Activists Call For End To “Rape” Of Maya Bay

PHUKET TOWN: A group of 20 environmental activists staged a rally outside two city venues on Saturday afternoon to protest the changes underway at Phi Phi Leh Island’s Maya Bay to accommodate the shooting of the Hollywood film The Beach. Flanked by fellow activists from Krabi and Trang provinces, Wisanu Mula of the Phuket Environmental Club called on the public to join in opposing alterations to the idyllic bay by 20th Century Fox production crews. He told those gathered outside the Robinson Ocean shopping mall that filmmakers should not be permitted to destroy the island’s natural setting. Photos showing heavy equipment clearing brush from the beach were displayed on signboards. Leaflets, calling for a halt to what protesters say is a “rape” of Maya Bay, were distributed to passersby. “We have plenty of beautiful beaches in the south of Thailand. What the filmmakers should do is change their script to fit our beach, not change our fragile beach for their script,” the handout read. “Shoot the film anywhere, but don’t rape our beach.” Later in the day, the group also rallied in front of the Royal Phuket City Hotel, site of the Phuket Travel Fair ’98. Both rallies were peaceful.