The ancient Thai city of Ayutthaya is one of five World Heritage sites that the country maintains. Sadly once again the area of Ayutthaya that contains over 90% of the ancient temples(Ayutthaya Island) that make up the site is in the news regarding concern for its continued status as a World Heritage site.
The reason for concern is lack of local planning regulation and the location of unlicensed vendors seeking to ply their trade with the thousands of visitors who annually flock to the temple complexes. This is not a new problem and has continued to raise its head since the site was first granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1991.
Unfortunately for the Thais next years World Heritage conference focuses on Asian sites and there is a real fear locally that Thailand might loose its status for Ayutthaya. Given that many tourists are attracted to the city because of this status it is also feared that visitor numbers and subsequent income will also be affected.
Ayutthaya is a fantastic place to visit, the ancient temples steeped in history, cannot fail to impress the visitor, but my own first hand experiences tend to confirm what many of the Thai Authorities fear. Illegal vendors are almost camped within the grounds of many sites and tourists have to run the gauntlet of hawkers to enter and exit there chosen location. Add to this the numerous tuk-tuks and other transport plying their trade at the entrances to temples and it is easy to imagine the chaos that is part of everyday life around the World Heritage sites.
Rubbish from trading activities is also a problem(as it is generally in Thailand) with the Thai ubiquitous plastic bags blowing throughout the ancient ruins.
I found this quote in the Bangkok Post which for me sums up Thailand’s attitude in general when dealing with historic sites:
Chalermpol Polmuk, of the humanities and social sciences faculty at Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Rajabhat University, said Thais were keener on taking advantage of Ayutthaya’s world heritage status than trying to preserve it for future generations.
“Traders think only about how to make money,” said Mr Chalermpol.
“Local politicians think about how to keep good relations with the traders rather than preserving the place’s historic value.”
Quite what happens at Ayutthaya remains to be seen, however one thing is crystal clear to me. Visit any tourist location in Thailand and you will find similar problems to those experienced in Ayutthaya, many are indeed eyesores regarding rubbish and hawkers.
The message ought to be clear to those in charge:
“Thailand, clean up your act and get rid of these eyesores that threaten your status as a top world tourist destination. Finally if you are not convinced then perhaps a lesson from history about the rise and fall of ancient Ayutthaya would also be appropriate.”
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