Most extraordinary places in Thailand have a history that stretches back centuries and a present that accommodates millions of tourists. Koh Panyi is different in one specific way: it was built by people who had nowhere to stand, and it has remained exactly what it set out to be ever since.
In the late 18th century, a group of Indonesian Muslim fishermen led by a man named Toh Baboo sailed into Phang Nga Bay in search of a place to settle. Thai law at the time prohibited foreign ownership of land. Phang Nga Bay was rich in fish and the bay was sheltered, but every piece of ground that could have been built on was either owned or restricted.
The solution was to build on the water. Over generations, the village expanded outward from the limestone cliff that forms its only solid backing — houses on stilts, connected by walkways, growing as the population grew. Today Koh Panyi is home to approximately 1,700 people across around 360 families, all living on a platform above the sea with the cliff rising vertically behind them.
A working village. Not a preserved historical exhibit or a tourist recreation — a place where people live, go to school, run businesses, and go out fishing in the morning. The mosque at the centre of the village is active; the school has children in it during term time; the restaurants serve real food cooked by local families who have been cooking the same dishes for years.
The floating football pitch is the thing most people photograph — first built in the 1980s by local children who wanted to play football but had no ground. The floating pitch has now been modernised, and is used often, even though the ball regularly goes into the water. This has not prevented the pitch from producing players who have gone on to represent Thai provincial teams.
Koh Panyi is included on our speedboat tour of Phang Nga Bay, we go there for lunch and a look around. We allow genuine time in the village rather than a rushed 15-minute walk-through — enough to eat at one of the local restaurants and a walk the full extent of the village.
The seafood here is excellent. The village sits in one of the most productive fishing areas in the bay, and the restaurants serve what was in the boats that morning. Order the whole fish, grilled, with rice and whatever sauce the cook recommends.
Exceptional, uncrowded island day trips from Phuket. Family-owned and operated since 2004.
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