The next time you’re booking at a beach resort, you might want to ask this question before you ever book your trip: when I flush my toilet, where does it go?
For many years, a number of resort areas, especially in Asia, have either disobeyed environmental regulations or circumvented them and they’ve been pumping raw sewage into the sea or allowing overtourism in and among the coral reefs.
Authorities in Thailand have finally ordered the closure of the beach made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, The Beach. Maya Bay, on an island in the Andaman Sea, will be closed to all visitors for four months a year in an attempt to halt the damage. Until recently, 200 boats disgorged 4,000 visitors each day. And in the Philippines , the resort island of Boracay has became a palm-fringed cesspool. Boracay Beach is now closed and no one knows when it will reopen.
The bottom line here is it’s become time to ask the indelicate sewage question before you book your next resort vacation. And if you don’t like the answer, then vote with your wallet and don’t go.
For more on beach resorts, check out:
All-Inclusive Resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico
How To Make All-Inclusive More Exclusive
