Phi Phi Island is well known for its beautiful marine life, stunning beaches, and magnificent rock formations.
However, the island’s beauty is also its curse as the tourism on the island went through the roof in last 15 years, especially after 2010 when Danny Boyle chose Maya Bay as its location for filming the cult movie The Beach with Leonardo Dicaprio.
Last year, 2017 the estimated number of visitors to the Islands was 2 million with around 3500 people a day alone visiting Maya Bay.
This massive peak in tourism and already damaged seabeds and coral forced authorities to close The Maya Beach in June 2018 for rehabilitation.
Six months on, we can already see a big improvement in the bay. The marine life seems to thrive in the Maya Bay area, especially the reef sharks. Black-tip reef sharks are important to the biological system.
They are predators which help control the numbers and kinds of fishes near coral reefs.
And the closure of Maya Beach wasn’t the only good news for Phi Phi environment and rehabilitation.
The new educational centre has opened in the north part of the island in the five-star hotel complex of Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort.
This luxury hotel, owned by Singha estates, invested 10 million baths in creating the first Discovery Marine Centre in Koh Phi Phi.
The project is concentrating on educations and rehabilitation of the local eco-system.
The centre has four main exhibition rooms which represent different aspects of marine life.
The Shark Room explains about life and anatomy of different species of sharks. There is also a nursery for juvenile sharks which care for sharks which got injured and trapped in the fishing nets and waiting to be released back to the ocean.
Clownfish Room concentrates on the issue of the decline of clownfish species and the importance of coral rehabilitation. There is also a breeding laboratory and interactive games for children to help with the environmental education of the younger generations.
The other two rooms are Phi Phi Island Room and Auditorium which is used for lectures and short documentary screening which helps with the awareness and education about the local marine eco-system.
This project in Koh Phi Phi is only the first one of many more to come across Thailand and gives a hope for the local environment.
The entry to the centre is free and you can visit the exhibitions even if you are not staying in the resort.
To get there you can take a long tail boat taxi from the main Tonsai pier or hike over the Phi Phi Viewpoint.
Every step towards positive attitude and local environmental education is a great step towards a change and awareness of both locals and visitors.
To view E-brochure visit : Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort
