Thursday, March 29, 2018
Thailand will shut Maya Bay, which was featured in The Beach, a popular movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The bay will be shut for four months from June.
The decision to keep visitors away was made by Thailand’s national parks and wildlife department.
“Islands have very fragile eco-systems that simply cannot handle so many people, pollution from boats and beachfront hotels,” said Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine expert in Bangkok.
More than three-quarters of Thailand’s coral reefs have been damaged by increasing sea temperatures and unrestricted tourism. Thon recommended limiting visitors to its 22 marine parks to six million a year for their recovery.
Thailand shut down dozens of dive sites for tourists in 2011, after abnormally warm seas caused severe damage to coral reefs in the Andaman Sea, one of the world’s top diving regions. Some islands were also shut down in 2016.
Southeast Asia is expected to bear the brunt of this increasing damage to coral reefs, which is depriving fishermen of incomes and threatening nations from incoming storms and damage from surging seas.
Thon warned against short-term fixes – “Tourism is important, but we need to preserve these spaces for our future generations, for future livelihoods.”
Tags: Thailand
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