75 million year old shell cemetery, Krabi province
The 75 million year old shell cemetery or Laem Pho shell cemetery is located on the beach of Ban Laem Pho, Sai Thai Subdistrict, Mueang Krabi District, Krabi Province. It is an area of Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, approximately 17 kilometers from the city center. It is a wide limestone terrace extending into the sea. When you look closely, you will see fossils of freshwater shellfish that are tightly packed into a rocky beach by the sea. The 75 million year old shell cemetery was created by geological changes. In the past, this area was a large freshwater swamp where many shellfish lived, most of which were bitter snails, approximately 2 centimeters long. Later, there was a change in the earth's surface, with seawater flooding the swamp, causing the limestone in the seawater to encase the shells until they became a single substance, becoming a hard rock plate called Shelly Limestone approximately 40 centimeters thick. Later, the land was lifted, resulting in a large stone terrace by the sea. From calculating the geological age, it is found that these fossils are approximately 40 million years old. When looking at their general external appearance, you may see that The solid rock slabs of this shell cemetery look like ordinary broken concrete slabs. However, if you look closely at the surface of the solid rock slab, you will clearly see many small shells embedded in the surface of the slab. There are only 3 places in the world where this tens of millions of years old shell cemetery is located: in the United States (Chicago), Japan, and Thailand, the 75 million year old shell cemetery or Laem Pho shell cemetery in Krabi province.
The 75 million year old shell cemetery can be visited every day throughout the year from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. However, the best times to visit are in 2 periods: in the morning from around 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and in the evening from around 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. to avoid the sun being too hot.