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Welcome to the first and most comprehensive web site for the movie "The Beach", starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic), Tilda Swinton ("Orlando"), Virginie Ledoyen ("A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries") and Guillaume Canet ("En Cas De Malheur"). Danny Boyle directs from a screenplay by John Hodge, based on the acclaimed novel by Alex Garland. Andrew Macdonald is the producer. The Beach marks the fourth collaboration between the trio, whose previous credits together are "Shallow Grave", "Trainspotting", and "A Life Less Ordinary". Join the mailing list to receive all the latest information for The Beach
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 The book for the movie is now available at amazon.com ($10.40). The normal retail price is $13.00.  You can now order the soundtrack from amazon.com for $13.99 [more info]
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 Leonardo DiCaprio portrays an American who, along with two French travellers, sets off on an exotic adventure in Thailand in search of a legendary tropical paradise free of conventional society's problems. But when they find the modern day Eden, they learn it holds more than a few deadly secrets.
Visit Beach Watch for news updated 24 hours a day. Visit the Archives for all the articles from the past 15 months. 
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| "Not just another shrine to Leo on the web. In fact, it’s a virtual compendium on the movie and includes current articles on the battle between environmentalists and 20th Century Fox. For those of you who don’t know, the site is run by students from Sriwittayapaknam School in Thailand and is an example of how amateurs can go head to head with the big boys. A good starting point for travellers, and Leo fans interested in making the pilgrimage to Phi Phi Le Island." The BBC, voting "Footsteps on the Beach" as website of the week, Jan 24, 2000. |
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TEN LINKSThe following is the Top 10 for the websites that are linking to this page. If you would like to link to us, please click here.
Click here for the complete list and to add your own web site.  Copyright: These photographs have been reproduced here with permission from 20th Century Fox. Click here for more pictures. |
One of the main reasons we started this web site was that we wanted to use the interest in the movie The Beach and Leonardo DiCaprio to give people an easy introduction to Thai culture and society. For example, when Leonardo visited a Thai boxing match, the next day we put up on the internet background information about this popular Thai sport. When Leonardo visited a Thai temple we then produced pages on how to behave when visiting a temple and what there is to see. we also showed people how to "wai" properly - the Thai greeting. Out of a shooting schedule of 67 days Leonardo DiCaprio is reported to have worked on the set for 64 days. However, despite all of the hard work he did have time between locations to do a little sightseeing and to do some shopping.
 All of the web sites at thaistudents.com are produced by students and teachers at Sriwittayapaknam School. Our aim is to promote Thailand to students and other people living in other countries. Judging by the hundreds of letters we have received, many people are now saying that they would like to come and visit Thailand as a direct result of what they have seen on these sites. We recommend that you visit the official Tourism Authority of Thailand web site. However, we also have many pages which are written by our own students which show you more about life as a student in Thailand. Fourteen year old Nattawud Daoruang has a very extensive web site called Thai Life. Through pictures and words you will be able to meet his family and friends, visit his home and school and go on photo tours around his city and other provinces. Nattawud was one of the Thai students that went to watch the making of The Beach in Phuket earlier this year. Nattawud was also a novice monk for a short time when his grandfather died and you can read all about this and more on his web site. We will be adding a lot more tourist information now over the following months in the lead up to the release of The Beach. Thais split over 'Beach' landing, Hollywood Reporter (Wednesday, Nov. 24, 1999) In an ironic twist, Leonardo DiCaprio's new movie "The Beach" will be used by travel agents to boost tourism to Thailand's idyllic islands despite claims in court that the crew on the Fox production has already ruined the country's most beautiful cove. Thai tourism chiefs in Britain are teaming with Fox to promote the movie and the country where it was shot. James Bond Island We have prepared some special pages in order to compare what happened to Koh Tapu and what some people reckon will happen to Maya Bay. After it's five minutes of fame in The Man with the Golden Gun, Koh Tapu was renamed James Bond Island and is now visited by thousands of tourists every month. Some newspapers are reporting that local tour operators are already calling Maya Bay "Leonardo's Beach [more]. |
 The January issue of Cine Live has a major article from The Beach. Lou has translated the article and Isabelle at Jerry's Kingdom has scanned the pictures [more]. You can also find a translation of the recent Studio article at Isabelle's site [more].
I was Leo's Double - Find out how an extra was plucked out of the ranks and promoted to be "Leo's Double" in this exclusive interview. Cast Away: Marooned on the set of The Beach - An extra writes about his experiences on the set. |
If you want to know the latest news from Phi Phi islands then this is best place to look. Newspapers tend to report only one side to the story but on this web site you will find reports and photographs from all parties involved: 20th Century Fox, The Royal Forestry Department and the environmental groups regularly send us reports. We don't edit them, we print them in full. The latest reports and newspaper clippings in our archives are listed here. Also check Beach Watch for breaking news. The views expressed on these pages do not necessarily match the views of the owners of thaistudents.com. Nor is this web site affiliated with Thai universities or Thai Student Associations.
Agent pleads for justice for 'The Beach' (26th November 1999) The Thai company acting as the local representative for Hollywood's 20th Century Fox Company in filming The Beach asked for justice for the controversial movie. Santa Pestonji, owner of Santa International Film Production Co, told The Nation that he was saddened by the ''unreasonable protests'' of the film's opponents. One Planet, BBC World Service, Wednesday 24th November. The lure of a secluded sun-kissed sandy beach somewhere near the equator has long been irresistible to Western travelers. But for the giant film company 20th Century Fox, the beach at Maya Bay on the island of Phi Phi Le in Southern Thailand has turned into a nightmare. Cyberspace Campaigns to Slam "The Beach" Protest The Nation editorial (24th November 1999) ''The Beach'' controversy has not only been raging within Thailand but also in cyberspace through various web sites with international links and contributors -- an aspect that has largely remained unnoticed in this country. Photos of Maya Beach prove environmental harm, lawyers say (20th November, The Nation) LAWYERS representing the plaintiffs in ''The Beach'' law suit yesterday submitted to the court photographs of Maya Beach taken after the monsoon season as evidence supporting their accusations that filmakers destroyed the once-pristine beach.
The following are the progress reports filed so far:
To help you better understand this story, check out some of the following links:
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| "We here at Birken had no access to Leonardo when he was in Thailand, so as a result the Thai students' site was our only source of accurate information during the filming of "The Beach". As many people know, Leonardo is environmentally active and if we had to rely on the press for the truth we would have gotten a horribly distorted version that seemed based on Leo's celebrity and not on the relationship between Thailand and Fox. I feel the Thai students helped the world focus on the issues at hand and not on tabloid journalism which causes so many false illusions and impressions. If Leo had seen any problems we would have heard about it in a big way, believe me." Chuck Smith, Director of Production, Birken Interactive Studio. |
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Tourist information on Chiang Mai | Life in Thailand | Thailand Guidebook | Learn Thai for Free! | Hotel Finder |
| "The Beach, the newest project by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle, features Leonardo DiCaprio and was shot in Thailand. This site, created by Thai students, exhaustively documents the filming process." Brittanica.com, voting "Footsteps on the Beach" as website of the week, Jan 20, 2000. |