Court orders restoration of Maya Bay
published : 14 Sep 2022 at 08:50
writer: R May
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Online Reporters
Famed site was damaged during filming of "The Beach" 24 years ago.
The Supreme Court has ordered the Forestry Department to restore Maya Bay, which was environmentally damaged during shooting of the Hollywood movie "The Beach" in 1998.
The ruling was read out at the Civil Court on Tuesday.
"The Beach", starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed in Thailand with most shooting done on Maya Bay Beach.
Controversy beset the production when allegations of ecological vandalism were made after imported palm trees were planted to make the "perfect" beach even more perfect. The area was later also damaged by the tsunami of 2004.
In 1998, authorities approved the re-landscaping of Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi, which was within Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park in Krabi, for the filming. This prompted the plaintiffs to file suit against those involved.
Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling on restoration followed earlier rulings by lower courts on violations of the National Park Act and the National Environmental Quality Act.
It also comes after years of legal proceedings involving several other defendants including filmmaker Twentieth Century Fox Co and Thai agent Santa International Film Production.
The Supreme Court ordered the Forestry Department, one of the defendants in the case, to comply with the judgement within 30 days.
Vocabulary
- beset: to cause someone difficulty or danger over a period of time - รุมเร้า
- civil court: a court that deals with non-criminal matters, especially complaints made by people against other people or organisations - ศาลแพ่ง
- controversy: a disagreement, especially about a public policy or a moral issue that a lot of people have strong feelings about - ความขัดแย้ง
- defendants (nloun): people who have been accused of a crime and are on trial - จำเลย
- environmentally: related to the natural world including plants and animals, land, water, air, especially as it is affected by human activities - สิ่งแวดล้อม
- file suit: to sue ; to take legal action against a person or organisation, especially by making a legal claim for money because of some harm that they have caused you - ฟ้องร้อง
- landscaping (noun): the process of changing the appearance of an area of land, especially next to a building or road ทำให้ทิวทัศน์ดีขึ้น - การทำให้ทิวทัศน์ดีขึ้น
- order (verb): to use your position of authority to tell somebody to do something or say that something must happen - สั่ง
- palm (noun): a straight tree with a mass of long leaves at the top, growing in tropical countries - ต้นปาล์ม
- restoration: the work of repairing and cleaning something, etc. so that its condition is as good as it originally was - การซ่อมแซม,การการบูรณะ, การกลับสู่สภาพปกติ
- ruling (noun): a judgement; a decision by a court of law - คำตัดสิน คำชี้ขาด
- shooting: an occasion when somebody takes professional photographs for a particular purpose or makes a film/movie - การถ่ายภาพ
- supreme court: the highest court in a country - ศาลฎีกา, ศาลสูงสุด
