Three years later, Thailand allows visitors to return to Maya Bay famous for the movie "The Beach"

“The sharks are back, the corals are growing again and the water is clean again. These things show that nature will heal if we give it time, and we have to work to keep it that way too,” he said. Reuters Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand.

To ensure this paradise is protected, authorities will only allow 375 visitors at a time into the bay. According to the site thiger, Anyone wishing to visit Koh Phi Phi Leh, home of the famous Maya Bay, will need to pre-register and the number of daily visits will be limited to 4,125. Currently, swimming is still prohibited and boats will only be able to dock at a designated spot at the back of the bay to avoid Damage to coral reefs.

Over the past few days, 80 tour operators and tour guides from Bangkok, Krabi, Phuket and Phang Nga have been visiting the island to check out the restrictions, changes and new procedures. Shawn Steening of 5 Star Marine, Phuket, took his first cruise boat to Maya Bay on the morning of January 1 and praised Rangers’ work in getting to the site and new operations, but said the system’s pre-registration still had some issues to resolve.

Before the novel coronavirus pandemic, tourism accounted for about 12% of Thailand’s economy and was a major driver of the country’s growth, attracting 40 million visitors in 2019.