Sharks return to Thailand’s famous Maya Bay after tourist ban 

Our greatest respect and gratitude to the authorities of Maya Bay in taking a clearly unpopular decision to prioritize the safeguard of the environment over the commercial benefit of tourism. This will be a valuable case study for many coastal and beach cities in Asia to value the original inhabitants of the environment including the flora and fauna.

nice to see a Country, where the National Park Authorities, actually look after the place, rather than grabbing money. Well done the Thai Government.

The latest update in Thailand announced that it may close the Maya Bay for as long as 1-3 years.

Human see, Human come, Human destroy. Welcome back sharkies. Welcome back to you home. Congratulations to the Thai govt and local authority for the ban. You guys are heroes. There should be an hour long documentary for this success.

humans are scarier than sharks

It is great to see thai government doing the right thing!

This is amazing Thailand..Pls keep it up...Its more about taking care of your land nature beauty than making tourism money...

More tourist bans

We are like a disease...destroy everything wherever we go.

I was lucky enough to be in Thailand and see Maya Bay just before the ban, it was beautiful but I'm definitely glad to see the country shutting it down to restore the natural wonder.

Majestic. Very nice video with calming music. Well done 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻💪🏻💪🏻. If only, all countries adopt the same approach. Save our oceans.

same goes with boracay philippines!..manta ray population increased

I had been to maya bay it’s beautiful bt it was overpopulated by tourists. Good move by government to restore nature

Wonderful news that restoration is possible if there is political will to do something about it. Syabas to govt of Thailand for doing the right thing for the Marine environment

This is a good example how eco tourism needs to reassess. Understandably it's good for any country's income but we must remember the impact it makes bringing thousands of tourists to admire the beauty of nature mother.

I've been there and was morbidly horrified of thousands of tourist especially Chinese as they were trying to remove corals to take with them. I'm most happy to learn this beautiful beach is closed off to tourists but I think The government should allow Chinese tourists to still visit but they have to swim to get to the beach. It's time the nature gets back to these greedy bastards for destroying the corals!!!!

I’m Thai. And I can say I’m so happy to see this happened. Thank you to the government. You guys did a good job to protect our home.

One of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen. Great memories, I love maya and am glad they are preserving it

Its a good move, we need to restore nature..

One of the few occassions when nature won against mass tourism.. Applause for the Thai people !!!

I support this movement. Ban tourists from entering this National Park. 👍 Well done, Thailand.

This makes me cry...we should love our planet ❤️❤️❤️ great job Thailand

it should be closed forever for tourists

close it forever to tourist

Bravo Thailand!!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Great news good job military Thai Gov. it’s good that you protect maya bay than before. It’s the same protection as Koh Samed now I’m so grateful!

This made me smile. Well done from Ireland :-)

Can somebody tell me the name of the song which plays from 00:23 to 00:50..I will be really grateful

Had a chance to visit this paradise back in 2015. There were lots of boats & ppl, but not like the most recent pics I’ve seen. Glad to see the Govt closed the area to allow nature to return.

I should say, I was lucky. I had visited it just a few months back. Maya bay was not in our package, though we had it in our bucket list. Fortunately, when we had to upgrade our package at Phuket for ease of travel, Maya Bay was in the scheduled list. 'Beach' is one of my favorite movies, and it was like dream coming through.

Close it forever! I cried watching those sharks come back 😭

You know closing is not necessary if they put new strategy on the tourism. Like make limited tourist to enter or make the price higher for high end tourism.

Yes Good moves from the Thai Govt

When they decide to reopen they should seriously consider limiting the number of tourist to 500 a day not 5000 and just charge more. People will appreciate more space and will be willing to pay for it. Thus will keep the balance between safe guarding the environment and creating an income for the Thailand.

What is the song being used?

The Philippines did the same thing, the government shut down Boracay island for 6 months and the result was astonishing😍 the island was restored into it’s former glory.

Beautiful! simply beautiful work.

Well done, Thai government. ❤ sending my love from the philippines.

สุดยอดครับ พวกเราควรรักษา ทรัพยากรทางธรรมชาติไว้ เพื่อให้ดำรงค์ไว้ต่อไป พวกเราต้องรักษาธรรมชาติช่วยกันรวมถึงนักท่องเที่ยว

Very good initiative by the Thai government 💪🏼 I was a Maya Bay in April of 2004, nowhere near that many boats or tourists back then.

They should limit tickets or something to the place if the re-open to tourists. Like a gig. Limited numbersss. 5000 a day is mental

Been there 20 yrs ago. At that time, boats are not allowed to get in the beach upfront, but the pier in the back. When I walked to the beach from the crowded trees in the back, the bay scene made me more than the impressive. Lucky to see once in my life.

That’s awesome 👏 I’m glad the they ban the beach there glad Thailand 🇹🇭 take care of environmental of our beautiful beach good to close Thank you 🙏🏼.

Thanks to Anuar Abdullah and his dedicated team!

GREAT! I have been to Maya bay and it was more crowded than a sunday market in Chiang Mai.... now it is regain its purity and calm.. khabkhunkha Thailand.... U R amazing.. just closed this paradise forever......

best news ive heard since along time. thank you thailand. i bow to Bhumibol Adulyadej.

I visited maya bay in 2016, it was staggeringly beautiful as promised. Crowds were somewhat low, but thats because it was raining- actually made for a pretty cool experience. I am pleased to see the government taking action over irresponsible tourism regulations. It would be nice to see the bay more strictly regulated. Swim up only is a great compromise.

This is so awesome watching nature reclaimed their home

Please Thai Government keep it close as long as you can.

Amazing how fast nature can recover sometimes if it gets a little bit of help. Keep up the great work thailand!

Glad to see closure is having a positive impact! I’m at Lanta now wanting to visit Maya and was disappointed not so much now seeing this...

I was there when Phi Phi island was an unknown in 1991. There was one hotel. To get there, you have to be on a long tail boat for 5 hours. No speed boat. When I get there, barely other tourist in sight. I still have the picture of me in the bay alone in the middle of the afternoon. Right just outside of the Maya bay was the most beautiful coral reef I've ever seen to date, and I'm to Hawaii (Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Big Island), Bahamas (many island, don't remember), and Cancun. Whenever I saw the recent videos, pictures of Maya Bay, I was sick. The most beautiful thing and Thai government and people doesn't know what they have, and it's one of their crown jewels in their tourist industry. I'm glad they finally do something with it. However, I feel it's way too late. Coral takes decades to grow. Closing it for a few years will never put it back where it once was. Phi Phi should have been treated like Similan islands. Similan has no hotels, only limited camping with permit.

I miss this place, very beautiful island

You can see on google earth how the Trees are dying off Exsposing the Titain compared to older pictures where there is more trees on the Titain. And the story givin here coincides with the allowance of the trees in the foliage I never seem to grow back before they allow people to go back to the island

I have been there 3 times, the first time before leos movie and it was a paradise, and after- horrible! What they have done now is absolutly thr right thing! Congratilations!

I want it to be closed forever.

Whats the song at the start ?

thailand government has my respect

What is the name of the song?

It is beautiful!!! We have been there 2016 And its not like this , no fishes just tourist at the beach and trash , but thank God this happened! This is surreal! ❤️

whats the name of the song???? anyone plz

Hats off to Thailand authorities for taking care of their nature and marine lives.

Next task is to clean and pickup all the litter at Phi Phi island and all the other islands.

A huge congrats to the Thailand Government for this recovery program. I was lucky enough to go to the maya bay, and the damage was significant. Huge respect for the Thailand for this attempt. Hope they will closed it for a year or 2.

I am visiting Thailand this Nov sad that am not be able to see this paradise...but am happy for my ecosystem reconstruction

Great decision. Love Thailand ❤️❤️❤️❤️

We skipped PhiPhi islands whilest we were in Krabi. Not my cup of tea being crammed in a bay with thousands of other people. I'm really happy the Thai government is taking measures to rescue this treasure.

Really nice to see them back. But the solution isn't to do a ban on all tourism, it is to limit the number of visitors per day to something reasonable. Charge a marine park fee and use that money for other environmental projects instead. Also force snorkelers and boat captains to go through proper training before going into the bay.

its just like a swimming pool. very clean waters. crystal clean waters.

Sharks be like: I have just seen the beach movie, now me and gang needs to be in that Maya Bay take some selfie. My dude!

Music please

I hope the goverment in bali do this too, because there are too many garbages.

I went yesterday and the "closed area" is really small( only the sand beach and a bit of it front). All the boats still get in the Bay and water is full of sunscreen.

Great job Thailand ...shame Cambodia is going completely opposite direction

I went to maya bay earlier this year, but it was still closed off. I’m glad sharks are coming back. I hope it stays closed for a while tbh

After 3 years close , i think they will open for 3-4 months in high season per year only

Respect for Thailand Gov and Humans with a heart who makes this happening!!!! I visit Thailand soon and iam happy that they’re doing this. We must save our world like parents sometimes forget to save our life’s we always must get up by ourselves. Iam happy for this Flora & Fauna 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Love Thailand for this

The movie "The Beach" was the best and the worst thing to ever happened to Thailand !!!! although as a tourist myself, im sad that i was not able to visit this beautiful place but glad they banned it.

I support Thailand's effort. Maybe if to be opened, restriction must be put in place. Only 10 able to visit a day.

Oh you followed the Philippines' footsteps! Great move thailand!

Kudos to the Thai government for doing what needs to be done. Maya beach has always been in my bucket list but I'll be fine not ever be able to visit it as long as such abundant and beautiful place is preserved.

Honestly I would be satisfied with just 4k tour of the beach from the government and ban all of us forever. The beach is way more important than our money

I was so lucky to go there 20 yrs ago it was magical. Then I went 10 yrs ago and it was already stuffed. The bay next to maya Bay is nicer it's very deep and no beach but the water and coral and reef fish is or was incredible.

Nice to see nature recovering

Wonderful to hear ❤

I'm still surprised that they actually closed it.

Close it forever. It was a horrible experience when it was open. The disappointment on everyone's faces when they entered the bay to be greeted with hundreds of boats and thousands of people was obvious. It was a madhouse.

Welldone. You have a gem thailanders. Keep it safe. Love from Australia

Wow! Thai gov should preseve this magical bay.. i love thailand!

Other tropical islands should follow

This video is slightly misleading, I swam with black tip reef sharks in maya Bay in 2015, but I'm glad they are now flourishing.

This makes me happy

Thanks to “This Military Government “ (most of foolish people call them Dictator but it’s not true. ) None of governments are brave to do this because they afraid of loosing their popularity. After we have Military Government , nature have been improved also many millions baht of enter fee from tourists have been collected and send to Country promptly ( Where is this money goes to in the past?)

We dove this exact location two years ago...I asked every dive tour operator whether we'd be able to see any sharks. "Maybe" was the most optimistic answer they'd give. In our two hours of diving, we saw two sharks from a distance. Glad to see them coming back, but it'll be a few years before their population returns.

Wow.. sharks! Look awesome. I went there at 2011, it was very nice bay, not many boats like nowadays at the bay. Hope it will get better..

Thank you for giving this beautiful nature a break to recover. Should be closed longer or forever from any destruction caused by humans

BAN TOURIST FROM THAT ISLAND FOREVER!

18 idiots with no sense of respect or responsibility disliked this video. The government did a much needed thing at great human cost FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

Kudos! Wish more would do the same. 🙏🏼👍🏼👏🏼