Laem Son National Park

Laemson National Park is situated on the Andaman sea coast in Ranong and Phangnga provinces. It consists of approximately 60km of coastline and 15 islands. The park was established in August 1983. The park covers a total area of 315 sq.km, of this area 85% is open water. The park is the 12th Marine National Park of Thailand and is its 6th largest.

The coastal section stretches from Ao Ang Mountain (264m) in the North to Pak Triam Mountain (155m) in the South. The coastal section of the park extands inland about 2km, but in several places stretches no further than high water mark. All the parks islands are situated nearshore, the furthest being 12km offshore. These islands are unspoilt with no permanent habitation although they occasionally act as a refuge for fishing boats during monsoon storms.

Coastal Environment, The sea around the islands and offshore is rich in marine life with many habitats present including; coral reefs, open water, seagrass beds, mangrove swamp, estuarine and beach. The park includes some very important nursery grounds for economically important species. There preservation ensuring continued supply in the Andaman sea offshore fisheries. Due to the proximity of the shore the water in the park is very often turbid with sediment thus restricting coral growth to a few locations in the park. The best coral occurs at the northern end of Kam Archipelago, but these reefs are very stunted compared to the corals present offshore at nearby Mu Ko Surin National Park.

The landscape is rocky of kang krajarn in the tanaosri rocky group. The shore area of the national park is notched and deep sea, not very far from the shore it is just like a sinking area, thus all along the sea sides are quite narrow with quite a number of small short streams from the upper inland flow out to the Andaman sea. These rivers and canals have cumulated some dirts at the estuary and sea shores, thus the areas along the sea shores nearby the estuary area and the canals are covered up with mangrove forest. Areas next to the opened sea, the shores are quite muddy and sometimes dunes might be found during low tide.

Kaey Beach This beach is just north of Khao Pak Triam, approximately 15 km north of Kuraburi town. This beach is very long and wide and is the quietest beach in the park.

Prapas Beach It is a large beach, located behind the Kumpuan Village, near Kum Nui Island. Covered with natural row of pine trees, far from headquarters 53km. It's located Ranger Station 2 (Hat Prapas).

Kai Yai Island It's the best site for snorkeling of the park. 30 minutes from Prapas Beach.

Khang Khao Island Only far from Bang Ben Beach for 40 minutes by boat trip, and 9 kilometers from headquarters. This nice and clean beach, with white and smooth sand, has a lot of corals.

Kum Yai Archipelago This is the most beautiful island in the park. The island has excellent white sandy beaches and is a popular tourist location. Nearshore are some good reefs suitable for snorkling. To reach the islands boats can be hired from Bang Ben beach, the journey takes approximately 1.5 hour.

Leam Son Beach It has a very nice white sand beach and is 4 kilometers next to Bang Ben Beach. Very high recommended for those who love to camp for bird watching because it is the living area of various types of birds.

Bang Ben Beach It is a long large beach that has smooth sand, covered with rows of pine trees. When looking from the beach view, you can see many beautiful islands in the sea. In addition, the headquaters of the National Park are situated here.