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Krabi Province
Krabi is one of the southern provinces of Thailand, at the
shore of the Andaman Sea.
Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga,
Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Trang. The Phuket
province to the west is also neighboring, but without any
land boundary. The capital of the region is the city of
Krabi.
Geography
The province is located at the shore to the Andaman Sea.
Most notable are the solitary limestone hills, both on the
land and in the sea as islands. Rock climbers from all over
the world travel to Railay Beach to climb. Of about 130
islands belonging to the province, Ko Phi Phi Lee is perhaps
the most famous, as it was the set of the movie The Beach.
The coast of the province was badly damaged by the tsunami
on December 26 2004.
Other islands include: Ko Phi Phi Don, part of the Phi Phi
Islands, and Ko Lanta, a larger island to the south.
Accommodation on Krabi :
The limestone hills contain many caves, most having
beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. Tham Chao Le and Tham
Phi Hua To, both in Ao Luek district, contain prehistoric
rock-painting depicting humans, animals as well as
geometrical shapes. In Lang Rong Rien cave in 1986
archaeologists found 40,000 year old human artifacts - stone
tools, pottery as well as bones. It is one of the oldest
traces of human occupation in all South-East Asia. The caves
of Krabi are also one of the main sources of nests of the
Edible-nest Swiftlet, used to create bird's nest soup.
History
The first human remains in the province date back to 25,000
- 35,000 B.C., but the first recorded history dates back to
Kingdom of Ligor in 1200, when the city Ban Thai Samor was
part of this kingdom. In modern Thailand, Krabi was
administered from Nakhon Si Thammarat, even after 1872 when
king Chulalongkorn gave Krabi the status of a town. In 1875
it was made a direct subordinate of Bangkok, thus becoming
what is now a province. In 1900 the governor moved the
center of the province from Ban Talad Kao to its present
location at the mouth of the Krabi river.
Attraction at Krabi
The distinguishing feature of both Krabi and neighboring
Phang Nga is the massive limestone karsts, rising
vertiginously out of the flat rice paddies on land and as
islands from the sea. Add in some gorgeous beaches and
excellent scuba diving and rock climbing, and it's little
wonder that tourism in the area has been booming.
While less commercialized than neighboring Phuket, Krabi
Province cannot be described as undiscovered: it receives
two million visitors a year, and the major tourist areas
cater extensively for foreigners.
Krabi Province and the
Andaman Sea have a number of excellent dive sites. You can
find dive resorts at almost every coastal destination in the
region and on the islands that tourists visit. Dive resorts
on Phuket will visit some of these sites too. Most will
offer a selection of dives at the following sites:
Hin Bida (near Ko Bida) - a submerged rock best known
for its leopard sharks
Hin Daeng and Hin Muang (55km south of Phi Phi) - the
region's most famous dive sites, offering steep deep wall
diving and, thanks to their position in the open sea,
spectacular marine life; usually approached from Ko Lanta,
occasionally by overnight trip from Phuket
King Cruiser - a car ferry that sank in 1997,
providing the area with its only wreck, located at 30
meters; unfortunately its condition is deteriorating fairly
fast in the warm waters
Ko Haa (Five Islands, south of Ko Phi Phi) - has
excellent coral dives between 15m and 25m and some cavern
dives including one that allows you to surface in the center
of one of the islands
Ko Bida - an island close to Phi Phi Lay
How to Get on Krabi
By plane
see Krabi International Airport
By bus
There are regular direct bus services between Bangkok's
Southern Bus Terminal and Krabi (~ 500 baht), but probably
the best option is to take a VIP bus, which for 250 baht
more makes the 10 hour ride much more comfortable.
By train
The nearest train stations are:
- Surat Thani
- 3-4 hours away from Krabi by bus
- Trang -
2-2.5 hours away from Krabi by bus
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