Eco-tourism hope for Thai beach

The high volume of tourists to the Thai picturesque Phi Phi islands pre-Covid has almost decimated the marine biodiversity in the area.

Despite its beach being a mere 250 metres, Maya Bay, popularised by the movie 'The Beach' featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, was attracting upwards of 6,000 tourists per day. Coupled by the heavy pollution from motor boats transporting them to the destination, the marine life and fragile corals were dealt a devastating blow seeing as much as a 60 percent decline by 2018.

It is hoped that the location can become the poster child for sustainable tourism as it welcomes tourists again.

Vice president of sustainability and development at the Singha Estate Sirithon Thamrongnawasawat shared their centre's initiative.

Sirithon Thamrongnawasawat: "We would like to make sure that everyone has been educated so that's why we come up with the Marine Discovery Centre (MDC) where we show the tourists what is the impact, what is the biodiversity, what is the relationship between your behaviour and the impact to the corals."

With the cessation of mass tourism due to the pandemic, the bay's ecosystem has bounced back, regenerating itself, with sharks returning. Championing the habitat's repopulation of sharks is marine biologist Kullawit Limchularat.

Kullawit Limchularat: "We have a plan to give awareness to the tourists about the importance of the sharks in ecology and we have a plan to release them back into nature."

1st January saw the area welcoming back tourists, though this time with stringent measures in place prohibiting boats from entering the bay and limiting the number of visitors.

This has threatened the local tourist economy but this move is to cater to a more sophisticated market and to put a dent in mass tourism.

Sirithon Thamrongnawasawat: "We would love to have more responsible tourists and also, those who come can help the economy of the local people."

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