Maya Bay closed for business as rehabilitation begins

[rooster59]

Maya Bay closed for business as rehabilitation begins

By The Nation

 

 

PARK RANGERS at the Nopparat Tara-Mu Ko Phi Phi marine national park have placed buoys outlining a no-access zone as part of a bid to rehabilitate the park’s world-renowned Maya Bay.

 

The decision to close Maya to pave the way for a major face-lift was made by the National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation Department in March. The department had consulted with the marine national parks advisory committee comprising a group of noted marine experts including Assistant Professor Thon Thamrongnawasawat, who is also a member of the national reform and strategy committees.

 

 

The bay was made famous by the 2000 Hollywood film “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but it has been degraded by the excessive number of tourists – a daily average of about 4,000 people and 200 boats.

Following a recommendation by the experts, the department decided to make the bay off-limits from yesterday until September 30.

 

The closure is seen as an entry point for a new approach to tourism management at the park, and would also set a new standard for another 26 Thai marine parks that also bear a similar burden, according to the department.

 

 

Since Thursday, the rangers have placed buoys extending hundreds of metres in front of the bay to close it off from tourist boat access, according to Songtham Suksawang, director of the department’s National Parks Office overseeing the operation.

 

“Maya today is very peaceful,” said Sontham, apparently with no tourist boats wandering around as they did in the recent past.

 

According to the department’s plan, access to Maya Bay will become permanently unattainable. It will be shifted instead to the back of the island, where a new aluminium and quality plastic-based pier and bridge will provide new access to the bay to reduce ecological impacts caused by tourists.

 

The number of both individual tourists and transport boats will also be cut in half, while an e-ticketing system will be introduced to help handle tourist demand. Second-tier tourist spots will also be cultivated to help handle tourist pressure.

 

 

Perhaps most importantly, the degraded ecosystems of the island will be rehabilitated, including the coral reefs in front of the bay.

 

Thon posted a message to his Facebook page, noting that Maya has been exploited for tens of years, with boats taking tourists in and out, crashing into and crushing coral reefs thousands of times. This caused the destruction of marine resources as tourists visiting paradise slowly pulverised the reef coral, smashing it over and over. The closure and rehabilitation today, he said, would draw tears of joy from many sea lovers as an end is called to the reef’s destruction.

 

“The sounds of the sea, the waves, the wind and the birds on this island paradise are like they were saying, ‘thank you all for giving the paradise a chance’,” wrote Thon.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30346803

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-02

[Get Real]

Good move. Just sad that it hits massive on the companies working in the concentrated tuorist area.

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Since Thursday, the rangers have placed buoys extending hundreds of metres in front of the bay to close it off from tourist boat access

 

If they're serious about closing it off, does that mean the rangers will also be constantly patrolling the bay to prevent boats accessing it?

Failing that, if they used explosive buoys it might work better - then it would require a new boat for each trip, but the hospital and the morgue would be pretty full too.

 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

Good move. Just sad that it hits massive on the companies working in the concentrated tuorist area.

Why? Lots of other things to do and see.

[Get Real]

33 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Why? Lots of other things to do and see.

Sure, no problem! You are right. That´s why about 3000 tourists visited the beach in the high season. Just because they really are going there for everything else.

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

“The sounds of the sea, the waves, the wind and the birds on this island paradise are like they were saying, ‘thank you all for giving the paradise a chance’,” wrote Thon.

They'll more likely be drowned out by the wailing of vendors losing 4 months of business.

[madmitch]

22 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

They'll more likely be drowned out by the wailing of vendors losing 4 months of business.

As far as I know there are no vendors on Maya Beach. But it'll be interesting to find out how the boat operators will fill the void in what was an integral part of the Phi Phi day trip. 

[stevenl]

42 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Sure, no problem! You are right. That´s why about 3000 tourists visited the beach in the high season. Just because they really are going there for everything else.

It was one of the things they visited on a trip to Phi Phi. This wont cost anybody anything.

[bluesofa]

2 minutes ago, madmitch said:

As far as I know there are no vendors on Maya Beach. But it'll be interesting to find out how the boat operators will fill the void in what was an integral part of the Phi Phi day trip. 

I'd suggest they visit the Isaan sausage vendor in Pattaya - he now offers a similar Phi Phi tour.

 

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

It was one of the things they visited on a trip to Phi Phi. This wont cost anybody anything.

Ever listen to this one?

All I have to do is dream
Dream, dream, dream
 

 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

Ever listen to this one?

All I have to do is dream
Dream, dream, dream
 

 

Ever heard of only taking about things you know about? So you're claiming on these trips they only go to Maya Bay? Or people don't take a trip to Phi Phi if it doesn't go to Maya Bay?

Edited June 2, 2018 by stevenl

[Get Real]

17 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Ever heard of only taking about things you know about? So you're claiming on these trips they only go to Maya Bay? Or people don't take a trip to Phi Phi if it doesn't go to Maya Bay?

No, absolutely not! Never stated that. What I have stated, though. Is that many of the persons and companies that work inside the tourism sector will be hurt economically.
You are the one stating that: 

 

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

This wont cost anybody anything.

I did not say that, I quoted it from my post only. It´s your comment. Please do read carefully next time, and save the knoledge of what you are writing. Always works much better. cheers!

Edited June 2, 2018 by Get Real

[stevenl]

9 minutes ago, Get Real said:

No, absolutely not! Never stated that. What I have stated, though. Is that many of the persons and companies that work inside the tourism sector will be hurt economically.
You are the one stating that: 

 

I did not say that, I quoted it from my post only. It´s your comment. Please do read carefully next time, and save the knoledge of what you are writing. Always works much better. cheers!

Huh, you're not making any sense.

 

People don't go to Maya Bay only, it is a Phi Phi excursion. People will still be making the same excursion, just without visiting Maya Bay. So this won't cost anybody anything, as I said earlier.

Edited June 2, 2018 by stevenl

[Get Real]

19 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Huh, you're not making any sense.

 

People don't go to Maya Bay only, it is a Phi Phi excursion. People will still be making the same excursion, just without visiting Maya Bay. So this won't cost anybody anything, as I said earlier.

Not cost anybody? It´s not even worth mentioning, because you are so deadly wrong. You just don´t realize it. 

[stevenl]

4 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Not cost anybody? It´s not even worth mentioning, because you are so deadly wrong. You just don´t realize it. 

As I said, you're not making any sense. " People don't go to Maya Bay only, it is a Phi Phi excursion. People will still be making the same excursion, just without visiting Maya Bay. " is what I said, so you're saying people go to Maya Bay only, so the excursion will not be sold?

[Get Real]

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

As I said, you're not making any sense. " People don't go to Maya Bay only, it is a Phi Phi excursion. People will still be making the same excursion, just without visiting Maya Bay. " is what I said, so you're saying people go to Maya Bay only, so the excursion will not be sold?

This is starting to get dumber and dumber. Do I really have to give you example. Please use what you are given that is attached to and above your shoulders.

Anyway, I will give you 2 examples.

How many speedboat trips do you think get lost out of this? Ooops! I guess you didn´t see them as what you called nobody. Because it cost nothing only to nobody.

Sorkeling and adveture trips, fishing trips. oooh! I forgot, they are not considered under your nobody clause.

After that I will give you a bonus too. What about all people that go to this beach, and what they buy for go, swin and for picnic?

I guess it was a little bit bigger than you could realize from start, right? Did I make any sense now, or are we still standing at zero capability of understanding?

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, Get Real said:

This is starting to get dumber and dumber. Do I really have to give you example. Please use what you are given that is attached to and above your shoulders.

Anyway, I will give you 2 examples.

How many speedboat trips do you think get lost out of this? Ooops! I guess you didn´t see them as what you called nobody. Because it cost nothing only to nobody.

Sorkeling and adveture trips, fishing trips. oooh! I forgot, they are not considered under your nobody clause.

After that I will give you a bonus too. What about all people that go to this beach, and what they buy for go, swin and for picnic?

I guess it was a little bit bigger than you could realize from start, right? Did I make any sense now, or are we still standing at zero capability of understanding?

As I said a few times already " People don't go to Maya Bay only, it is a Phi Phi excursion. People will still be making the same excursion, just without visiting Maya Bay. ". So the same amount of speedboats and people will go to Phi Phi, just skipping Maya Bay.

 

You're not making any sense at all. I'm out of here.

Edited June 2, 2018 by stevenl

[Get Real]

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

As I said a few times already " People don't go to Maya Bay only, it is a Phi Phi excursion. People will still be making the same excursion, just without visiting Maya Bay. ".

 

You're not making any sense at all. I'm out of here.

Did you really read what you just quoted? If so, that´s really sad.

People can not go to Maya Bay, right? Excursion or not? irrelevant. That is in fact 2000-3000 speedboattrips and boat fare ticket smaller a day. Somebody sell thoose, right?

Edited June 2, 2018 by Get Real

[stevenl]

It took me a while to understand you, you think there are excursions or tours to only Maya Bay from Phuket.

 

There are not, it are Phi Phi tours, with one of the places visited Maya Bay. So People don't go to Maya Bay only, it is a Phi Phi excursion. People will still be making the same excursion, just without visiting Maya Bay. " Same speedboats, same tours.

Edited June 2, 2018 by stevenl

[MikeN]

There Are SOME long tail boat tours from Tonsai that just go to Maya, but generally speaking it is just one stop on a longer tour. It is undeniably the main attraction though, and is the highlighted feature on all the posters outside the tour agencies. So the question is, will they bother to update the posters and leaflets or will they continue to take money off tourists who don’t know about the closure ?

[stevenl]

11 minutes ago, MikeN said:

There Are SOME long tail boat tours from Tonsai that just go to Maya, but generally speaking it is just one stop on a longer tour. It is undeniably the main attraction though, and is the highlighted feature on all the posters outside the tour agencies. So the question is, will they bother to update the posters and leaflets or will they continue to take money off tourists who don’t know about the closure ?

Yes, there are a few boats from Tonsai. However that is from Phi Phi, Krabi, not from Phuket, what this thread is about. And even from there they will simply take the guests to other destinations.

 

And yes, agree, I think most will not mention about the Maya Bay closure, nor offer a refund/cancellation option for trips booked in advance.

[MikeN]

^ Oh, I thought the headline for this thread was about Maya Bay being closed .........let me go and check.

Yes, “ Maya Bay closed for business”. Nothing about exclusively regarding trips from Phuket, Krabi or anywhere else .....

[stevenl]

30 minutes ago, MikeN said:

^ Oh, I thought the headline for this thread was about Maya Bay being closed .........let me go and check.

Yes, “ Maya Bay closed for business”. Nothing about exclusively regarding trips from Phuket, Krabi or anywhere else .....

Well, it is in the Phuket forum, so I would say the topic is about Phuket. If TVF wants to talk about trips from Phi Phi itself, wouldn't this topic be in the Krabi forum? But as I said, also there it won't have much effect at all.

[madmitch]

Maya Bay is the main attraction of the Phi Phi tours, though I don't think it will make much difference to the Chinese numbers who are booked onto the tour regardless.

 

I'm do believe it will hit sales to Western tourists. It'll be a bit like going to see the Rolling Stones in concert but they don't turn up and you're treated to a double show by the support act. 

 

I'm waiting to see how they are going to replace the Maya Bay stop.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 6:35 AM, rooster59 said:

Second-tier tourist spots will also be cultivated to help handle tourist pressure.

Soooo, the "plan" is to destroy even more places. I'd rather that all the ruination happened in one place, rather like having the FMP on Had Rin stops other beaches being blighted by the invasion of the <deleted> every month.

 

I'm sure that none of the day trippers that ruined Maya know anything about the book/ film that supposedly started the invasion, or they'd know that they and all their ilk were despised.

They only go there because Thai tourist companies decided to exploit it, but without any desire to do so responsibly and protect the asset.

This disaster has been entirely caused by Thai companies, as the tourists just go where they are herded, and the bay was included in day trips. They should have to pay to clear up the mess they caused.

[thaibeachlovers]

15 hours ago, madmitch said:

Maya Bay is the main attraction of the Phi Phi tours, though I don't think it will make much difference to the Chinese numbers who are booked onto the tour regardless.

 

I'm do believe it will hit sales to Western tourists. It'll be a bit like going to see the Rolling Stones in concert but they don't turn up and you're treated to a double show by the support act. 

 

I'm waiting to see how they are going to replace the Maya Bay stop.

55555555555555555

First time I went to Phi Phi Maya wasn't even included in the day tour. It didn't become popular till the movie came out, and now it's seen by people that have no knowledge of the film. The beach doesn't even look the same as in the movie.

Given most visitors apparently were on package tour groups, it won't make any difference at all to numbers going, but judging by the "before" photos, it would be a good thing if visitor numbers dropped by at least 50%. That many people destroy everything they visit.

[thaibeachlovers]

21 hours ago, Get Real said:

This is starting to get dumber and dumber. Do I really have to give you example. Please use what you are given that is attached to and above your shoulders.

Anyway, I will give you 2 examples.

How many speedboat trips do you think get lost out of this? Ooops! I guess you didn´t see them as what you called nobody. Because it cost nothing only to nobody.

Sorkeling and adveture trips, fishing trips. oooh! I forgot, they are not considered under your nobody clause.

After that I will give you a bonus too. What about all people that go to this beach, and what they buy for go, swin and for picnic?

I guess it was a little bit bigger than you could realize from start, right? Did I make any sense now, or are we still standing at zero capability of understanding?

I don't understand whether you are saying it won't make any difference to numbers, or saying it's a bad thing to close Maya because some of the people that exploited it to destruction will lose money.

If the latter, I hope they do lose money as it is their fault the bay was destroyed. They could have done it responsibly, and in a way that preserved the environment, but they obviously didn't care enough to do so.

[Get Real]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I don't understand whether you are saying it won't make any difference to numbers, or saying it's a bad thing to close Maya because some of the people that exploited it to destruction will lose money.

If the latter, I hope they do lose money as it is their fault the bay was destroyed. They could have done it responsibly, and in a way that preserved the environment, but they obviously didn't care enough to do so.

Yes! I understand you perfectly. I am positive to that they have decided to close to preserve nature. I do not care if people that destroyed and exploited this for economic gain will lose money. I really hope, as well as you do, that they will lose a lot.

That was not the point with the discussion. Stevenl tried to tell me that this closure will not cost anybody anything, and that was what I opposed to. Of course a closure of a destination that has 2500-3000 persons visiting everyday, will affect income for some people. He did not want to understand that. 

That they deserve to lose their income is another thing, and I agree with you 200%. 

[stevenl]

3 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Yes! I understand you perfectly. I am positive to that they have decided to close to preserve nature. I do not care if people that destroyed and exploited this for economic gain will lose money. I really hope, as well as you do, that they will lose a lot.

That was not the point with the discussion. Stevenl tried to tell me that this closure will not cost anybody anything, and that was what I opposed to. Of course a closure of a destination that has 2500-3000 persons visiting everyday, will affect income for some people. He did not want to understand that. 

That they deserve to lose their income is another thing, and I agree with you 200%. 

Seems the person you're agreeing with agrees with me ' Given most visitors apparently were on package tour groups, it won't make any difference at all to numbers going, '.

[Get Real]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Seems the person you're agreeing with agrees with me ' Given most visitors apparently were on package tour groups, it won't make any difference at all to numbers going, '.

Most visitors??? You are already contradicting yourself. How is that going together with "this will cost nothing for nobody"?

Talk about digging the hole, juumping right in and shoveling back the dirt.