Strengthening faster than anticipated, Gay attained typhoon status early on 3November. Later that day, the storm developed an eye before passing over the "Seacrest", an oil drilling ship. On 4November, Gay's winds increased to 185km/h (115mph), equivalent to a Category3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale, before making landfall in Chumphon Province, Thailand, at 0600UTC. The Japan Meteorological Agency assessed that the storm had ten-minute sustained winds of 140km/h (85mph) and a pressure of 960mbar (hPa; 28.35inHg). Crossing the Kra Isthmus, Gay weakened to minimal typhoon status as it entered the Bay of Bengal. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Gay was the first typhoon since 1891 to form in the Gulf of Thailand and enter the Bay of Bengal. Responding to a ridge to its north, Gay maintained a west-northwestward to northwestward track for the next four days. The storm gradually restrengthened as it moved through an area of low wind shear and warm waters; however, this was limited by restrictions to the cyclone's outflow. Early on 6November, Gay passed near the Andaman Islands as a Category2-equivalent cyclone.