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Phi Phi Islands Panorama
 
Phi Phi Islands Deep Limestone Ravine
Phi Phi Islands Bay with
Boats
 
Phi Phi Beach
Phi Phi Maya Beach
 
Phi Phi Bay with
Limestone Boulder and Flowers
Huge
Sail Ship at Phi Phi Phi Phi Video
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are very highly
rated. In fact, Phuket, the Phi Phi islands plus the Islands in
the Andaman Sea north of Phuket are among the world's top ten scuba
diving locations. Phuket and the Phi Phi
islands offer exotic culture, adventure both above and below the
surface, unforgettable food, Phuket and the Phi Phi islands have all
the right ingredients for a perfect diving holiday. There are breath
taking reefs and remarkable underwater rock formations in addition
to the different types of marine life that are found here that
provide some amazing opportunities for divers of all levels and
persuasions.
One can go
live-aboard diving and there are also daytrips and plenty of dive
points, dive centers as well as dive courses available for the
scuba diver. Liveaboard diving in Thailand from Phuket and Khao Lak
with liveaboard boats to Similan islands, Richelieu Rock, Phi Phi,
Hin Daeng and Hin Muang, are good examples of where you can go to in
this great scuba diving location. |
Phi Phi Islands dive supply Ship |
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Phuket and Phi Phi Island, which are among the top 10 scuba
diving locations in the world boasts of splendid crystal clear
water, awesome rock formations as well as an ecosystem that is
vibrant and contains a lot of marine life. The water is also warm
 having average surface temperatures of 82 degrees Fahrenheit and
there are hundreds of different varieties of both stony as well as
soft corals surrounded by bright colored fish as well as other
creatures of the sea which also includes some large reef fish. While
stony corals are the life blood of the reef, soft corals are a
prominent part of the reef. In some places they look like vast fields of undersea wildflowers.
For those who would like to see big animals there are the Whale
Sharks as well as Manta Ray whose sighting is pretty common. In
addition, there are also dozens of other picturesque island
destinations that lie in close proximity and can be reached by day
boats as well as live-aboard cruises from Phuket.
Whale Shark pictured north of
Phuket
The consistent
water temperatures make it possible to go diving throughout the
year, right off the coast of
Phuket.
 For those who desire to visit this beautiful scuba diving
location, they can look forward to having great food and under
expert supervision they may enjoy their stay where the accommodation
too, is very comfortable. And those who wish for Scuba
certification, this extraordinary scuba diving location will provide
many affordable
Dive Shops where beginners may learn the basics and
others may try out the master instructor certification.
Besides its outstanding water treasures, there is a whole lot
more available right here at this wonderful scuba diving location in
the form of beautiful beaches, gourmet restaurants, vivacious night
life as well as a number of other attractions all available where
and when one wants it.
There are also popular dive centers such as
Dive Asia, Colona Diving, >
Similan Diving Safaris, Moskito Diving,
Blue Planet Divers, and Sea Bees Diving plus a number of others for
those who desire to try out more of this scuba diving location at
Phuket.
Manta Sting Ray pictured north of Phuket
Author Jose Rossello, please have a look at our scuba-diving articles, products,
resources, and additional information located throughout Scuba-Diving Great Resources. Click here to learn more:
Scuba-Diving Location
Leonardo DiCaprio the star in the movie -The Beach-
probably thought he'd get a nice rest on location in an unspoiled Thai beach between Phuket and Krabi.
The Beach, based on a novel by the British writer Alex Garland, is about an idyllic island where things get wrong. Unfortunately, in this case, life appears to have imitated art. Things went quite a little bit wrong for the film, when local "environmentalists" noticed the crew
!! read the text on this subject further below !!
tearing up the protected national park on Phi Phi Leh Island with bulldozers -at that time Maya Beach where this happened was not within the NP regulation, remark by the webmaster-.
The idea was to make the scenery look more "tropical" with some palm trees and to widen the beach for a football scene. |
Phi Phi Island idyllic Limestone Waterfront southern Thailand
Chinese Tourist at Phi Phi
Phi Phi Beach between the 2 islands southern Thailand
Phi Phi Long Tail Boat southern Thailand
Phi Phi late afternoon southern Thailand |
The Beach Movie Shooting
Leonardo di Capri had something to eat at the Cafe Europa during filming The Beach and had a picture with co-owner Tip |
The work included planting 100 non-native coconut palms and removing some of the natural undergrowth vegetation, including giant milkweed, sea pandanus, spider lily and other beach grass whose roots, say Thai environmentalists, hold the sand formations on treasured Maya Beach in place.
The filmmakers paid the Thailand Forestry Department $100,000 to shoot scenes on the protected island, which angered local protesters like Ing Kanjanavanit, who denounced what she called "over-the-table bribery." |
She added, "Our laws should not be for sale." Activists temporarily blockaded the beach and filed a court brief, but the filming went ahead anyway.
Bryony Schwam, director of the Montana-based Women's Voices for the Earth, (WVE) encountered the environmental protest on a recent vacation in Thailand, and was inundated with response after she posted details and photos on WVE's web site (http://www.wildrockies.org/wve/beach.htm). "People everywhere in Thailand were talking about it," Schwam says. "They were asking, `Suppose we came over to the U.S. and bulldozed Yellowstone Park to make a movie?' They tried to meet with the studio [20th Century Fox], but nothing happened." WVE then circulated a petition via e-mail calling for a filmgoer boycott.
Tim Keating, executive director of New York-based Rainforest Relief, describes the environmental insensitivity as "very typical of Hollywood. They talk about how green they are, then use endangered tropical luan wood to make sets, and threaten the Ballona wetlands near Los Angeles to build the Dreamworks offices."
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For his part, a shellshocked DiCaprio told the Los Angeles Times that the protests were "a big waste of time ... There are a million important environmental issues going on throughout the world right now."
Twentieth Century Fox spokeswoman Carol Sewell declined to comment, but sent an "environmental fact sheet" claiming that the beach would be fully restored to its original state, and citing approval for the remediation work from the Thai Forestry Department, the same government body that was paid $100,000.
The sheet added that crew members had picked up two tons of "inorganic rubbish" from the beach, mostly plastic carried in by tides. "That doesn't justify what they did," Schwam says.
By Jim Motavalli COPYRIGHT Earth Action Network, Inc and Gale Group To put the "protests" during the shooting of Di Caprio's -The Beach- into context.
Coincidently, I -editor of this website- was in Phuket at that time and watched several "protests" against the film shooting in Phuket Town just in front of the Robinson Department Store, that's Phuket Town Centre.
As a pure matter of facts, I saw with my own eyes !! there was no real protest at all but there were hundreds of school children who were manipulated by their teachers to "protest".
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Phi Phi islands the hide out Beach
Phi Phi Islands one of the many other Beaches
around southern Thailand
Main beaches on Phi Phi Islands before the
Tsunami
Phi Phi Viking Cave full of Birds Nest
Actually the Maya beach looked much better after the restoring than before. In particular the area was very clean, cleared off all the rubbish laying around accumulated from the time before the film shooting. After this episode Maya Beach was declared a national park, which means -don't touch- and everyone who touch the beach now must pay baht 200,-. Now the guys in Bangkok make money with it, so what ? |
The kids didn't even know what was going on but the teachers were in front and at the back of the moving mass and instructed them via megaphones what they should scream, some held posters.
I asked one of my friends who was with me to go and ask the kids what they are doing, they told her they got free time form the school when they go with the teachers to Phuket Town and do some "protesting".
They didn't even know why they protested, the text on the posters was in English, non of the kids spoke or understood English, but they did it on request of their teachers and to have some "sanook", so what ? There were no OTHER protest groups around all this days, only the manipulated kids.
The next day the newspapers and other media made a big story out of it, I would call this pure manipulation since after the shooting all was restored to the original level as stipulated in the contract the movie studio made with the relevant Thai department.
Manipulating kids is one of the worst thing adults can do ! because to whom the kids would be able to trust after this ?
They simply will laugh when you tell them anything because they know they are cheated by their teachers and a teacher should be a person you can trust. |
Phi Phi Beach big sailing ship anchoring
Phi Phi Secluded Beach
Phi Phi Islands Maya Beach southern Thailand
Above is "The Beach" , - Maya Beach, |
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Here are some comments from the people who watched
our Phi Phi video at youtube:
the video is also
here with a better quality
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