Authorities in the country have announced that Maya Bay, on the Thai island Ko Phi Phi Leh, made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio's 2000 film The Beach, will be closed to tourists from June to September in an attempt to combat decades of damage.
The Guardian reported that the marine environment in the area, including the coral reef, has suffered greatly from overcrowding. Up to 5000 people visit the beach. By closing it during the low season for tourism in Thailand, authorities hope the reef will have a chance to recover.
It's just the latest attempt by Thailand to protect its natural resources. In 2016, local authorities banned tourists from visiting the island of Koh Tachai, considered one of the best beaches in the country. Environmentalists fear it is at risk of being completely destroyed.
Officials have also banned tourism activities on three additional islands off the coast of Phuket to protect coral reefs.
The deputy dean of the fisheries department at Kasetsart University in Bangkok said nearly 80% of Thailand's coral reefs had been destroyed and that beach resorts were the main culprits, allegedly dumping plastic into the sea from boats. However, there are suggestions that temporary closures are not enough to save the reefs and that Maya Bay would like to be sealed off permanently.
