Ko Phra Thong (, ) is an island in
Khura Buri District,
Phang Nga Province, southern
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
on the
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...
. It has an area of and is separated from the mainland by a canal. The nearest town is Khura Buri, on the mainland about east.
Ko Phra Thong is the middle link in a chain of three islands. It is largely flat with expanses of inland savanna. It has long uninhabited beaches, fringed by coconut palms. There have always been a number of special natural features of Ko Phra Thong Island. It fronts onto over eight kilometres of beach on the Andaman Sea and, in addition, over of beach on a bay containing small islands. It is from the
Surin Islands,
Richelieu Rock, and only slightly further to the
Similan Islands. All are renowned diving locations.
On the east side is a small fisher village, ''Thapayoi'', and on the southeast end is another small village, ''Thung Dap''. These villages total fewer than 300 inhabitants consisting of
Moken
The Moken (also Mawken or Morgan; ; ) are an Austronesian people of the Mergui Archipelago, a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand, and the Surin Islands. Most of the Moken live a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer ...
, a tribe of sea gypsies, and Thais. The larger village, ''Thapayoi'', has a school and a community health centre.
To the north is Ko Ra. It is long, mountainous, and covered in rain forest. The island is home to a number of animal species.
To the south is Ko Kho Khao which is similar to Ko Phra Tong.
The island is part of the Mu Ko Ra–Ko Phra Thong National Park, established in 2001.
References
External links
*
Islands of Thailand
Geography of Phang Nga province
Ramsar sites in Thailand
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