Phang Nga Bay

Sail into another fearful storm


I myself first visited the Phang Nga Bay was in 1989. I also paid a couple visits afterward till 1993

Most recent one was in 2004, with our group of photography crew working on location. We even rented a luxurious speed boat (over $10,000 USD per day) trying to save time for work. It was first time visiting Phang Nga Bay for all of our team, except me. Most of them had never traveled to Thailand before, either. I could tell they had enjoyed the previous days' tropical island fun so much.

They excitedly exchanged their new findings during this luxury boat trip until we hit the unexpected super storm.

An hour later, on and off idle chats were silenced by the elevated choppy waves. Blocked out all sunlight were thick and low gray clouds. Severe jolts made several people onboard scream for hours, and the unpleasant sounds of vomiting followed…

Don's Note: Phang Nga Bay is a 400 km² bay in the Andaman Sea between the island of Phuket and the mainland of the Malay peninsula of southern Thailand. Since 1981 a big part of the bay is protected as the Ao Phang Nga National Park. i