JAKARTA - Maya Bay, the Thai paradise made famous by the 2000 film 'The Beach', has just reopened after being closed to tourists for four years.
The film features Leonardo DiCaprio's character walking through the jungle to find a mythical beach, making Maya Bay one of the biggest tourism hotspots in the world. Before long, the film's international audience was scrambling to visit and take selfies in the thousands.
Tucked away on Ko Phi Phi Le Island in the Andaman Sea, nearly 6,000 people flocked daily to see the turquoise waters and bright white sands in 2018. There's a lot more for this previously pristine and protected area to overcome.
The majority of tourists travel from the neighboring islands of Koh Phi Phi and Phuket, with most using speedboats chartered by local tour operators.
This has proven to be a huge problem for the island, with boat anchors and washed-off sunscreen estimated to have destroyed up to 50 percent of the coral in the surrounding waters, citing Euronews Jan. 6.
Things came to a head in 2018, after nationwide protests from Thais, and the gulf was suddenly closed. Apart from damaging corals, tourists also leave a lot of plastic waste and damage local flora and fauna.
The closure was originally set to be temporary, however, a closer look at the damaged ecosystem made park officials realize that the bay is taking longer to recover. The closure was later extended to four years.
"The Maya Bay continues to receive interest from tourists around the world. But this is also causing the (natural area) to deteriorate, especially the corals," Thailand's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-Archa said in a statement to CNN.
The time lag also gives Thailand time to decide on new rules and protocols, including strict limits on how many people can visit the bay at one time.
Maya Bay reopened to tourists on January 1, but from now on only eight-speed boats will be allowed to dock here at any given time. There is also a limit for tourists, with the number capped at 300. Each visit is limited to one hour and must be between 10 am and 4 pm.
Currently, snorkeling and swimming are also prohibited, and boats cannot enter the bay itself. This is expected to allow newly planted and existing corals to continue to grow and recover. Instead, visitors will be dropped off at a nearby pier and walk alone to the beach via a new wide walkway meant to protect the plants and sand in the area.
"After turning off Maya Bay to turn it on and restore it, until now it is in good condition," explained Minister Varawut Silpa-Archa.
Tourists and influencers wasted no time returning to the pristine sands of Maya Bay, with one travel blogger commenting, Nearby Lo Sama Bay is now being used as Maya Bay's 'car park'.
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To note, since reopening its borders to international tourists in November 2021, Thailand has been keen to emphasize it wants to attract "high-end travelers, rather than large numbers of visitors."
Time will tell whether Maya Bay will be able to avoid past mistakes, or whether, like Leo's beach paradise, things will turn for the worse.
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