Phang Nga Bay

Historically, in 1824 when Siamese troops defeated the Burmese and the challengers were expelled, King Rama III renamed a major area adjacent to the bay phang-nga.

These include the dugong (a vulnerable species), white-hand gibbon (Hylobates lar), the endangered serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), and the black finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides).

A number of diverse cultures co-exist in local communities, which practice fishing, harvesting Nypa palm fronds for thatch, and catering to an international tourist presence drawn both by the natural beauties and by the archaeological sites, which have paintings more than a thousand years old.

[2] The most famous of the many islands in the bay may be the pair of Khao Phing Kan and Ko Ta Pu, the so-called James Bond Island; in the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun, Khao Phing Kan is the home base of the villain, with the needle formed limestone rock of Ko Ta Pu, 20 metres (22 yd) off the main beach, featured prominently.

In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the bay was used as main photography for the planet Kashyyyk, the home of the Wookiees, including Chewbacca.