The Impacts of Overtourism Have Reached Thailand

As many as 5,000 people a day visit Maya Bay, on the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi Leh. (Photo via Flickr/Jorge Brazil)

Authorities in Thailand have announced that Maya Bay, on the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi Leh (made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2000 flick “The Beach”) will be closed to tourists from June through September in an attempt to combat decades of damage.

By closing the beach during Thailand’s low season for tourism, authorities hope the reef will have a chance to recover.

This is merely Thailand’s latest attempt to protect its natural resources. In 2016, local authorities banned tourists from the island of Koh Tachai, which is widely viewed as one of the best beaches in the country. The island remains off-limits indefinitely amid concerns from environmentalists that it was at risk of being completely destroyed, according to Lonely Planet.

Officials have also prohibited tourist activities on three additional islands off the coast of Phuket in order to protect coral reefs.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, deputy dean of the faculty of fisheries at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, has said nearly 80 percent of Thailand’s coral reefs have been destroyed and that the primary culprits are beachfront hotels, boat anchors and plastics being discarded in the sea.

Thamrongnawasawat has long advocated for more stringent protection of Thailand’s natural resources and marine environments. He suggests that temporary closures are not enough to save the reefs and would like to see Maya Bay closed permanently.

Even some tour operators have stopped visiting Maya Bay because of overcrowding. Sam Clark, of Experience Travel, told The Guardian that the company no longer offers guests boat trips there.

“While it’s a very pretty bay and recognizable from The Beach, visiting it with a flotilla of boats and hordes of other tourists rather detracted from the magic,” he said. “If the bay needs to be closed to allow for recovery time in the low season, I can only welcome that.”