April 23rd, 2025

Last time we were here and while it was a tender port that time we ended up in a great location. We were right on Patong beach which is a beautiful beach and in an area of town with lots of restaurants, bars and shops. I was thinking this would be the same but this time we actually docked and unfortunately it is a cargo port and nothing is close by. Also due to a strong taxi union no shuttle buses were allowed. So bottom line it was smart to have ships excursions if you wanted to go out and about. The excursion we had scheduled for today was one I was excited about. It was a cruise of Phang Nga Bay. It was an 8 hour tour since the bus ride to get to where we got on the boats was 2 hours due to distance and traffic.

The red dot is where we were docked and the blue dot is where we went. Phuket is actually an island connected to the main land of Thailand by 1 bridge.

Phang Nga is a shallow bay with 42 islands, comprising shallow marine waters and intertidal forested wetlands, with at least 28 species of mangrove; seagrass beds and coral reefs are also present. 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 film The Man with the Golden Gun, Khao Phing Kan is the home base of the villain, with the needle formed limestone rock of Ko Ta Pu. Since 1981, an extensive section of the bay has been protected as the Ao Phang Nga National Park.  (courtesy of Wikipedia)

After the 2 hour drive we got off the bus, walked through a little shopping area to a pier and had to put on life jackets to enter into the colorful longboats that would take us out into the mangroves. The longboats are quite large and a very shallow draft for the shallow waters of the mangroves.

The propellers can be easily lifted out of the water based on the depth. The boats also have a very high bow.

We had a nice day but still warm and wearing the lifejacket made it much warmer.

Most of the islands are too steep to be inhabited but made for beautiful scenery.

The James Bond island. It had tons of visitors on it.

This beach was in the movie.

After driving around the bay they take you to a floating city called Panyee village. This is actually a Japanese fishing village notable for being built on stilts. It is a muslim village so no pork or alcohol in the village. Today it is a huge tourist attraction since fishing cannot support the economy, and where most of the tour boats come and you walk the village which has schools in it and also a very robust shopping area. It also has a large dining area where they set up buffet lunches which are based on which nationality is dining.

When we got off the boat unto the village we were taken on a tour. The tour included going through several passageways that had wall to wall souvenir shops. The way the shops were set up was almost like walking through a dark, cramped alley and everyone was trying to sell you something as you walked through the gauntlet.

They had floating soccer courts and basketball courts. Also a very large mosque that connected the mainland to the city on stilts.

When the tide is out the houses are siting in mud. The restaurant area on the right that was nice and since open to the air had a very nice breeze. Our guide explained that they have running water and electricity from the mainland but we never heard a radio or TV.

We had a nice buffet lunch which was set to American standards so not too spicy. After lunch we had some free time to explore the shops before heading back to the boat drop off point.

Since all the island are limestone there were several caves that you could boat through or kayak.

Some of the 42 islands in the distance and I got lucky to get a sea eagle with his catch of fish.

Once back to the boat ramp we loaded back up on buses for the 2 hour ride back to the port. This was one of the more popular excursions and we had 6 buses that went on it and it was offered both days we were in Phuket.

Once back to the port we walked around the make shift souvenir tents and needed nothing. There were also a couple of food stalls that the ships crew was eating at but we were a little worried about the sanitary conditions so while I was looking forward to some authentic Thai food we ended up eating on the ship.

We did have a rain storm and afterwards a double rainbow.

We have another tour in Phuket on the second day in port.