Maya Bay to re-open under strict conditions

 Picturesque Maya Bay in Thailand’s southern province of Krabi will reopen to visitors on New Year’s Day, 2022, but with strict conditions attached, including no swimming in the bay and the number of visitors at one time will be limited to no more than 375.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat, vice dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University and a well-known marine scientists, said in his Facebook post this week that the national parks committee, have approved the reopening of the bay.

Maya has been closed for three and a half years, after coral reefs and environment in the area sustained heavy damage from excessive tourism activities.

The national park committee agreed that restrictions must be imposed to protect the bay and its marine resources if the bay is to be reopened, said Dr. Thon.

The restrictions are as follows:

 No boats may enter the bay area through the front access and must use the opposite side, where a landing pier for landing visitors is already in place.

The number of visitors at any one time will be limited to no more than 375. The number of rounds of visits each day and the duration of each stay are yet to be decided by chief of the national park and tourism operators in Krabi province.

No swimming is allowed in the bay area, because there are many black-tipped reef sharks in the water which may pose a danger to swimmers. Swimming may also disrupt the sharks and coral in the area.
 

Maya Beach was the prime location for the Hollywood film “The Beach” in 2000, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. – Thai PBS

Source - BangkokJack

 

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Thailand - Maya Bay closed for at least another two years

Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Ley, closed last June to allow coral restoration and beach recovery, will now remain closed to visitors for at least another two years.

Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat, assistant dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University and a renowned marine specialist says, “The meeting yesterday concluded that Maya Bay is to be closed for two more years as the natural environment needs more time to recover.”

Maya Bay’s extended closure will keep the wraps on one of southern Thailand’s most popular tourist attractions. The closure is a blow to Koh Phi Phi tourism but despite protests from tour operators the National Park chiefs have been resolute to plan a more controlled tourist interface in the future. There are already plans in place to limit tour boats visiting the beach whenever it reopens.

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At its peak there were 5,000+ tourists visiting the secluded bay, made famous in the 2000 Hollywood film ‘The Beach’, every day.

Read more about recent extensions to the closure HERE.

#Thailand - Maya Bay to be closed for up to five years

Maya Bay’s beach, closed last year to allow coral restoration and beach recovery, could remain closed to visitors for many years. Maya Bay is located in the Phi Phi islands between Krabi and Phuket.

The famous Koh Phi Phi Ley beach needs time for its ecology to fully recover years of tourist abuse, this according to the Phi Phi national park chief Vorapot Lomlim as reported in Khaosod English.

“Maya Bay must continue to be closed until nature has fully recovered. We expect it will take four to five years.”

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“Since Maya was closed off nearly a year ago, sea creatures like reef sharks and ghost crabs have returned to the island.”

He also reported that 23,000 corals have been planted by marine officials since the closure last year.

Maya Bay was closed to tourist on June 1 last year. The Bay first became famous as part of the setting for the 2000 film ‘The Beach’ starring Leonardo Di Caprio. That fame would lead to a surge in tourists and a rapacious local tourist industry that ramped up the numbers of tours to cater for the international popularity.

At its peak Maya Bay, the south’s most popular attraction, was receiving up to 5-6,000 tourists a day. Unwittingly, the tourists were trampling the beach and surrounding areas whilst the boats delivering them to the famous beach were throwing anchors over the side, destroying the natural coral.

Initially the national park chiefs closed off Maya Bay access for a period of three months  but it soon became apparent that the fragile bay was going to need a lot longer to recover. Officials reported that up to 50 percent of the Bay’s coral was dead.

SOURCE: The Thaiger /  Khaosod English

Thailand cave rescue to be turned into Hollywood movie

The mission to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave is to get the Hollywood treatment in a movie announced by faith-based production house Pure Flix.

Managing partner Michael Scott, who lives in Thailand and was at the rescue site in Chiang Rai as the boys were being pulled to safety, made the announcement late Tuesday on Twitter.

"I couldn't be more excited. This story has meant so much to me as I have followed it in Thailand this summer," he said in a video filmed at the scene of the flooded cave in the country's north.

"My wife actually grew up with the Thai Navy SEAL that died in the cave. To see all that heroic bravery in the cave, and to get all the divers out, it's just such a touching event and so personal to me."

Stunning video footage emerged Wednesday of several of the "Wild Boars" team -- aged 11 to 16 -- being freed from the Tham Luang cave on stretchers, ending a successful three-day rescue.

They are in good physical and mental health, say doctors, despite a harrowing 18 days inside the dank, dark cave before a risky rescue operation that was dubbed "Mission: Impossible".

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Scott's wife has been involved with planning the funeral for Saman Kunan, the former SEAL that died on July 6 while helping install oxygen tanks in preparation for the extraction.

"We're here really looking at this as a movie that could inspire millions of people across the globe," Scott added.

"And we're here witnessing the events, gathering some contacts and everything, to really tell a story about an international effort, the entire world coming together to save (12) kids trapped in this Thai cave."

Pure Flix co-founder David A.R. White told The Wall Street Journal the company -- which was behind the 2014-18 "God's Not Dead" trilogy -- was talking to actors, writers and potential investors.

"Pure Flix joins the rest of the world in thanking God for answering prayers for the successful rescue of those trapped in the cave in Thailand," the company said in a statement.

Source - TheNation