Ban Kok Krai Community Tourism

Ban Kok Krai is a coastal fishing and oyster-farming community in Marui subdistrict, on the Klong Marui estuary where the Thap Put district of Phang Nga meets the Krabi border. It is one of Thailand’s main oyster-farming areas, and the community has opened its working waterfront to visitors through a low-key, locally run tourism programme rather than any resort development. Entry is free throughout — you pay only for a guide, a boat, or a homestay night, arranged directly with the community group.

The signature experience is the natural hot-mud spa at Klong Marui — locals say it’s the only hot, salty spring of its kind in the country. Geothermal activity heats the seawater, sand and mud along a stretch of beach, and visitors walk on the warmed sand, soak in the hot water, then rinse off in the cool canal alongside it. It’s believed locally to ease numbness and aching muscles. Watch out: the spa isn’t available on demand — the tide has to drop far enough to expose it, which happens only around 10 days each month, so confirm the dates with the community group before building a trip around it.

Around the mud spa, half-day trips take in the oyster farms — among Thailand’s most productive, prized for firm, clean-tasting oysters grown in the estuary’s sheltered water — plus kayaking through the mangroves, traditional fishing, and a walk near Phi Hua To cave and the shoreline locals call Red Crab Beach. The tides set the schedule for all of it, so activities shift day to day. The community’s women’s group turns local resources into OTOP products under the “Sab Samut” label, including scrubs and soap made from oyster shells.

Insider Tip: Book the mud spa and a kayak trip on the same low-tide day — the community group can combine them into one half-day outing rather than two separate visits.

This is a working community rather than a staged attraction, so a visit means joining the rhythm of the estuary. Homestays let you stay overnight and share the day’s catch with a host family, which suits the pace of the place better than a rushed day trip.

Phang Nga’s cooler, drier months from about November to April are the most comfortable for the boat trips and mud spa. The community lies in Thap Put district, reached by car from Phang Nga town or as a detour off the Phang Nga–Krabi road. For a different Phang Nga hot spring on a fixed schedule (no tide dependency), Ban Bo Dan Hot Spring is a straightforward alternative closer to Takua Thung, and the limestone karsts of Phang Nga Bay make an easy pairing if you’re touring the province’s coastline.