Phang-nga Thailand a 800km ride from Bangkok

Monday, January 9, 2012

Phang-nga Thailand a 800km ride from Bangkok

Anyone interested in a car ride towards the South of Thailand? only a 800 KM ride.
If, so, here is a great possible destination: Khao Lak ( in Thai เขาหลัก ) in Phang-nga province in the South of Thailand.
Khao Lak เขาหลัก - Phang-nga

Sunset - Muang Thai beach

Khao Lak is a seaside resort located in the Takua Pa district in the Phang Nga province, Thailand and popular as a departure point for liveaboard scuba diving trips to the Similan Islands and Surin islands.
Located approx 60 kilometers North of the Phuket island on Phetkasem Road, one of four major highways in Thailand. Khao Lak is serviced regularly by bus and taxi services. Phuket International Airport (HKT) is situated 74 kilometers south on the island of Phuket. Though Thailand's economy is mostly export-dependent, Khao Lak remains mostly tourist-dependent, with surrounding agriculture and commercial fishing.

What differentiates Khao Lak from neighboring tourist destination like Phuket, is its quiet up-scale secluded coastal resorts; lack of over-crowded masses; family-friendly nighttime environment and the provincial ordinances prohibiting structures to build beyond the height of a coconut palm (albeit, more or less), keeping Khao Lak pristine.

We visited Phang-nga during the month of December and it is known to be a kind of rainy season during this month. However the weather was beautiful in most of the days, with a bit of rain in one day and a bit cloudy on another day.

Quite impressive is the speed boat tour to visit the Similan islands. They took us since morning and return to the pier of Khao Lak around 4-5 PM. The Similan islands are totally amazing with their white smooth sand and crystal clear water.

High waves - Similan islands

There was quite a wavy day I may say, waves were taller than me, I could say about 2 or 2.5 meter waves. We had lunch on an island and snorkeling near another of the islands that makes the Similan arhipelago.

In Khao Lak you can find accomodation probably starting around 1,000 BHT per night and reaching to anything you want, like 10-15K BHT per night ( 30 USD to 500 USD and more).

We found that Khao Lak is mostly for families and kids, honeymooners and others who enjoy a relaxing holiday in a quiet and clean place in Thailand.

Wedding set on the beach in Khao Lak, Thailand

During the stay in Phang-nga we tried quite a few restaurants but I must say that they are all about the same. Mostly it is food made for foreigners and not really authentic Thai food, but this is perfectly normal since I really don't know who can directly eat Thai food without staying here a while or having other contact with this type of food which, by the way, is very delicious.