Thailand will indefinitely close the island of Koh Tachai, in Similian Islands National Park, to the public starting on Oct. 15, 2016, so that its ecology can recover from damage done by the many tourists it attracts. Thai officials have stated that tourism has eroded the island’s beaches and damaged its coral reefs.
The entire park regularly closes May 16-Oct. 15 due to the monsoon season. All of the other islands in the park will reopen as usual on Oct. 15.
In order to combat pollution and traffic, Paris now closes the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to motorized vehicles on the first Sunday of every month; closures began on May 8. In addition to Champs-Élysées, nine other roads in Paris will be closed on each first Sunday. You can find the list of roads at www.paris.fr/parisrespire (in French only).
In addition, Parisian officials have made the city’s museums free on those Sundays.
My husband, Jack, and I traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia, Jan. 14-Feb. 3, 2015, and were shocked at the extreme amount of air pollution we encountered almost everywhere we went.
The Italian town of San Vitaliano, just east of the customary birthplace of pizza, Naples, has banned the use of traditional wood-fired pizza ovens until March 31, 2016, in order to decrease pollution. San Vitaliano has suffered from poor air quality, with pollution exceeding European Union standards 114 times in 2015.
Chefs and restaurants found in violation of the ban face fines of up to €1,032 (near $1,133).