Tourists are back on one of the most famous and beautiful beaches on the planet.
In recent days, the Thai authorities have again authorized visitors to walk on the fine sands of Maya Bay, seen in the film "The Beach", with Leonardo Di Caprio and Virginie Ledoyen.
Until a few years ago, the paradisiacal place, located on one of the islands of the Phi Phi archipelago, west of Phuket, attracted up to 6,000 people every day who disembarked by speedboat, bathed in its turquoise waters and trampled the corals.
A scientist from Kasetsart University in Bangkok, biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat, warns of the ecological disaster unfolding.
Wildlife is scarce, black tip sharks are fleeing the area, and more than 60% of the coral cover is disappearing.
In 2018, the authorities decided on shock treatment and placed Maya Bay under a bell.
The decision is radical but saving.
Three years of isolation and forced convalescence have produced their effects.
Dozens of sharks, black tip or whale, as well as green turtles have found their way to their natural habitat cleared of human intruders.
“Everything suggests that there are more reproductions, especially in sharks which appreciate calm waters,” notes Thon Thamrongnawasawat.
VIDEO.
Thailand: the ecosystem of the Phi Phi Islands reborn thanks to the pandemic
As for the corals, "more than 40% of the fragments replanted in Maya Bay have survived, a very satisfactory figure obtained thanks to the absence of visitors".
However, there is still a long way to go until complete remission: at least two decades will be needed to restore the coral reef, warns the biologist.
Until then, tourists are again allowed to enjoy the exceptional panorama of the site, fine sand and clear waters overhung by cirques of white limestone cliffs.
But not just any old way.
Impossible for the boats to drop anchor blindly and risk destroying the seabed and coral again.
It is also impossible to bathe, so as not to soil the water with the residue of sunscreen.
Boats also cannot dock on the beach as before and must drop tourists off on an artificial jetty to then walk through the forest before setting foot on the sands of Maya Bay. Tours are limited to one hour, must be booked early enough, with a maximum of 300 people per tour. Beware of those who try to circumvent these new rules: violators risk a fine of 150 dollars.
If the very first tourists to have found their way back to Maya Bay were a bit annoyed, most of them are all the better able to adapt to these new arrangements because they can now take a picture of themselves on an almost deserted site, something impossible to do. when the crowd invaded the creek.
"The place has changed a lot but remains, for me, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, the one that gives me goosebumps every time I can come there", rejoices on Instagram this young Italian tourist, However, she came as a neighbor since she was expatriated in the Thai province of Krabi.
