Cuti-Cuti Thailand: Maya Bay, Phi Phi,Phuket, Thailand

Location: Maya Bay, Phi Phi,Phuket, Thailand

Date of photo: 13/12/16

Camera/Lens: Sony ILCE-7M2/FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS

Ko Phi Phi Le is the second largest island of the archipelago, the largest one being Ko Phi Phi Don. The island consists of a ring of steep limestone hills surrounding two shallow bays, Maya Bay and Loh Samah. During low tide, Maya Bay cannot be accessed directly from the sea via boat, due to shallow waters and coral. Therefore, boats must anchor at the deeper Loh Samah, requiring people to walk through a short section of rocks and jungle to reach Maya Bay itself. There is also one large shallow fjord like inlet called Pi Ley with a small coral reef at the entrance. The Maya Bay area harbours bioluminescent plankton.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation claims to be investigating ways to control tourist numbers amid concerns that visitors are destroying the environment at marine tourism spots. The move was prompted by marine scientist Thon Thamrongnawasawat, who posted photos of large numbers of low-season tourists packed onto small Maya Beach. According to Mr Thon, during low season 2016, about 5,000 tourists a day crowd onto Maya beach, which is just 250 metres long. The beach has 14 available toilets. The tourists are worth 1.6 million baht a day to the park. Thon said that state agencies were running campaigns to drum up tourist numbers with no regard for the environment's carrying capacity.

Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi Marine National Park as a whole, from October 2015 to May 2016 generated revenues of 362 million baht from 1.2 million tourists, 77 percent foreign.