As do few other places on Earth, Phang Nga Bay has the power to evoke the tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, to suggest lost planets and worlds out of time.

The visitor comes upon a calm, vast expanse of bay, its pale milky-green water the setting for more than forty spectacular islands which thrust up out of the sea like towers, like fortresses and palisades, sheer limestone monoliths shaped over the aeons and fringed with jungle.

It’s partly the scale of things, the atmosphere of timeless grandeur. You feel you are a privileged visitor, almost an alien intrusion in this magnificent place, this 400-square-kilometre gallery with its immense natural sculptures rising to 300 metres and more. Indeed, once away from the hype of ‘James Bond Island’ and the ‘Sea Gypsy Village’, and but for the longtail boats of the local fishermen which are spotted out between the islands from early morning, you might imagine you were the first to stumble across this world.

And one thing occurs to nearly every visitor: how did these vari-formed islands get their shapes; what natural forces could have produced such a landscape?

Starting around 230,000,000 years ago, coral reefs in this area gradually came to deposit a barrier reef larger even than the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Extending in places hundreds of metres deep, this astonishing natural feature stretched thousands of kilometres from what is now Malaysia up through the area of the Andaman Sea into the south of China. Indeed, if the fantastic landscapes of Yunnan and Kwangsi were to be flooded by the sea they would look very much like Phang Nga.

But the formation of this colossal reef is only the beginning of the story. After millions of years, movements in the Earth’s crust began to exert titanic pressures, and the limestone, being inelastic, did not bend or fold — instead, great blocks sheered away from one another, some of them thrusting up while others sank beneath the surface. By now, the features which strike wonder into the mind of the modern visitor were taking shape.

Nature still had the finishing touches to put to her masterpiece, however, and for this she called upon a series of ice ages. Over millions of years the icecaps expanded and con-tracted, alternately taking up and re-leasing enormous quantities of seawater so that sea levels rose and fell by more than 150 metres. At different periods in geological history, then, wind and wave and current were to add their work to shaping these splendid natural monuments, giving us attractions such as Tham Lod Yai and Tham Lod Lek — cavelike passages through eroded limestone archways, 1000 metres long in the former instance, great snaggled curtains of stalactites overhanging your boat.

Water levels have in the past been scores of metres higher than they are at present. The sea caves which stare out from cliff faces far above the water attest to this. At those times, the sea in Phang Nga Bay was also a more active agent of erosion, with currents deeper and more powerful. But at other times, for instance 10,000 years ago, this was all dry land, and these islands were mountains.

Today, although Phang Nga is once more what the geologists term a ‘drowned karstland’, the waters of the bay remain very shallow, averaging only a few metres with some places only several centimetres deep at low tide. Sailing yachts, in consequence, must refer to charts and should still count on sandbars shifting from time to time, what with the heavy rainy-season discharge of silt from the rivers to the north.

On the plus side, however, even if one does run aground there is generally no real problem, since the bottom is all mud and shell. As long as you have a good motor, you can pull yourself off a bar with no damage done.

The bottom is silt which has been deposited by the several rivers which flow into the bay from the north. That also explains the milky-green colour of the water, and the fact that there isn’t enough underwater visibility for snorkelling, and little or no coral to see even if there were. The beaches, moreover, tend to be mucky, no matter how scenic they may appear from the boat.

But the bay has been rapidly growing in popularity as a yachting des-tination. The fact that it is protected from both the northeast and the southwest monsoon seasons means that its waters remain calm year-round, which adds to the appeal of its scenic wonders and abundant wildlife. Islands such as Koh Panak and Koh Hong are favourite over-night anchorages for sailing yachts.

And there are lost worlds within lost worlds awaiting discovery. Only recently have aerial surveys revealed the hongs, or ‘rooms’, which lie inside some of Phang Nga’s islands. These fabulous microcosms, hidden realms rich in unspoiled flora and fauna, appear to be collapsed cave systems, open to the sky and surrounded by towering limestone walls. They represent the work of yet one more natural force in sculpting the islands of Phang Nga — rainwater and the chemical dissolution of limestone.

The adventurous might like to try seacanoeing, then, where sturdy inflatable boats take you through caves to penetrate the mysterious hearts of islands such Koh Panak and Koh Hong.

The most popular tourist attractions, however, so far remain Koh Khao Ping Kan and Koh Panyi. Koh Khao Ping Kan, where "Man With the Golden Gun" was filmed, is commonly referred to these days as `James Bond Island’. In some opinion this otherwise lovely spot has been rather spoiled, however, by souvenir vendors and tour boat traffic. Koh Panyi, or the `Sea Gypsy Village’, on the other hand, consists of about 500 households together with several restau-rants, a school, and a charming little mosque. Long a centre for the largely Muslim commu-nity on this and neighbouring islands, the village has also become something of a tourist trap. As with James Bond Island, it is better to get there either before 10:00 a.m. or else after 04:00 p.m. if you want to miss the real crowds.

And there’s lots more to explore in the area. Rock paintings thousands of years old decorate sites such as Khao Kian, or ‘Written Mountain’, which rises 500 feet above Koh Panyi; or there are the black and ochre drawings found just before the mouth of the Phang Nga River, undated rock paintings of people, croco-diles, dolphins, and sharks. (Respect these as archaeological sites and irreplaceable parts of the local heritage — please do not add late-20th century graffiti to the murals.)

Another diversion is the pearl farm on Koh Yao Yai, where guided tours familiarize the visitor with the process of making cultured pearls.

One experience worth trying is a boat-ride along some of the labyrinthine canals to be found in the mangrove swamps.

Phang Nga has extensive mangroves between the islands and in river estuaries to the north. This type of habitat shelters among other creatures fiddler crabs, mud skippers, snails, birds, and lizards in abundance.

A rather scrubby deciduous forest crowns most of the islands and the mainland, what with the limited capacity of limestone soil to hold moisture. Taller and lusher evergreen forest is found in the valleys, where the soil is deeper and richer. But opportunistic tropical vegetation flourishes in every niche available. Plants such as pandanus and prickly pear cactus establish themselves even on the sheer cliff faces, sending their roots into the tiniest cracks and subsisting on rainwater, sometimes merely on the humidity in the air.

High above the cliffs, stately eagles soar. Whoops and shrill cries hint at other wildlife, at birds and monkeys as yet unseen. Monkeys, ‘flying foxes’ (tree-dwelling fruit bats, some of them with a wingspan of a metre), and lizards are some of the terrestrial animals most often seen. Sea eagles, vivid blue kingfishers, herons, hornbills, and swiftlets are just some of the common bird species.

People have sailed the waters of Phang Nga Bay for at least 3,000 years. Traces of prehistoric hunters and fishermen may be found in the rock paintings which decorate overhangs and cliffs throughout the area. Sea Gypsies, recreational sailors, and tour groups are among those who have over the years added less interesting graffiti to the petroglyphs. Given the record of industrial and tourism development in most parts of the world, there is reason to fear that human beings will be one perhaps catastrophic factor in the shaping of what is one of the most scenic tropical paradises in the world.

Fortunately, however, since 1981 the area has been designated a marine national park by the Thai government. This has no doubt reduced the risks to the environment. But it is still the responsibility of every visitor to treat Phang Nga with respect, leaving it in the same condition in which we found it, and thereby helping to preserve this natural treasure for those who come after.