President calls island a cesspool
This year beaches will close all over South East Asia to safeguard the local environment.
Thailand will shut Maya Bay, which famously featured in "The Beach", starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for four months a year, from June. In the Philippines, officials plan to close Boracay island for six months at the end of April.
More than three-quarters of Thailand’s coral reefs have been damaged by rising sea temperatures and unchecked tourism, said Thon, who last week recommended limiting visitors to its 22 marine parks to 6 million a year to enable their recovery.
In the Philippines, officials plan to close Boracay island for six months at the end of April.
Southeast Asia is expected to bear the brunt of rising damage to coral reefs, depriving fishermen of incomes and leaving nations exposed to incoming storms and damage from surging seas, recent research showed.
In the Philippines, which is among the most vulnerable to climate change, about 2 million people visited Boracay last year, celebrated for its white-sand beaches.
On a visit last month, President Rodrigo Duterte called the island a "cesspool" because of sewage dumped directly into the sea, and warned of a looming environmental disaster with buildings constructed too close to the shore.
Valere Tjolle
