Krabi General Information
Geography, Landscape & Terrain
Located along the Andaman coast, in southern Thailand, Krabi is
one of southern Thailand's most picturesque provinces with perfect
beaches and a stunning interior.
The province is famous for its great natural beauty, characterised
by the karst limestone scenery that can be seen throughout the entire
area.
The coastline, 160 kilometres long, is dotted with bays, coves
and outcrops of limestone mountains rising up from the sea, creating
a fascinating seascape of tropical islands. Inland, the limestone
mountains support a rich biodiversity of plant and animal life.
Predominantly, it's an agricultural area, with sandy clay soil
conditions producing rubber, palm oil, fruit, coconut and coffee.
Rubber is the main cash crop grown with over 700,00 rai being under
cultivation for this purpose. Palm oil comes in second, followed
by coconuts.
However, with natural attractions like tropical islands, palm fringed
beaches, forest waterfalls and caves attracting more and more sunseeking,
adventure-bound tourists, Krabi has begun to earn a substantial
income from its tourism industry.
Krabi's Coastline
It's estimated that the Krabi coastline contains over 200 limestone
and jungle covered islands. Many are uninhabited outcrops rising
from the sea with tiny patches of pristine white sandy beaches.
Much of Krabi's coastline is dotted with little coves and mangroves
which form a unique eco-system and serve as a natural breeding ground
for diverse aquatic life. Krabi's beaches are gradually opening
out to tourism, although care is being taken to ensure management
of the environment.
Development is being kept low rise with many hotels designed to
blend in with the surroundings. There are few deckchairs and building
directly on the beach has been kept to a minimum in most resort
areas.
Fishing is widely carried out along the coastline and on most larger
islands, and although traditional methods are still in use, modern
trawling techniques are threatening numbers and the industry. Shrimp
and cockle farming has been a high growth industry since the early
1990's, and there is also a flourishing grouper farming industry.
The Interior
Bordered by Phang Nga, Surat Thani, and Trang provinces, the interior
of Krabi province presents a landscape of weirdly shaped limestone
mountains, separated by flat valley floors with rubber and oil palm
plantations.
There are many unusual cave systems in the rocks resulting in large
caverns and tunnels. Some of the larger caverns have been made into
Buddhist temples or shrines and others have revealed evidence of
human habitation from over 43,000 years ago.
Krabi town, the provincial capital, is a charming little town which
seems to be retaining its identity in the face of developing tourism.
The river is still the hub with fishing boats and river taxis ferrying
locals and visitors along the coast and to the islands. (More)
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