Written by Staff Writer at CNN
The stretch of pristine white sand known as the “White Sands of Thailand” finally has a name: Koh Samui Beach.
The beach in Koh Samui, part of Thailand’s semi-autonomous southern island of Phuket, has been closed for 15 years after the collapse of a sea wall in 1998.
Today there are signs along the beach where the sea wall used to be. The neighbouring stretch of beach is now a combination of sand and rock. That bed of sand will officially be released on the beach in the coming days, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
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A sea wall collapsed in 1998. Photo courtesy Tourism Authority of Thailand
“The recent weather here is terrible, so the water level is unstable and in some places the sand is very close to the edge,” explains Charlie Watson, a beachman. “It looks like an emergency line, a hole for a broken lift.”
While tourists will soon be able to walk along Koh Samui Beach, it won’t be a nice stroll, as the sand falls away from the cliff face, creating two small rapids. So watch out for nasty falls in this world famous “California cliff”.
The Beach is fictional. A kind of perfect kingdom of clifftop adventures and six hour sunsets. That’s what you see when you wander through the caves on the beach, as seen in that fine cult 1997 movie.
“The tide comes in and out, and when it comes in it’s a lovely, relaxed beach, and when it goes out it becomes absolutely horrible,” says Watson.