Thread: "The beach" Koh Phi Phi to close ..

Authorities in Thailand have ordered the temporary closure of the beach made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie The Beach.

Maya Beach, on the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi Leh, will be closed for four months from June.
According to officials, the closure is a bid to halt environmental damage caused by tourists.
The closure will allow for the recovery of the island's battered coral reefs and sea life.
The closure also allows for marine wildlife to recover from the effects of mass tourism.

However, Maya Bay has previously remained open all year round because of tourist demand.
"Islands have very fragile ecosystems that simply cannot handle so many people, pollution from boats and beachfront hotels," Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine expert, told news agency Reuters.
"Sometimes, a complete closure is the only way for nature to heal."
Mr Thon added that more than three-quarters of Thailand's coral reefs had been damaged by rising sea temperatures and unchecked tourism.
Thailand's National Parks and Wildlife Department will set a daily limit of 2,000 tourists when Maya Beach reopens, and boats will no longer be allowed to anchor there, according to the Associated Press.
More than 35 million tourists visited Thailand last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43582169

All those crowds, what would be the point of going if the whole beach is just everyone standing about in eachothers way?

Bizarre.

The sea is blue, the sand is nice. No doubt scenic but don't get this obsession

Park chief calls for backup to enforce Maya Bay closure


PHUKET: The Chief of the Hat Nopparat – Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, Worapoj Lomlim, has pleaded to be reinforced with more officers in order to enforce the ban on all visitors to Maya Bay off Phi Phi Island, east of Phuket, starting in June.

The call for backup follows the historic move last week to preserve Maya Bay, one of Phang Nga Bay’s best-known and most-visited sites for natural beauty, by closing the site to all visitors from June 1 to September 30 this year.


The four-month closure is to allow the marine environment to recover from damage by heavy tourism caused by some 4,000 tourists a day visiting the site.
After the bay is re-opened to tourists in September, visitor numbers will be limited to 2,000 tourists a day. (See story here.)


Chief Worapoj this week told The Phuket News that he had no idea how to enforce the ban or the limit on visitors when Maya Bay re-opens.


He begged for extra officials, in line with Dr Thon’s stance explained in his interview on Mar 21: that to effectively protect the area, more officers need to be stationed at protected sites to ensure the ban on visits is enforced. (See story here.)


“We will do what we can. Everything we do for enforcement depends on the number of officials we have,” Mr Worapoj said on Tuesday (April 3).


“We do not have enough to look over all the tourists who come here. There are far too many tourists for park officials to handle,” he said.


Mr Worapot refused to elaborate on whether the same marine conservation measures will be introduced at any other areas in the national park.



Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/park-c...OEgYD4MglLq.99

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

All those crowds, what would be the point of going if the whole beach is just everyone standing about in eachothers way?

Bizarre.

The sea is blue, the sand is nice. No doubt scenic but don't get this obsession

^lol

Seems like this island is experiencing the same problems as Boracay in PI - mass tourism. Sigh...

"Where have all the corals (flowers) gone? Long time passing...oh when will they ever learn? Oh when will they ever learn..." (lyrics from a song)

Ailing Thai beach made famous by Hollywood closes to tourism

MAYA BAY, Thailand (AP) — Once a pristine Thai paradise, the secluded bay made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio movie “The Beach” has been exhausted by mass tourism. Now it’s getting a break.


After Friday, the daily influx of dozens of boats and thousands of visitors unsuccessfully scrambling for an unspoiled view of Maya Bay’s emerald waters and glistening white sand will end. The attraction is being closed for four months to give its coral reefs and sea life a chance to recover.


Thailand has promoted unfettered tourism for decades and the onslaught on Maya Bay, which is on Phi Phi Leh Island in the Andaman Sea, has only picked up pace in recent years. Authorities now say they are striving to balance profit and conservation and the closure will happen every year.


It’s part of a rethink happening globally about unrestricted tourism that brings in big dollars but damages historic sites, harms the environment and often alienates locals.


Last month, the Philippines began a six-month closure of popular Boracay Island, whose waters President Rodrigo Duterte described as a “cesspool.” Venice, the famed Italian lagoon city that lives off tourism, installed gates at two access bridges during a four-day holiday in April so it could turn back visitors if numbers became overwhelming.


Many of Thailand’s marine national parks are closed from mid-May to mid-October during the monsoon season but because of Maya Bay’s popularity, it hasn’t had a break since a Hollywood crew set foot on its sands in 1999 to film the dark backpacker tale based on a novel by Alex Garland. Its corals have been decimated by the suffocating clouds of sand and sediment churned up by speedboats.


Tourists are reflected in sunglasses on Maya Bay on Phi Phi island in Krabi province, Thailand, Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)





“I tried to push this campaign for many, many years, but you know in Thailand we are a tourism industry country and we need a lot of money, so before not so many people listened,” said Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist and member of a government committee on development and the environment.


“It should have been done 10 years ago but at least it has been done,” he said.


Thailand had about 35 million international visitors last year, a five-fold increase in little more than two decades.
Shi Pengfei, among the last tourists to visit Maya Bay before its closure, said he had no idea that there would be so many people on the beach.


“I feel that there are so many people here,” said Shi, from Henan, China. “The government’s plan to close off the beach for a few months is only natural because the ocean needs a break, a chance to recover, so that the next generation can have a better and even more beautiful destination.”


But locals aren’t entirely happy. The head of the Phi Phi Tourist Business Association, Watrapol Jantharo, said he was surprised when the closure was announced in March by Thailand’s National Parks and Wildlife Department.


He said locals were under the impression that Maya Bay would only be closed to boats, while visitors would still walk to the bay from the other side of the island.


“We are not against protecting our environment,” he said. “We know full well that Maya Bay is our important resource, like a rice field to a farmer, but we wish there are more communications about the government’s plan before the decision was made.”


Thon, however, said the plan was discussed with locals for three years before a decision was made.


“In the past, we made some mistake because we think that the money is very important. But now we are trying to change our idea,” he said. Overseas visitors are “very important to our country, but the most important thing is our national resource. We have to preserve and hand it to the next generation.”


Jeanette van Leeuwin, a 29-year-old from The Netherlands, helps national park rangers with coral propagation on Maya Bay. (AP Photo Sakchai Lalit)





The government has set a limit of 2,000 tourists a day when the bay reopens — about half the current number. Boats will no longer be allowed to anchor but must dock on the opposite side of the island.


“Now that the government has this plan, we can’t change it. But we could use this opportunity to tell the world that we do not just have Maya Bay. There are 10 other beautiful beaches and islands around here that tourists can enjoy,” said Watrapol.

Thailand’s efforts to protect certain islands after decades of unregulated tourism began about three years ago under the current military junta, which has banned the types of protests such moves may have sparked had they been announced by civilian governments.


Yoong Island, part of the Phi Phi island chain, and Tachai Island in the Similan Islands National Park, have been off-limits to tourists since mid-2016.


Thon, who surveyed both islands recently, said he was amazed by the results. Waters that were devoid of fish are now teeming, he said, and there is about 10,000 square meters (107,600 square feet) of newly recovered coral off one of the islands.


At Maya Bay, park rangers have been preparing a coral propagation program, attaching it to rocks that will be placed in the bay once the tourists are gone.


“We’re almost certain that something good will happen in Maya Bay,” Thon said.




https://www.apnews.com/afe8dbb91d894...ses-to-tourism

Maya Bay closure to be extended for 2 more months

BANGKOK, 23rd August 2018 (NNT) – The National Park Office is considering extending the closure of the famous Maya Bay at Koh Phi Phi Leh of Krabi province for another two months, to allow more time for the ecological system to recover.

After the four-month closure of Maya Bay from June 1st -September 30th this year came into effect, Mr Songtham Suksawang, Director of the National Park Office, revealed that a decision may be made to keep the renowned attraction off-limits for two more months.

The Director reasoned that, according to surveys by the local marine national park operation center, the ecosystem there has not recovered as much as expected due to the unfavorable conditions during the monsoon season. He said a meeting will soon be convened by the National Park Office Advisory Board to make the final decision, after which tourism operators will be notified of the matter.

Moreover, Mr Songtham announced that the office has a plan to implement the Similan Model in the Phi Phi Islands and Phang Nga Islands in a bid to ensure sustainable tourism. Under this model, the number of visitors to Similan Islands has been limited to 3,400 per day while technology has been applied to overhaul the management of tour boats.

National News Bureau Of Thailand | Maya Bay closure to be extended for 2 more months

Maya Bay closure to be extended for 2 more months

BANGKOK, 23rd August 2018 (NNT) – The National Park Office is considering extending the closure of the famous Maya Bay at Koh Phi Phi Leh of Krabi province for another two months, to allow more time for the ecological system to recover.

After the four-month closure of Maya Bay from June 1st -September 30th this year came into effect, Mr Songtham Suksawang, Director of the National Park Office, revealed that a decision may be made to keep the renowned attraction off-limits for two more months.

The Director reasoned that, according to surveys by the local marine national park operation center, the ecosystem there has not recovered as much as expected due to the unfavorable conditions during the monsoon season. He said a meeting will soon be convened by the National Park Office Advisory Board to make the final decision, after which tourism operators will be notified of the matter.

Moreover, Mr Songtham announced that the office has a plan to implement the Similan Model in the Phi Phi Islands and Phang Nga Islands in a bid to ensure sustainable tourism. Under this model, the number of visitors to Similan Islands has been limited to 3,400 per day while technology has been applied to overhaul the management of tour boats.

National News Bureau Of Thailand | Maya Bay closure to be extended for 2 more months