For years now, tourists have flocked to Maya Bay in Thailand, scrambling over one another trying unsuccessfully to find an unspoiled view of the paradise made famous the film "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

But Thai authorities have now said that the bay, on Phi Phi Leh island in the Andaman sea, has had enough of visitors.

From Friday, the beach will be closed off annually for 4 months, to the end of September to allow the island coral reefs and sea life a chance to recover.

Many Thai marine national parks are closed from mid-May to mid-October during the monsoon season but because of Maya Bay's popularity, it has never had a break since Hollywood set foots on its sand in 1999 to film the dark backpacker tale based on a novel by Alex Garland.

Once a pristine paradise, mass tourism has exhausted the Thai beach.

An average of 4,000 visitors per day arrive by fishing boats and speed boats, destroying most of coral reefs and sea life in the area.

Shi Pengfei, a tourist from Henan, China, said he had no idea that there would be so many people on the beach.

Park rangers are preparing a coral propagation programme in the bay, using a simple technique of planting coral on rocks and they will then place them in the bay once the tourists leave.  

Jeanette van Leeuwen, a 29-year-old tourist from Holland, joined the rangers.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist and a member of the Thai national strategy committee on environment development, said the temporary closing of Maya Bay is an important and a symbolic decision.

While it should have been done 10 years ago, it shows that the government is willing to trade tourism revenue with a long term environmental benefit he said.

But locals aren't entirely happy.

The head of the Phi Phi Tourist Business Associated, Watrapol Jantharo, said he was surprised when the announcement of the closure was made.

He said locals were under the impression that Maya Bay would be closed off from boats to anchor, while visitors could still land on the other side of island and walk to the bay.

The Thai government made the announcement of the closure in March and said when the bay reopens, it will set a limit of tourists to 2,000 daily while boats will no longer be allowed to anchor on the beach but will dock instead at the opposite side of the island on floating piers.

Maya Bay is not the first Thai island to have restrictions placed on it.

Koh Yoong, part of the Phi Phi island chain, and Koh Tachai, in the Similan Islands National Park, have been off limits to tourists permanently since mid-2016.

Over 35 million tourists visited Thailand last year, compared to around 10 millions in 2000.