Chiang Mai ready to submit to UNESCO to bid as a world heritage city. If it is successful, it would be Thailand’s sixth location to receive such protected status.
Head of the Chiang Mai World Heritage Initiative Project, Woralun Boonyasurat said the submission didn’t mean the northern city would automatically obtain the status yet and there. Chiang Mai still has some urban management issues, especially the question of how it will be developed over the next two decades.
“Chiang Mai City has cultural sites within the old city walls and natural resources to be protected while it is developed,” he said as quoted in The Nation (Sep 12).
Chiang Mai City has since 2015 been among the six Thailand sites on a tentative list for consideration for World Heritage status. According to the process, the sites must be on that list for at least one year before they can be nominated for full status.
There are currently 1,092 World Heritage Sites in 167 countries, and they have all had to prove they have “outstanding universal value”.
Thailand’s five world heritage sites are currently: the Ban Chiang Archaeological Site in Udon Thani; the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex; the Historic City of Ayutthaya; the Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns; and the Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries.
source: nationmultimedia.com