On Tuesday, Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) announced that its famous Maya Bay will be indefinitely closed to tourists.
Known for its clear turquoise waters, white sand, and lush, towering cliffs, the bay served as a filming location for the 2000 movie, "The Beach," starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Since the film's release, Maya Bay has seen a massive influx of tourism — often up to 5,000 visitors a day, DNP director Songtam Suksawang said. According to Suksawang, this unending wave of travelers has "seriously damaged" the bay's ecological system, which will now need time to recover, The Guardian reported.
On May 31, 2018, AP photographer Sakchai Lalit captured a series of pictures that show hundreds of tourists vacationing in the bay one day before it was first closed on June 1 earlier this year.
Take a closer look at 10 shots from that day below.
Over the summer, Thai authorities closed Maya Bay to tourists on June 1.
At the time, authorities said the bay needed "a chance to recover from the strain of thousands of daily visitors,"the BBC reported.
According to data released by the DNP, an estimated 2.5 million people would visit the bay by the end of 2018.
The bay has seen a yearly increase of half a million visitors, according to DNP's estimate, CNN reported.
Due to constant overcrowding, the bay's ecosystem has deteriorated over time, the DNP says.
According to The Guardian, the DNP estimates that around 200 boats dropped off thousands of tourists every day.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider