THE secluded Thailand bay made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach is being closed to visitors after being pushed close to exhaustion by mass tourism.
Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh Island in the Andaman Sea will close for four months from Friday onwards to give its coral reefs and sea life a chance to recover from an onslaught that began nearly 20 years ago.
A daily influx of dozens of boats has seen thousands of visitors unsuccessfully scrambling for an unspoiled view of glistening white sands and emerald waters.
Thai authorities, who have promoted unfettered tourism but now claim to be striving to balance profit and conservation, say the closure will happen every year.
It is part of a global rethink about lucrative unrestricted tourism which damages historic sites, harms the environment and alienates locals.
Last month, the Philippines began a six-month closure of popular Boracay Island, whose waters president Rodrigo Duterte described as a “cesspool”.
Many Thai national parks are closed from May to October during the monsoon season, but Maya Bay has not had a break since director Danny Boyle’s crew set foot on its sands in 1999.
Its corals have been decimated by suffocating clouds of sand and sediment churned up by boats.
When the bay reopens, daily visitor limits will be halved and boats will be made to anchor on the opposite side of the island.
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