--- title: We've Ruined the Beach From Leonardo DiCaprio's 'The Beach' description: The famous Thai beach where DiCaprio and director Danny Boyle filmed 2000's 'The Beach' is getting closed to recover from tourist damage. canonical: https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-31T14:47:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:10.994Z og:title: We've Ruined the Beach From Leonardo DiCaprio's The Beach og:description: The Thai beach where DiCaprio filmed the 2000 film is closing because of damage og:url: https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fed9a3eb3c0ad5d/698931ee929fad9d0bbf0b72/maya-bay-beach-koh-phi-phi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: THAILAND-INDONESIA-PHILIPPINES-TOURISM-ENVIRONMENT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: We've Ruined the Beach From Leonardo DiCaprio's The Beach twitter:description: The Thai beach where DiCaprio filmed the 2000 film is closing because of damage twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fed9a3eb3c0ad5d/698931ee929fad9d0bbf0b72/maya-bay-beach-koh-phi-phi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tourists Caused Too Much Damage to the Beach From Leonardo DiCaprio's _The Beach_ ## Video: The Philippines' Most Popular Island Is Shutting Down for Sewage Cleanup [Watch (HLS stream): The Philippines' Most Popular Island Is Shutting Down for Sewage Cleanup](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/j8ERI3Pr.m3u8) (1:18)  _Published 2018-04-05. Holiday plans may be foiled, but the Philippines’ government claims it is saving tourists from an even worse fate: swimming in raw sewage._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 31, 2018 2:47 PM UTC  This photo taken on April 9, 2018 shows a crowd of tourists on the Maya Bay beach, on the southern Thai island of Koh Phi Phi. Across the region, Southeast Asia's once-pristine beaches are reeling from decades of unchecked tourism as governments scramble to confront trash-filled waters and environmental degradation without puncturing a key economic driver. This photo taken on April 9, 2018 shows a crowd of tourists on the Maya Bay beach, on the southern Thai island of Koh Phi Phi. Across the region, Southeast Asia's once-pristine beaches are reeling from decades of unchecked tourism as governments scramble to confront trash-filled waters and environmental degradation without puncturing a key economic driver.LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA—AFP/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 31, 2018 2:47 PM UTC Sad news for beach lovers everywhere today: the Thai beach made famous by [Leonardo DiCaprio](http://time.com/5243658/leonardo-dicaprios-coachella/) in the 2000 Danny Boyle film _The Beach_ is being temporarily shut down, effective June 1, to tourists. Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi is a picturesque strip of white sand, backed by dramatic rock cliffs and surrounded by water that shines a turquoise blue. But thanks in part to its starring role in the DiCaprio adventure movie based on the book by Alex Garland, tourists have flocked en masse to the small space for years — and the environmental damage is beginning to show. “We are a beautiful country but we have to protect our natural resources,” Thon Thamrongnawasawat, an advisor to Thailand’s national parks department, [told the BBC.](http://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44303616) “We have significant information that all the boats that come in and out really impact the coral reef.” He added that it won’t be closed forever — they’re planning on reopening it in the fall — so that’s the good news. DiCaprio himself is an avowed [environmental advocate](http://time.com/5233627/leonardo-dicaprio-jane-goodall-moby/) [who has supported](http://time.com/2890285/leonardo-dicaprio-state-department-ocean-conservation/) organizations that protect coral reefs and work to inhibit damage on natural ecosystems. This isn’t the first time Maya Bay has struggled with degradation. Back when _The Beach_ was filmed, Thai authorities allowed 20th Century Fox to make some cosmetic adjustments to the landscape — leveling and widening the beach, removing some native plants and adding new ones — that caused [something of a controversy](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/oct/29/news.johnvidal) at the time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/"},"headline":"Tourists Caused Too Much Damage to the Beach From Leonardo DiCaprio's The Beach","datePublished":"2018-05-31T14:47:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:10.994Z","description":"It's closing down for the summer","url":"https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Environment","movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fed9a3eb3c0ad5d/698931ee929fad9d0bbf0b72/maya-bay-beach-koh-phi-phi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fed9a3eb3c0ad5d/698931ee929fad9d0bbf0b72/maya-bay-beach-koh-phi-phi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"THAILAND-INDONESIA-PHILIPPINES-TOURISM-ENVIRONMENT","caption":"THAILAND-INDONESIA-PHILIPPINES-TOURISM-ENVIRONMENT","creditText":"LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/","name":"Tourists Caused Too Much Damage to the Beach From Leonardo DiCaprio's The Beach"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Philippines' Most Popular Island Is Shutting Down for Sewage Cleanup","description":"Holiday plans may be foiled, but the Philippines’ government claims it is saving tourists from an even worse fate: swimming in raw sewage.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/j8ERI3Pr/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-04-05T03:30:19.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/j8ERI3Pr.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/","duration":"PT1M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5297042/leo-dicaprio-beach-closure/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```