"Maya Bay"

Two popular sites in Krabi will be closed to tourists for two months from August, national park officials said last week.

Krabi’s beautiful Maya Bay has been opened to tourists from January 1 for the first time since June 1, 2018.

Tourists will not be allowed to play in the seawater in Maya Bay in Krabi’s Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park as it would affect blacktip reef sharks and coral reefs, Marine biologist Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

A little over 4,000 tourists will be allowed to enter Maya Bay in Krabi’s Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park each day from January 1 onwards.

Maya Bay, made famous by the Hollywood blockbuster "The Beach", will be reopened to tourists from New Years Day. The beach on Krabis Ko Phi Phi Leh island has been closed since June 2018.

“Not yet” was the answer given by authorities on Tuesday to calls for the famed Maya Bay in Krabi province to reopen after two years in rehab.

The white sandy beaches of Krabi’s beautiful Maya Bay may be opened to tourists next year, though a panel of experts will first be consulted about the suitability of the plan.

The Puu Kai (chicken crab) or “hairy leg” mountain crab has made a rare appearance on closed Maya Bay Beach, Phi Phi Island, much to the excitement of conservationists – the first time in ten years that this crustacean has been spotted.

Maya Bay will remain closed as rehabilitation of the famous beach continues after enormous corals were destroyed through excess tourism.

A five-metre long whale shark estimated to weigh two tonnes was spotted near Maya Bay in Krabi province on Monday (January 13), authorities said.

Coral reefs and ecosystems at the world-famous Maya Bay in the Andaman sea have been almost fully revived, but a date for its reopening to tourists has not been set.

Coral bleaching and the annual monsoon are the only threats to the ongoing recuperation of Maya Bay, now that tourists have been kept away for a year, and probably for another two years as well.