Dicaprio’s Thai beach to stay off limits from tourist hordes
THE sheltered Thai cove made famous by The Beach, the Leonardo Dicaprio film, will be closed indefinitely after damage caused by millions of tourists left it looking “overworked and tired”.
The news comes as authorities in the Philippines restricted visitors to Boracay, a tiny island once regarded as the world’s most idyllic holiday spot.
The small, white-sand beach at Maya Bay, on Thailand’s Ko Phi Phi Leh island, was initially closed from June 1 due to an unsustainable influx of tourists since 2000, when it featured in the film, inspiring tourists to visit it.
Thai authorities planned to reopen the beach this week, but announced that it would remain shut to try to help it to recover from damage caused by the arrival of up to 5,000 tourists a day, more than double its capacity.
The beach, Thailand’s most visited national park site, is only 800ft long and 50ft deep. It has lost much of its marine life and an estimated 80 per cent of its coral, due to harm caused by snorkellers, divers, boats, anchors and sunscreen-covered swimmers. Sand cover has also been disappearing.
“We need a time-out for the beach,” Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine scientist, said earlier this year.
“Overworked and tired, all the beauty of the beach is gone.”
In 2006, a Thai court ordered Twentieth Century Fox and other officials to pay compensation for the damage caused to Maya Bay during the filming of The Beach.
When the bay reopens, Thai authorities plan to limit visitor numbers to 2,000 a day, and ban the use of anchors.
Yesterday, the Philippines said it would reduce tourists in Boracay when it reopens on Oct 26 after a six-month closure to allow it to rehabilitate. The island, which spans slightly less than four square miles, received almost two million local and foreign visitors last year. When it reopens, just 19,000 tourists will be allowed on the island on any day, along with up to 15,000 workers. Only half of its 12,000 hotel rooms will be allowed to be used, and beachfront parties will be banned.
In April, President Rodrigo Duterte described the island as a “cesspool” and ordered its closure. This followed the release of footage that showed sewage flowing into the water.
Maya Bay is believed to generate about £9.5million in revenue each year for Thailand. Boracay earns the Philippines more than £770million each year.