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2020 has been the sort of year that makes you want to leave it all behind, hole up on a remote island somewhere, and return to a simpler, more laidback way of living.

In short, minus the shark attack and eventual unravelling, the lifestyle on show in the famous 2000 movie The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, based off a 1996 novel of the same name.

If you somehow haven’t seen it, here’s the trailer:

Many who have visited Thailand will tell you that the movie was shot on Maya Beach, on Phi Phi Leh Island, which you can visit as part of a day trip.

You and thousands of other tourists, all vying to take a picture that makes it look as tranquil as it was in the movie.

The real story behind the inspiration for Alex Garland’s 1996 novel remains somewhat contested, although there are those that say The Sanctuary, a then-secret beach community on Koh Phangan accessible only by hired boat or arduous hike, is clearly what set things off.

Two Koh Phangan residents, Gill Beddows and Steve Sanders, started The Sanctuary after becoming disillusioned with the increasingly commercial nature of the island’s party lifestyle, beginning building in 1990.

That, reports CNN, is just one of the similarities between The Sanctuary and the community depicted in The Beach:

Just as Gill Beddows supervised The Sanctuary’s development, aided by a partner with building skills, the secret beach community in Garland’s novel is overseen by Sal, a woman with a carpenter boyfriend. While Beddows and Sanders hail from the UK, Sal and her partner are American and South African…

Asked whether Garland actually visited The Sanctuary, [one-time resident Michael Doyle] says, “I have a fuzzy memory of a guy hanging out in a hammock and just watching the flow of life for a couple of weeks in the mid-’90s. And I can put names to a few of the characters in the story, so there’s that. It didn’t click so much with the book as with the film.”

Beddows is more forthcoming about Garland’s inspiration.

“As soon as the book came out, I knew.” she says. “There were just too many coincidences.”

For the first seven or so years, things were kept on the down-low, with friends of friends alerted through word of mouth, as the community became a haven for yoga, detoxing, and other wellness and spirituality practices that are today considered commonplace.

The secrecy surrounding The Sanctuary didn’t last, and the founders eventually decided to “share the knowledge and skills we had developed”, with Doyle taking over as manager in 1998.

As a self-confessed “organized, get-stuff-done Capricorn,” Doyle ushered the resort into the 21st century, expanding programs in wellness and spirituality for a far-reaching market, while maintaining the intimacy and casualness valued by loyal guests who returned year after year…

Former Sanctuary barman Nolan Dalby took over day-to-day management of the resort in 2016, although Doyle, now a resident of neighboring Koh Samui, remains involved.

Now, as COVID-19 decimates the international tourism industry, The Sanctuary is looking at alternate ways to bring its message to people around the world.

Dalby has set up a video recording studio in one of the bungalows, and streams yoga sessions live, and The Sanctuary now has its own video channel which streams both live and taped events.

All in all, they’ve come a long way since humble beginnings back in 1990.

You can read the full CNN article here.

[source:cnn]