Ao Phang-Nga Marine National Park Travel Guide
A spectacular natural land and seascape covering over 40 square kilometers, Ao Phang-Nga National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand.
Home to the famous James Bond Island which featured in the movie The Man with the Golden Gun and situated a short distance northeast of Phuket in southwest Thailand, the park is quite easy to get to. Visitors to Phuket can drive to the Phang-Nga peninsular and take a boat from here or take a private hire boat directly from Phuket itself.
The main reasons to visit Ao Phang-Nga are evident as soon as you arrive here as the huge limestone karsts - giant chunks of rock slammed together by shifting plates millions of years ago - now make up the 40 or more islands of the park.
The waters are emerald and blue, the local wildlife is plentiful in the shape of sea creatures and birds and the coasts are fringed with mangrove swamps. In fact, the entire area feels something like going back in time, and scientists have uncovered evidence of prehistoric man existing in the park as many as 10,000 years ago.
Getting There & Away
Ao Phang-Nga is easily reached from both Phuket and Phang-Nga. Bangkok is a 1-hour flight from Phuket, from where a 1-hour drive north takes you to the Phang-Nga peninsular and the park. To get to Phang-Nga by road, driving by hire car or traveling by bus from Bangkok takes around 12 hours via National Highway 4.