Chiang Mai will get Unesco World Heritage listing 'only if Thailand pushes for it'

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Chiang Mai will get Unesco World Heritage listing 'only if Thailand pushes for it'
JINTANA PANYAARVUDH
THE NATION



Unique strategy, publIc effort needed for Northern cIty to quell negatIve Image

CHIANG MAI: -- IF THAILAND wants to get one of its culturally significant locations listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, it will need a unique strategy and the orchestrated effort of the whole country and the government, a recent seminar was told.

The Fine Arts Department last year pushed for Chiang Mai city to be included onto Unesco's World Heritage List, but the goal still seems to be a long way off.

Kreangkrai Kirdsiri, deputy dean for planning and research affairs at the Faculty of Architecture of Silpakorn University, said it may not be easy for Chiang Mai to get on the heritage list because it was perceived as a city of conflict between local people and its business community.

The topic was raised during a seminar entitled "A world heritage necklace in Southeast Asia" held by the Centre for Contemporary Social and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology at Thammasat University.

Kreangkrai is a lecturer and authority on world heritage sites in Southeast Asia. His studies have involved five countries - Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia - in order to create a body of knowledge on world heritage sites in the region. He also wanted to determine if there was potential for developing tourism through the sites and their communities.

In his study, Kreangkrai found that a smart strategy could help the nominated sites to be included on a world heritage site list faster and easier.

For example, Myanmar made its first entry on to the world heritage list in June, with the inclusion of its first site, Pyu Ancient Cities.

Myanmar used cultural links

Pyu and the historic city of Bagan - which contains more than 2,500 Buddhist monuments - have been on the tentative lists since 1996, but Myanmar opted to push for Pyu because it was little disturbed by humans and there was no argument about its authenticity, he said.

"Myanmar used its cultural links to get onto the list the same as Thailand did for the Historic Town of Sukhothai and associated historic towns," he said.

Pyu's recognition as a world heritage listing was also in line with Myanmar's new open-country policy. Foreigners from other countries can take the opportunity to flock to Myanmar under the auspices of cul

tural preservation, he added.

Myanmar would need to fight hard for Bagan to get on the list, while Thailand would face the same problem with the nomination of Chiang Mai "because we don't have the right tools to explain the importance [of the listing] to local people," he said.

He suggested that agencies should nominate Chiang Mai city, its adjacent cities and surrounding historical sites, such as Lamphun and Lampang provinces and Chiang Saen in Chiang Rai province and ancient Lanna city Wiang Kum Kam in Chiang Mai province to Unesco as "serial" nominations.

"That would represent the Lanna culture as well as sharing its natural and potential resources. It would also be easier to be included on the list than if it was proposed as a single city for a cultural heritage site", he said.

He believes the capital city of the North is still far from being included on the list unless the whole country joins together to create a strategic management plan.

Four tentative sites in Kingdom

Thailand already has four sites on the tentative lists: Phimai, its Cultural Route and the associated temples of Phanomroong and Muangtam; Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan in Nakhon Si Thammarat; Phuphrabat historical park; and Kaeng Krachan forest complex.

To nominate Phuphrabat historical park in the cultural landscape category would make it easier to be included than if it was proposed as a cultural site, which would have many nominations, he suggested.

Kreankrai also found there was conflict between the sites in Asean countries. He pointed out the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over the Preah Vihear temple.

Instead of creating a common learning and cultural experience for Thais and Cambodians alike, the World Heritage temple found itself at the centre of a dispute between international communities, he said.

Other Asean countries could learn a lesson from the dispute when they want to nominate sites as transboundary heritage sites, he said.

However, Tiamsoon Sirisrisak, a lecturer from Mahidol University's Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, said it was an idealistic thought.

"It was almost impossible [for Asean countries] to nominate at the [transboundary heritage sites] level, like the Preah Vihear temple and disputed areas, because Thailand and Cambodia have no political cooperation," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Chiang-Mai-will-get-Unesco-World-Heritage-listing--30255138.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-02

[Thian]

Well the Borobudur is of a totally different calibre then any temple i've seen in Thailand.

And Thai national parks are not impressive to me. I admit i don't visit them anymore because i will get overcharged there. So i can't make pictures to show to my family in Europe and make free advertising for Thailand.

No way i'm gonna pay 10times the price for a Thai national park. And if i don't go there my friends/family back home also won't...eat that TAT.

[Alwyn]

They just need to make sure anyone from Unesco judging this doesn't go this time of year in the smog season

[Ulysses G.]

It is way too late for Chiang Mai anyway.

[narkeddiver]

Maybe the smog can be considered as having cultural value

[Expat Brad]

If CM was listed would that not pose issues for development / developers here.........I mean they are knocking down as many Lanna Style Wooden Buildings as fast they can & replacing them with ugly concrete ones everywhere. Plus Condo after Condo. I went with my GF to her home town just outside central CM, she wanted to show me the street scape of traditional wooden shops that were on either side of the road. When we got there she was shocked all but a couple of the traditional shops were gone. She had not been back over the last 3 years. She said that now it looks the same as anywhere else. IMO it's too late for CM, they have gone development crazy already. CM has some amazing heritage sights for sure but to list the city & outer provinces, not sure about that reality.

[chickenrunCM]

if CM wouldl get Unesco World Heritage listing this would be the biggest joke worldwide,

there are Millions of more nice architecture places in Europe, in CM (and I live here) there is no control about

buildings, using plastic in signs, building materials, building styles, every marketplace in Europe is better maintained, than Thapai Gate or North Gate, sorry even I love CM but from Unesco World Heritage CM is more off than Paris from CM

[MilesofSmiles]

Pyu's recognition as a world heritage listing was also in line with Myanmar's new open-country policy. Foreigners from other countries can take the opportunity to flock to Myanmar under the auspices of cul

tural preservation, he added.

No. Foreigners are there to make money now that the borders have opened up. They're back in business, and there's serious money to be made.

Myanmar was one of the richest countries in Asia 50 years ago, and it's not inconceivable that they'll overtake Thailand and enjoy similar success in the future.

To compare Pyu and Chiang Mai is drawing an awfully long bow. CM is nice, but it's basically unplanned urban sprawl, this time in the mountains.

The appraisal of the WHO process seems like typical Thai myopia.