Thailand’s Sri Thep Historical Park in Phetchabun may lose the chance to become a World Heritage Site if the government allows an oil company to build a drilling hole nearby, according to Wison Kosotanon, president of the Phetchabun Culture Council.
His warning came after a company, ECO Orient Resources (Thailand),
called earlier this week for a public hearing process in order to
prepare an Environment Impact Assessment report. The company plans to
build the drilling hole near the 1,300 year-old Khao Kwang Nok Stupa
located inside the park.
“The new drilling hole is too close – just over 100 metres to the
historical stupa – it will be harmful to our heritage and will lose us
the chance to get the recognition as a World Heritage Site by Unesco,”
Wison explained.
.
.
Opinion is divided over the company’s application – at the first
public hearing, many culture experts and local officials opposed its
construction and claimed they had concerns about the cultural and
environmental impacts it would have, but some villagers supported it in
the hope it might provide them with employment.
Anan Choochote, director of the Culture Ministry’s Fine Arts
Department, has assigned his archaeological teams to study the merits of
the company’s application.
“Our officers are studying its impact. If there is harm to our
heritage, we will work with other governmental agencies to stop the
project,” Anan said. “We are now gathering more information and we will
submit it to Unesco later this year.”
The proposal for Sri Thep to be listed as a World Heritage Site is
expected to be approved by the cabinet and the National Committee on the
World Heritage Commission Convention on March 8.
Anan added that Sri Thep Historical Park had been listed as a
national archaeological site since 1935 and also dates back some 2,500
years like prehistoric Ban Chiang. Therefore, he said, it also warranted
being listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
Ban Chiang, an archeological site in Nong Han District, Udon Thani
Province, has been on the Unesco World Heritage list since 1992.
.
.
Following the Phetchabun Culture Council’s controversial opposition
to the drilling project, ECO Orient Resources may postpone the second
round of public hearings currently due to be held in April.
“As the result of the objection raised at the public hearing, senior
officials at our head office will carefully study whether the firm
should hold a second round of public hearings or drop it,” said company
spokesman Navin Panphan.
The film has been drilling for oil in Sri Thep for more than a decade
but the latest plan to build a new hole near the stupa has raised
concerns on cultural, environmental and tourism grounds.
Source - TheNation
