Day 5 – James Bond Island

11:23 a.m. My speed boat lands on one of the most famous islands of Thailand: Khao Phing Kan, the renown James Bond Island. A scene of the James Bond movie with Roger Moore, The Man With The Golden Gun, was shot there, with Ko Tapu in the background, sealing the fate of its fame.

the new james bond

Before the movie was shot in 1974, the island was hardly ever visited. But then Hollywood made it famous, hundreds of tourists started to visit, and problem arose; litter, erosion due to the waves created by the boats, and so on. If you can see in the picture above, Ko Tapu now has a security parameter  so that boats don’t get too close to it. The access to the island is now more controlled and the place is kept clean.

Whenever you travel, be kind enough not to litter anything in the nature. Keep your trash with you until you find a proper garbage to dispose it.

The island has a kind of mini market where souvenirs are sold. Nothing really groundbreaking here, and prices are quite high as you can imagine. The nicest pieces are the souvenirs made of shell and mother-of-pearl. A small bottle of water is sold for around $1 (for those who travel in the hot sun without even bringing drinking water with them).

khao ping kan market

There is also a small cave in the island. Nothing comparable to the ones I have visited so far, but definitely a good place to cool down for a while, away from the sun rays!

cavein Khao Phing nan

Phing Nan means: “leaning against each other”. Besides the popularity of the place, its most impressive feature is probably the 2 massive stone cliffs leaning against each other, and from which the island most probably gets its name from. the 2 “walls” have a flat and even surface, as if it has been polished.
rocks leaning against each otherKhao Phing Kan

Ok time to leave the new flow of tourists that is arriving on the island and go for one of my favourite activity: southern-style Thai food degustation!

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