Some of Thailand's most prized dive sites have been closed indefinitely after the Department of National Parks' survey found coral bleaching on 80 percent of some of the reefs.

This is a bold move for a country where tourism accounts for 10 percent of its economy—and where officials were hoping to attract 32 million tourists this year, The Guardian reported. But then again, it sends the message Thailand officials want: Ignorant tourism is killing the reefs.

A turtle swimming over bleached coral in February at Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Photo credit: The University of Queensland

“The coral reefs are affected by unaware tourists–when they go diving they may touch or step on the reef. Closing those spots will help the reefs recover naturally," Reungsak Theekasuk, national park officer director, told AFP.

The closed diving sites are off beaches from Rayong province in the east to Satun in the south. These closings come after Thai officials closed Koh Tachai, a popular island in the Andaman Sea, earlier this month. The island is closed indefinitely.

"This is such a small island, I would say it could accommodate just a few hundred tourists a day," Tunya Nethithammakul, director general of the Department of National Parks, told CNN. "But it turned out that at certain points there were almost 2,000 tourists visiting the island (daily)."

The closings are shunned by the tourism industry, but officials say it is a necessary step in protecting the country's ecosystem.