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Phuket - Phangnga Bay Our route today starts from Phuket. There're plenty of car rental services on this popular resort island so you don't need to drive your own car all the way there. (Make sure they give you a good machine, though.) Our route today starts from Phuket. There're plenty of car rental services on this popular resort island so you don't need to drive your own car all the way there. (Make sure they give you a good machine, though.) Well, Phuket is our starting point but, nope, we're not driving in Phuket - too much traffic jams and at many places road condition is awful. Instead, we're heading out to Phangnga Bay. We're not going the direct way, of course. From Saphan Sarasin - the bridge that spans the Pak Phra Channel between Phuket and the peninsula - drive on Highway 402 for a kilometre and a half, then make a U-turn in front of Wat Pa Tha Noon, and turn left onto a side road next to Ban Tha Noon Public Health Station. About 5.6 kilometres down the road, you'll find yourself at Ban Nai Yong junction. Go straight. By the way, now you're on Rural Highway 1004. Almost nine kilometres later, you'll arrive at a Y-intersection near Ban Bakan. To get to the fishermen's village of Bang Chan - Point B on the map - go right for about four kilometres. The road to the left, meanwhile, takes you to Muslim villages like Ban Ti Tae and Ban Klong Khian, which is our Point C. At Klong Khian, turn left in front of Ban Klong Khian School, and after 21.5 kilometres you'll emerge on Highway 2 (Phetkasem) at Ban Tha Yu where you should do a U-turn and continue toward Takua Thung. After almost 14 kilometres along Highway 4, you'll reach Krasoam intersection. Turn right to enter Takua Thung and the Surakul Pier. Wat Suwan Khooha is just 600 metres or so off a point on Highway 4 not far from Takua Thung. To get to Phangnga Bay from the wat, continue along Highway 4 for less than four kilometres and turn right onto Highway 4144. Ao Phangnga Marine National Park Headquarters (Point F) and the bay's main tourist pier are 2.5 kilometres and three kilometres down the road, respectively. |