Key Points
- Thailand National Park authorities closed Maya Bay – one of the country’s most iconic tourism destinations – for four years to allow for ecological restoration.
- Despite successes, a leading Thai marine expert warns against ineffective short-term solutions.
- The world is currently experiencing its fourth global coral bleaching event.
Environmentally sensitive areas and habitats for endangered species, however, have remained closed.
Tourists flock to Thailand’s popular beach destination Maya Bay in the Andaman Sea. Source: AAP, AP / AAP/AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Thon Thumrongnawasawat is a marine scientist and adviser to Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).
Thumrongnawasawat told SBS Thai that the closure contributed to re-growing coral communities, apex predators returning and restoring the reputation of the bay as a premium tourist destination.
The ‘Phi Phi Model’
These measures included reducing the number of visitors, designing a suitable entrance area, and prohibiting activities such as swimming and snorkelling that damage coral reefs and marine biology systems.
After significant recovery, some parts of the Noparat Tara-Phi Phi national parks reopened to the public just after the end of the pandemic. Credit: Supplied/Thon Thumrongnawasawat
Despite the Phi Phi Model’s achievements, he said these iconic tourism destinations faced a significant global threat as sea temperatures continued to rise.
“We didn’t expect [coral bleaching] would happen so soon and cover such a vast area. It’s especially prevalent on the eastern Gulf of Thailand coast, including Rayong, Chon Buri, or Chumphon,” Thumrongnawasawat said.
Coral reefs and tourism
In March, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef experienced its fifth mass bleaching in the last eight years, according to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
“If Surin, Similan National Park, and other attractions in Thailand are gone, the nation will lose billions of dollars in income. Other problems will be ecosystem imbalance and coastal erosion,” Thumrongnawasawat said.
It is also governed under the Reef 2050 Sustainability Plan, through which the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water aims to protect and restore the World Heritage Site.
Global bleaching impacts economies, marine ecology and coastal communities around the world, Thon Thumrongnawasawat said. Credit: Supplied/SBS Thai
Although plans are in place to protect these natural wonders, like the rest of the world’s reefs, they are under threat from the impacts of climate change.
The Great Barrier Reef Foundation also urges worldwide collaboration and partnership to respond to climate change.
Does conservation offer a long-term solution?
Dr Simon Bradshaw, research director at the Climate Council, warned mass bleaching was a wake-up call to “cut down emissions”.
Despite worldwide efforts to conserve and develop technology to help relieve the underwater world’s crisis caused by human activities and local threats, Thumrongnawasawat warned there was no quick fix to this problem.
It doesn’t matter how hard we try to lock the door after the horse (has bolted); it is not a sustainable solution. We need to target the root cause of the problem.
Thon Thumrongnawasawat, marine scientist
Thailand and Australia, who placed 42 and 55 in the global Climate Change Performance Index 2023, have a long road ahead with little time.
Source Agencies
