After 20th Century
Fox finished shooting The Beach in Maya Bay, Phi Phi Le island,
back in February 1999, the media and apparently the environmentalists
lost interest in whether the produ
ction
team would keep their promises to completley restore the beach
and dune to its original state. Like many visitors to this website,
we too waited for reports about what was happening but all in
vain. The production team sent out a press release to say what
steps they would take to put Maya Beach back to the way it was
before. The environmentalists on their part sent us an open letter
asking people to concentrate on more important issues rather
than just the original environmental outcry. They wanted people
to look at the legal issues of letting Fox shoot there in the
first place and not to whether the grass would grow back or not.
But none of this really showed us what state the beach is in
now. So, when Sarah Clark, the publicist for the movie asked
us to join her and greensman Ross Palmer on a trip to Phi Phi
Le we jumped at the chance to go and see for ourselves.
On the morning of Friday 26th March 1999, we left our hotel in Phuket city and drove south to a private pier on Cape Panwa owned by the Department of Fisheries. This was the same pier that they used every day to go between Phuket and the island during the shooting. During the filming, the production team had hired two sea cats for the cast and crew which could make the journey in less than one hour. Though, during bad weather this could increase to as much as 3 hours. Our jouney this morning took only 45 minutes in perfect sea conditions. We were lucky with the weather as it has been quite varied lately.
Phi Phi (pronounced "PP") is made up of two islands: Phi Phi Don which has a small fishing village and hundreds of tourist bungalows and Phi Phi Le which is uninhabited. Both of these islands belong to the Phi Phi-Hat Nopparat Thara National Park. This is why there was so much controversy over the production team bringing in a bulldozer to level a sand dune and help plant some palm trees. The production team have been accused of many things over the months, many of which have later proved to be false. Take the example of the number of palm trees planted. No two publications seemed to hit on the same figure. One even put the figure in the high hundreds. Reality was only 60, all of which have now been removed.
We landed on the island in Maya Bay. This bay is not suitable for larger boats due to the coral on the sea bed. During filming the production team anchored their boats around the back of the island in deep water. From here a special jetty and walkway was built so that everyone could arrive on the island without damaging the coral. Another platform was built over some rocks which was used as the eating and relaxation areas for the entire production team. The idea was to keep the majority of the people off the actual island itself in order to limit the environmental impact. All of this has now been removed.
The fence and rubbish bins put up by the film crew. The rubbish is now being collected by Forestry officials. At one end of the beach there is a small shop where you can buy refreshments.
When we landed on Maya Beach there were about four long tail boats which had brought in tourists on a day trip from nearby Phi Phi Don. Apparently, by mid-day there are so many boats anchored on the beach that there is difficulty for late arrivers to find space. At one end is a small shop selling refreshments. Rubbish bins put up by the film crew are now being emptied by the Royal Forestry Department (RFD). The immediate question here is how much of this will change (for the worse?) once the movie receives its worldwide release. Take the example of another island in Thailand nicknamed "James Bond Island" after its five minutes of fame in "The Man with a Golden Gun". A very beautiful location though when I visited last year I was surprised about the dozen of souvenir and refreshment stalls that had been set up on the beach. Is this what is in store for the future of Maya Beach? No-one wants this, most of all the production team. They are working closely with the RFD in order to make sure that Maya Bay's future is well cared for.
The reconstructed sand dune at the top of the narrow beach. Can you spot the section that was removed by the film-makers?
It is easy to see why they chose Maya Bay. The crystal clear water, the white sand and the cliffs that enclose the bay on three sides. Well, not quite perfect. The book called for an enclosed lagoon and a palm fringed beach. The latter needed the help of 60 imported palm trees. The former will be achieved later during post production as a special effect. At the top of the beach is a sand dune. Two small sections of this was carefully removed by the production team. The plants, including their root systems, were put in a nursery at the back of the island. By the time we had arrived the sand dune had been reconstructed and the vegetation replanted. Bamboo stakes had also been put in to keep the dune stable over the coming months. To help the dune even further most of it was roped off with a small entrance which takes you up and over a natural track. To me, all of this looked much the same as what park officials do in national parks I had visited in Australia. Before the film-makers arrived the dune was far worse off as people walked up and over it in different places adding to the erosion that takes place during the monsoon season. At least now the dune had a better chance of surviving the annual monsoons and the floods of tourists. The forrestry officials and locals on nearby Phi Phi Don seem to be satisfied.
Notices tell tourists to keep to the path and not to walk over the sand dunes. Bamboo sticks are used to keep the dune stable over the coming months.
Sarah Clark, the film publicist and Ross Palmer, the greensman with two of the Thai students at the bottom of the walkway over the dune. The picture to the right shows the top of the dune where the vegetation has now been replanted. All of the palm trees have now been removed.
At the top of the walkway is the area where the palm trees had been planted. All of these had long since been removed and the original vegetation replanted. The only thing missing was the wild grass which had yet to be sown. However, nature had already taken things into her own hands as patches of grass could be seen. All of this area is watered by an irrigation system. Water tanks at the back of the island are filled about every three days with fresh water brought in on a flat-bottomed barge from Phuket.
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