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 - Tour operators boycott visits to Similan and Surin islands to protest new restrictions

The tour operators have had enough of the winding back of tour boat operations and are now resorting to boycotting and ‘disrupting’ the tours in order to get their protests heard.

About 50 tour operators in Phuket and Phang nga say they’re suspending boat trips to Similan-Surin islands in the Andaman sea (off the coast of Phang-Nga) today and tomorrow to protest against the decision of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation to limit the number of visitors to the islands to 3,850 a day. The number also includes 525 scuba divers.

Thai PBS reports that the limitation of visitors comes into force today after the two main islands re-opened to tourists after several months of closure during the monsoon season.

Besides the limitation of visitors, overnight stay-overs are not permitted.

Tour operators met yesterday in Ban Tap Lamu in Thai Muang district of Phang nga to discuss the new restrictions which they say they oppose.

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They say their objections are because the restrictions would affect their business and that they’ve already accepted advance bookings to tour the islands before the department issued its new restrictions.

They say they will take their tourists to other tourist attractions Monday and Tuesday this week while awaiting response from the department.

Tour operators have been notified of the reopening of the two islands for visitors and the restrictions and to get themselves prepared with their vessels being properly checked to ensure their sea worthiness and equipped with enough life vests for their passengers.

The PM’s Office Minister Kobsak Putrakul, who was in Phang nga over the weekend, received the tour operators’ complaint and promised to bring it to the attention of the department chief.

Source - Thai BPS