Thailand: reopening of the legendary Maya Bay beach closed to visitors for three years
In Thailand, Maya Bay Beach, one of the most beautiful in the country, is once again accessible to visitors after three years of closure.
Thai National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In Thailand, one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, Maya Bay, made famous by the film
The Beach in
2000, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Virginie Ledoyen, has just reopened to visitors this weekend.
Its access had been closed for three years in order to treat its ecosystem battered by mass tourism.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Bangkok
,
Carol Isoux
Maya Bay beach looks even more beautiful in reality than on the big screen with its crystal clear waters and rocky hills.
They were hundreds of vacationers from all over the world on Saturday January 1, who made the trip to attend the reopening of this jewel of the Andaman Sea.
Local officials hope to make it an exemplary ecotourism site to the delight of holidaymakers: “
We are very happy to be here, the beach is magnificent and it is legendary.
But afterwards we are always a little disappointed that there are so many people!
», Says this vacationer.
Strict regulations to preserve one of the country's jewels
Hordes of tourists, the price of success. The three years of closure were devoted to replanting the coral and reintroducing certain species, such as black tip sharks. But this reopening is accompanied by strict regulations: no parked boat is allowed in the bay, and especially swimming is prohibited there. Only photos at the edge of the water are allowed and if some try discreetly to advance in the turquoise water, they are quickly taken to order by the forest guards.
"
Fortunately, it is reopening this beach, we really need it to attract visitors.
It has been two years since the virus that we have not
cured any
more,
explains Thongchai, one of the forest guards who watches over the beach
.
But if you want it to last, you have to put in place a solid system to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
"
Through Maya Bay, the whole question of the new Thai tourism model is posed: how to reconcile the gradual return of tourists and the protection of the environment, in one of the regions of the world most affected by
mass tourism
.
►
To read: Thailand: sea turtles have returned to Phuket since the start of the Covid-19
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Thailand
Tourism
Environment