Pu, the so-called James Bond Island; in the 1974 movie '' The Man with the Golden Gun'', Khao Phing Kan is the home base of the villain, with the needle formed

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

rock of Ko Ta Pu, off the main beach, featured prominently. Ko Ta Pu also featured in the 1997 Bond film ''

Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...

'', in which Phang Nga Bay served as a stand-in for

Ha Long Bay Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (now ''National Highways''), UK government body maintaining England's major roads * Homelessness Australia, peak body organisation ...

in Vietnam. Nearby villages include Ao Luk. In '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'', the bay was used as main photography for the planet

Kashyyyk Wookiees () are fictional humanoid aliens in the '' Star Wars'' universe, native to the forest planet Kashyyyk. They are distinguished from humans by their gigantism, hirsutism, and physical strength. The most prominent Wookiee is Chewba ...

, the home of the

Wookiees Wookiees () are fictional humanoid aliens in the ''Star Wars'' universe, native to the forest planet Kashyyyk. They are distinguished from humans by their gigantism, hirsutism, and physical strength. The most prominent Wookiee is Chewbacca, ...

, including

Chewbacca Chewbacca ( ), nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute, bipedal, intelligent species originating from the fictional planet of Kashyyyk. Chewbacca is the loyal friend and fi ...

Gallery

File:Dramatic karst formations in Phang Nga Bay, Thailand.jpg, Karst landscape, Phang Nga Bay. File:Dramatic karst landscape of Phang Nga Bay, Thailand.jpg, Karst formations, Phang Nga Bay. File:Limestone karst landscape of Phang Nga Bay, Thailand.jpg, Karst formations, Phang Nga Bay. File:Emerald tropical lagoon in Phang Nga Bay, Thailand.jpg, Tropical lagoon. File:Dreamy sunrise over Phang Nga bay, Koh Yao tropical island, Thailand.jpg, Sunrise over limestone islands, Phang Nga Bay.

References

External links