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Prior to the 2000 film The Beach, Thailand’s Phi Phi Leh Islands were an underdeveloped backpacker haven away from the buzzing destinations such as Bangkok or Phuket. It was a place of pristine natural beauty surrounded by stunning limestone cliffs covered with green foliage, white sand beaches, crystal clear water and a thriving ecosystem of coral reefs.
However, after the fame of the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring movie, people from around the globe flocked to the once quiet island. The hidden haven turned into a crowded destination, especially for those wishing to spend a day at Maya Bay, swimming, snorkelling and taking Instagram-worthy shots of the famous location.
At the peak of its popularity almost 20 years later, Maya Bay received approximately 3,000 to 4,000 visitors a day and was littered with people and rubbish from tour boats. The situation at this and other tourist hotspots across the Andaman Sea was raised concerns for the natural ecosystems among locals, academics.
A wide-spread conservation project was instituted, named the Phi Phi model, whereby some beach, including Maya Bay, was closed to tourists, and ecologically sensitive infrastructure was installed to protect reefs and other natural assets.
A number of speed boats took tourists to Maya Bays (Image source: Wikimedia/Diego Delso delso.photo(CC-BY-SA)) Source: Wikimedia/Diego Delso dels.photo (CC-BY-SA)
Thon Thumrongnawasawat, a marine scientist, architect of the Phi Phi model and advisor to Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), told SBS Thai about the immense damage to coral reefs and animal habitats.
"I believe Thailand’s beaches have the highest density of tourists in the world and the number is expected to increase every year, with a large crowd and boats in and out every minute, daily. The anchors and propellers from speed boats are the main factors that destroyed our coral reefs and scared away wildlife."
The Phi Phi model, an extensive conservation project, has since been created as a road map to rejuvenate marine ecology around the Phi Phi Islands. Beginning in the nearby islands, this project has captured the world's interest when Maya Bay was indefinitely closed to tourists in June, 2018.
Plastic debris floating on the ocean surface (Image source: Getty Images) Source: Getty images
"The Phi Phi model started four years ago. We began at Yung Island first, following by Tachai Island and then at Maya Bay which has created significant impact internationally," Thumrongnawasawat says.
The DNP announced tour boats would no longer to be able to land or drop anchor at Loh Samah Bay, located on the other side the island to Maya Bay. Instead, visitors arrive to an additional floating pier to prevent activities that cause further harm to the island.
Tourist restriction measures have not been officially declared but the last departmental report mentioned they expected tourist numbers to be reduced by half, with a maximum of 2,000 people per day.
"We will apply several measures to maintain the situation after the recovery period such as reduced number of visitors, design of a suitable entrance area, prohibiting activities such as swimming and snorkelling that are causing damage to coral reefs and marine biology systems," Thumrongnawasawat explained
After four months of the closure, marine experts revealed that there were signs of improvement.
"The corals' transplantation shows a great sign of recovery and growth as well as in other biological systems around the bay,” Thumrongnawasawat says. “This area used to be feeding areas for sharks, and now the blacktip reef sharks have returned. The world begins to realise that we can do it. Therefore, the restoration plan will remain in place forever on Maya Bay and other areas as well."
Thailand marine conservation hopes to move towards a sustainable approach but dealing with the nature of high demand of global tourists isn't easy. Only one per cent of visitors to the area are domestic tourists.
The blacktip reef sharks have returned to Maya Bay (Image source: Thon Thumrongnawasawat) Source: Thon Thumrongnawasawat
"Regarding the nature of our tourism industry, it is an out-dated idea to run a campaign to raise awareness of Thai people about conservation because they aren’t the majority visitor. Instead, it is more valid to show the world what we are doing, and then they will understand and cooperate," Thumrongnawasawat says.
Another problem is how to attract the right kind of tourist that will both add to the local economy whilst being mindful of the preservation of these pristine natural habitats.
"The Western visitor who seems to understand the concept of conservation appeared to spend less whereby Asian visitors, which lately is our more extensive group of tourists, are whom we may need to provide more information to about rules and restrictions; but in terms of economics, they are spending more,” says Thumrongnawasawat.
