Thailand to temporarily close famous beach

Thailand to temporarily close famous beach

Thailand’s famous Maya Bay, on Koh Phi Phi Leh in the Anderman Sea will be temporarily closing for four months, starting in June.

Maya Bay was made famous by its appearance in the 2000 movie starring Leonardo Di Caprio, The Beach.

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The beauty of Leo – we mean Maya Bay – attracts an average of 200 boats and 4000 visitors a day, reports News.com.

Authorities have decided to close the beach to halt environmental degradation caused by the huge volume of tourists.

Between mid-May and Mid-October, many Thai marine national parks close, but due to tourist demand, Maya Bay has usually been kept open.

The decision to close the bay was made last Wednesday by Thailand’s National Parks and Wildlife Department following recent discoveries that a large part of the coral reefs around the area was gone.

According to News.com, when the bay reopens, there will be a new daily limit of 2000 tourists and boats will no longer be allowed to anchor there but will have to dock on the opposite side of the island.

The closure comes as Thailand introduces a string of new laws to protect its beaches against pollution and over tourism.

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