Chumphon: A Frontier
City With Beautiful Beaches
Chumphon is a city on the seacoast with
long seashore line and beautiful beaches.
The city offers great diving sites to the
tourists and is not as crowded as other
known diving sites.
Chumphon is just parallel to the Gulf
of Thailand. The province has more than
200 kilometers long seashore with beautiful
and picturesque beaches that makes people
relax while enjoying the quiet atmosphere.
The province is famous for the beautiful
sea, island dotted coastal waters and white
sand beaches lined with coconut groves.
As this is the frontier city, during any
attack the forces used to gather in the
province because of which the city is named
Chumphon. According to another popular belief,
the name of the city is derived from the
local plant named Maduea Chumphon as it
is abundant in the area.
Sightseeing
There are various sights in Chumphon,
which one can view while enjoying the stay
like Hat Sai RI that is about 15 km from
Chumphon township area. This location has
the shrine of H.R.H. Prince Chumphon and
also a large torpedo called the Royal Chumphon
along with Dr. Porn's herbal garden. Then
is the Ao Thung Makham, which is 6-kms from
Hat Sai RI. It is divided into two semicircle
bays with lines of coconut, beautiful beaches
and crystal clear sea.
One can also view Kapo Waterfall Forest
Park, which is 30 kms from the Chumphon
township area. This pleasant shady park
has small waterfall with various plant species,
which attract both nature lovers for relaxation
and botanists for science study.
Adventure loving tourists can visit Hat
Arunothai, which is a beach in Amphoe Thung
Tako. The beach is suitable for camping,
hiking trails and rock-climbing nearby.
Cave Attractions
Chumphon has two beautiful caves in Amphoe
Lang Suan namely Tham Khao Ngoen and Tham
Khao Keep. The visitors can also see various
kinds of fruits available in Amphoe region.
In Amphoe Lang Suan there are some other
areas like Tham Suwan, Tham Krailat, Tham
Khun Krathing and Tham Khoram. There is
also a cave called Tham Rap Ro before entering
Chumphon township area in Amphoe Sea. The
cave has an old Buddha image and beautiful
stalactites.
Diving attractions
Chumphon is a new scuba diving destination
for tourists with over 30 islands. The reefs
seem untouched and it is a good diving destination
as it is less crowded than other well known
diving destinations. There are various islands
along the Chumphon coastline, which are
suitable for diving activities like Ko Mat
Phon, Ko Sak, Ko Samet, Ko Mattra, Ko Thong
Lang and Ko Rat.
All these islands are famous for fishing,
camping and skin-diving. Ko Chorakhe is
an island with beautiful sea flowers and
corals. In Ko Maphrao and Ko Lanka Chiu
the cliff dwellings swallows build nests
and make it a suitable site for diving.
In Ko Ngam Yai andKo Ngam Noi there is swallow's
nest, which is a good option for diving.
As there is danger of unauthorized poaching
of nests so the sightseers should seek the
permission of the companies that possess
the right to collect the nest.
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