If you’re headed to Thailand, chances are you’ve got plans to hit up the beeeeautiful Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh island.
The beach reached peak fame after it’s appearance in The Beach, a 2000’s movie starring Leonardo Di Caprio when he was a 100/10 babe. The beach was a babe itself – think crystal-clear blue water that looked properly insane in it’s scenes.
With peak fame comes insane levels of tourist activity, and it seems all those tour boats have taken a toll on the phenom waters and surrounds.
That’s why Thailand authorities have announced they’ll be shutting access to the beach from June for four months, to allow the area to recover – in particular the sea life and coral.
To give you a rough idea of traffic to the area, the beach was averaging 200 boats and 4,000 visitors each day. That’s a shitload. And given most Thai national/marine parks are closed from mid-may to mid-October, it makes sense that they’re going to do the same with Maya Bay.
“It’s like someone who has been working for decades and has never stopped,” said Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a member of Thailand’s national strategy committee on environment development. “Overworked and tired, all the beauty of the beach is gone. We need a timeout for the beach.”
More changes that are incoming? When the area re-opens, there will be a new daily cap of 2,000 tourists, and boats will not be allowed to anchor there anymore – instead, they’llhave to dock on the opposite side of the island at floating piers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg5IiGFHABy/?tagged=mayabay
Thon Thamrongnawasawat said his dream is to see the beautiful area returned to it’s former glory.
“I have always dreamt that one day we could work to bring her back to life. I have been following and working on Maya Bay for more than 30 years. I had seen it when it was a heaven and I see it when it has nothing left. Anything that we can do to bring this paradise back to Thailand is the dream of a marine biologist.”
