Maya Bay in The Beach still battling overtourism

image courtesy of Penny from Pixabay 1 | eTurboNews | eTN
image courtesy of Penny from Pixabay

Thailand Supreme Court orders Royal Forest Department to restore Maya Bay after being affected by the shooting of The Beach movie.

Nineteen plaintiffs including the Krabi provincial administrative organization, the Ao Nang sub-district administrative organization and the Muang Krabi district office earlier filed a complaint with a court against the minister of agriculture and cooperatives, the Royal Forest Department, the director-general of the department at the time, Santa International Film Production Co, and 20th Century Fox Co. They were accused of violating the National Park Act and the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act.

The lawsuit concerned approval in 1998 for the shooting of The Beach on the beach of the Maya bay on Phi Phi island in the Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park in Krabi province. The shooting required the modification of natural conditions at the scene.

The Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the Court of First Instance ordering the Royal Forest Department to restore the original conditions of the beach and ordered Santa International Film Production Co and 20th Century Fox Co to honor their compensation agreement, under which 20th Century Fox would pay 10 million baht for the purpose – that’s US$270,709 to restore what became an instant tourist attraction. 

The Court upheld the ruling of the Court of First Instance to acquit the agriculture minister and the director-general of the Royal Forest Department.

Ever since Leonardo DiCaprio was seen here in his famous movie The Beach, Maya Bay is one of the most Instagrammed beaches in the world.

The movie was largely shot in this beach cove which is located off the coast of Phuket and is a part of the Phi Phi islands in Krabi province. After being inundated by tourists after the movie, the bay had to be shut down in 2018 due to overtourism. The natural ecosystem and cove’s coral reef was getting brutally destroyed. After much effort, Maya Bay reopened to tourists on January 1 of this year but with a few conditions.

Now, only 8 speed boats and 300 tourists will be allowed to dock by the cove at any one time. And each visit will be only for an hour. The timings will be between 10 AM to 4 PM each day. Boats will drop passengers off at a nearby pier and not on the actual island.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-Archa in a statement said at the time of reopening, “Maya Bay has been continuously receiving interest from tourists around the world. But this has also caused (the natural area) to deteriorate, especially the corals. After shutting down Maya Bay to revive and restore it, up until the present, it has returned to a good condition.”

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz, eTN editor

Linda Hohnholz, eTN editor

Linda Hohnholz has been writing and editing articles since the start of her working career. She has applied this innate passion to such places as Hawaii Pacific University, Chaminade University, the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center, and now TravelNewsGroup.

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