Getting married in Krabi & Phang Nga

This is limestone country. Grey and orange cliffs hung with jungle rise from the sea around Ao Nang, Krabi’s main beach town, and close off the Railay peninsula next to it, whose beaches — Railay West, Railay East and Phra Nang Cave Beach — are reached by longtail boat. Offshore lie dozens of islands, among them the Phi Phi group: Phi Phi Don, with the twin bays of Ton Sai and Loh Dalum, and Phi Phi Leh, with Pileh Lagoon and Maya Bay. To the north-west, Phang Nga Bay is a national park of limestone islands and mangroves, with Khao Phing Kan, known to visitors as James Bond Island, the pillar of Khao Tapu just off it, and the stilt village of Ko Panyi. Between the bay and Phuket lie Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai, rural islands of fishing villages, and north of Phuket, on the Phang Nga coast, Khao Lak’s long beaches face the setting sun.

Couples come here for the scenery itself: a ceremony on the sand beneath the cliffs, portraits from a longtail boat as the karsts turn gold, a day spent moving from island to island. Much of this coast and its islands lies in national parks, each with its own hours, fees and rules, and in the monsoon some places close and the sea can keep the boats in port. In Thailand a marriage is legal only once a registrar records it — at a district office (the amphoe, or the khet in Bangkok) or, for a fee, at a place you choose — and a religious or beach ceremony alone is not a legal marriage. Many couples therefore marry at home, and the ceremony here is symbolic.