Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘The Beach’ suffers water shortages after Thai heatwave

The dazzling Thai holiday islands made famous by Hollywood film The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, are facing a severe water shortage following a blistering heatwave across Asia, a tourism official and locals said on Thursday.

The Koh Phi Phi archipelago, off the west coast of southern Thailand, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to its pristine beaches and turquoise waters each year.

But a deadly heatwave that has sent temperature records tumbling across the region in recent weeks – as well as a prolonged spell of low rainfall – has seen reservoirs run low.

“The private company that provides water to the islands may have to stop the supply,” Wichupan Phukaoluan Srisanya, president of the Krabi Hotel Association, which represents hotels in the area, said.

Island authorities have discussed shipping in water from the mainland if the dry weather continues, she said, but would hold off in the hope of the wet season arriving in May.