Thailand will soon close one its world famous beaches an effort to reverse the damage done to its coral mass tourism. The beach is Maya Bay on the tiny island Koh Phi Phi Leh. It garnered worldwide attention after it featured heavily the Leonardo DiCaprio blockbuster movie The Beach. The film put the Maya Bay beach the bucket lists of millions of travellers worldwide. The result has been an influx of to 5,000 sun worshippers a day to its emerald shores. They arrive on hundreds boats, which have caused irreversible damage to the bay's coral. Officials say that most of the coral the bay has died. The beach will close between June and September to let the coral recover.
Experts predict that almost 80 per cent Thailand's coral reefs have been destroyed, and that once pristine beaches have been damaged tourism. The deputy dean the Faculty of Fisheries at Bangkok's Kasetsart University is an outspoken critic the level of tourism Thailand's coastline has to endure. He said the biggest culprits were beachfront hotels, boat anchors crashing and breaking the coral, and plastic waste being dumped the sea. He believes the "ideal solution" is Maya Bay to be closed permanently. He said: "While it's a very pretty bay, visiting it a flotilla of boats and hordes other tourists rather detract the magic." He welcomed the temporary closure.
