Preparing to close down Maya Bay

The General Director of the Department of National Parks (DNP) visited Maya Bay yesterday, which is expected to close down for 4 months from the start of June.

Thanya Neti Thammakul, along with his team, visited Koh Phi Phi Ley and Maya Bay yesterday (April 23) to follow up the readiness before closing down the island’s iconic tourist attraction for 4 months from June 1 – September 30

The closure is to give 4 months for the area to rehabilitate both onshore and offshore after officials found out that the coral reefs were severely damaged by tourism. 4,000 – 5,000 tourists visit the island per day during the tourism high season.

During the closing time no tourism activity will be allowed on the island. The only activity that is allowed is academic research or coral plantation. But tourism companies will be able to park their boats outside the blocked area and allow the tourists to take photos of the bay from the boat.

“After the closure of the bay we will restrict the number of visitors to 2,000 people per day from 4,000 – 5,000”.

There will be a pontoon bridge to park boats and drop off visitors who want to go to Maya Bay through Lo Chama Bay. There will no longer be any boats allowed to park at the beach front of Maya Bay.

There is now a team of engineers and architects surveying the location to design the bridge that will be environmental friendly,” said the General Director.