Thale Waek in Prachuap Khiri Khan

Thale Waek in Prachuap Khiri Khan 
ทะเลแหวกประจวบคีรีขันธ์

During low tide, the islands off Prachuap Khiri Khan town can be reached by foot. The Thai call this phenomenon that occurs in several places Thale Waek ทะเลแหวก tá-lay wàek "split sea".

The first time I had to consult tide tables for sightseeing! Tide tables for various places in Thailand, in a concise form, printable (pdf), for the entire years, bilingual English and Thai, can be found here: https://www.onestopdive.com/thailand-tide-table/

Wing 5 (Royal Thai Airforce Base on whose grounds several tourist attraction in PKK are) has a website for Thale Waek:
http://www.wing5.rtaf.mi.th/มหัศจรรย์ทะเลแหวก.html
www.wing5.rtaf.mi.th/ทะเลแหวก.pdf
(in Thai, gives dates and times when Thale Waek occurs)

Mid-June 2018 had some of the lowest tides this year around mid-day, so I went to see the Thale Waek and walk to the islands.  I have been to Khao Lom Muak before: https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2018/01/khao-lom-muak-in-prachuap-khiri-kan-town.html

Khao Lom Muak and islands from southern end of beachwalk on 15jun2018 18:23:

Khao Lom Muak and islands from southern end of beachwalk on 16jun2018 08:36 (lowest level 11:53 0.34 m according to above table): 

Southern end of beach walk and Khao Lom Muak, behind the wall is Wing 5 Royal Thai Airforce Base:

You could reach the islands from public beach, but as I wanted to do sightseeing on the air force base, I entered there and signed in. It's not allowed to cross the airfield on foot, so I rented a bicycle in town (50 THB per day, Emmanuel Guesthouse and La Vite Italian restaurant, I liked their pizza). 

The three accessible islands are (from N to S; on the picture left to right): Koh Lak เกาะหลัก, Koh Hai Lam เกาะไหหล่ำ with Krom Luang Chumphorn Khet Udomsak Shrine ศาลสมเด็จกรมหลวงชุมพรเขตอุดมศักดิ์, Koh Rom เกาอร่ม. Koh Raet เกาะแรด remains surrounded by water.

Walking to the shrine on Koh Hai Lam over muddy seabed:

Getting closer, there is white sand:

There are four religious places (from left to right: sitting Buddha, Krom Luang Chumphorn, Guan Im, Chao Mae Koh Rom เจ้าแม่เกาะร่ม), Khao Lom Muak in the background:

Krom Luang Chumphorn Khet Udomsak Shrine:

Locals collect seashells for consumption:

Signs of live in the mud:

Walk over to and partially around Koh Lak (Wat Chong Krachok in the background, I have been there https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2018/01/khao-chong-krachok-in-prachuap-khiri.html):

And finally to Koh Rom:

Where the water has drained, the seabed is firm. But where there is water still standing over the ground, it's muddy and I sank in to my ankles several times when crossing such wet areas.

Screenshot during crossing, google satellite image was taken at high tide:

View of Prachuap Bay and the three islands from top of Khao Lom Muak on 16jun2018 11:49:

Copyright 2018 ChristianPFC