Year 2- 18th November 2025 – Visiting the Islands - Phuket-Thailand
I woke reasonably early as this anchorage is supposed to be fantastic when the sun rises on the limestone cliffs around us. The issue was that it was quite a grey day and although the sun came up it was not giving the full effect. It was still beautiful and you could see the moisture and cloud coming off the tallest stack.
The others gradually got up and we had a fruit and yoghurt breakfast. The forecast suggested that it was going to rain from 11.00am for most of the day. I had planned that we would go to the Sea Gypsy village – called Koh Pan Yi.
Ko Panyi also known as Koh Panyee, is a fishing village in Phang Nga Province, Thailand, notable for being built on stilts by Bugis fishermen. The population consists of about 360 families or 1,600 people descended from two seafaring Muslim families from Indonesia, Indonesia. Ko Panyi is known as Pulau Panji in Malay and Pulo Panji in Javanese. The settlement at Ko Panyi was established at the end of the 18th century by nomadic Javanese fisherman. During this time the law limited land ownership solely to people of Thai national origins, and due to this restriction the settlement was, for the most part, built on stilts within the protection of the island's bay, providing easy access for fishers. With the increase of wealth for the community, due to the growing tourism industry within Thailand, the purchase of land on the island itself became a possibility, and the first significant structures were built ashore, a mosque and a freshwater well.
The village has a Muslim school which is attended by both girls and boys in the mornings. Due to the informal nature of this education, many of the boys attend schools further afield in Phang Nga or in Phuket. Further emigration from the village is encouraged as the size of the settlement is restricted by dangerous water conditions in the rainy season. A mosque based on the island adjacent to the settlement serves the predominantly Muslim population and is a focal point and meeting place for the community. A market stocked with goods from the mainland sells basic amenities such as medicine, clothes, and toiletries. Despite the rise in tourism, life in Ko Panyi is still primarily based around the fishing industry as tourists only visit in significant numbers during the dry season.
The village includes a floating football pitch. Inspired by the 1986 FIFA World Cup, children built the pitch from old scraps of wood and fishing rafts. The boys decided to form a football team and compete in the Southern Thai School Championships. After making it to the semi-finals in an inland tournament, achieving third place despite strange circumstances (in the second half, they decided to play barefoot since they were used to that), all of the village were inspired to take up the sport. So a brand-new pitch was built, although the wooden one remains and is popular among tourists. As of 2011, Panyee FC is one of the most successful youth soccer clubs in Southern Thailand, and the boys who built the pitch back in 1986 are now grown men. They have an impressive record of winning six South Thailand Youth Soccer Championships from 2004 to 2010.
We upped anchor and luckily it was coming up to high tide and so we were able to go through a shallow route between certain islands and head East toward a channel which took us up to the village. I watched the depth and the forward-looking sonar and the depth did not really go below 5 metres whereas at low tide it would have been 2.5m or less and we would not have been able to navigate this area at low tide. Otherwise it would have meant we would have to back to the first island we anchored at to get round. Once we were over the shallow part we were able to get to the channel which led up to the Sea Gypsy village. This channel was about 4nm and we had to remain the in the channel as there were shallow patches and drying areas each side. The sky was grey but it did not rain luckily and we could see the village ahead and we came nearer and there were lots of longboats buzzing around with the engines on stalks making a hell of a racket. We came up to the village which was all on stilts and looked quite big. I decided to go on beyond what I could see were pontoons as I thought it would be a bit quieter. We found a good spot and anchored. As we were anchoring there was a longboat around and once we were settled he came to offer us a tour of the mangroves and caves etc. We had read up about this and it is a special tour to do. We agreed a price and we said he could pick us up in about 30 minutes.
We sorted out the boat and put the dinghy on the davits as we had been towing it and we thought it would be safer. We got our stuff together and the man came back and we got on board. The boat had a car engine resting on a U-shaped piece of steel which in turn was on a pivot and the man could pivot it up and down. Behind the car engine is a long propeller shaft with a propeller on the end which spins out of the water and then he tilts it down in the water and off we go. These boats have no rudder and the steering is all from the engine and in order to do a sharper turn the man has to lift the shaft and put it to one side or the other. It is quite physical and must take a little time to get used to.
We set off on our trip and went down the river marvelling at the limestone cliffs around us. The man took us close to one particular cliff and slowed and there about 6 metres up was a cave where there were drawings on the walls. These I think were quite old and were of symbols or animals. The cave near Ko Panyi with drawings is called Khao Khian (Writing Hill), which is home to prehistoric rock art dating back thousands of years. The paintings, made by the Sea Gypsies (Moken people), are located in a shallow cave and depict a variety of figures, including people and animals. Despite the openness of the cave they were well preserved.
We continued on down the river for some time and then we turned into a narrow channel at the base of a limestone cliff and there were mangroves trees and bushes either side. You could see inside the mangroves were quite deep with roots going back a long way and they were intertwined and looked a bit like a whole load of discarded metal. We saw a large lizard swimming across the creek. The creek meandered left and right and there were quite a few trees growing over. The longboat had quite a high prow and at one point our helmsman made a mistake and we went into a tree. He had to reverse and then we were able to continue. We came through this narrow channel into a larger river and then we continued until we then diverted into a narrow channel again which led us to a large limestone cliff which had a tunnel under it with stalactites hanging down which would have taken thousands of years to develop.
We went through the tunnel and were able to get under the numerous stalactites and there were quite a lot of small birds flying about and then resting on the rock inside. There was also a man fishing inside. We went through the tunnel and then had to do a 360 and came back through the tunnel again. We retraced our steps but then came a different way to the village as we came back to the village the other side from Stormbird. This was interesting as we got a full understanding of the size and scope of the village.
The man put us ashore at a pontoon near the Paynee Restaurant which he said was good. We had had an excellent trip and we had all enjoyed it. We decided to have buffet lunch here which was good and gave quite a bit of variety. We had seconds and got our money’s worth. The restaurant and the village generally was not busy and I felt a bit sorry for the people. Once we had lunch we walked around and there were lots of shops selling tee shirts and souvenirs and tat generally. They all wanted to sell us stuff but to be honest there was nothing worth buying although Ruth did buy two dresses.
Once we had had enough our man brought us back to the boat and we had a cup of tea and a bit of rest. We then read and enjoyed watching the large amount of activity around the village as boats were constantly coming and going. It got a little quieter later but then the Adhan started which was quite loud. This is an all-Muslim village and they have and do not sell any alcohol here. In fact it is a 5,000 baht fine to drink here.
We had eaten so well at lunch we just had cheese and biscuits for supper. It had been an interesting day from no civilisation to being in a sort of civilisation. We were also lucky for the second day running as we did not have any rain really. We will move on tomorrow.
The picture of the day is a picture of us on the longboat in front of the tunnel.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com