Luang Prabang battles against threat to world heritage status
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Luang Prabang provincial authorities are fighting to protect the world heritage status of their city from the threat of development, according to the provincial governor.
After a meeting with government authorities and other provincial governors, Khampheng Saysompheng said: “We are doing our best to prevent negative impacts from development as we have promised the international community we will protect the world heritage status of Luang Prabang.”
The governor said one threat to heritage management was increased immigration to the city, damaging local customs and social order. He cited violations of prohibitions on parties and celebrations as an example.
“Despite our ban on firecrackers and fireworks on Chinese and Vietnamese New Year, these rules are still violated,” he said.
Khampheng said the noise disturbed visitors and in some cases guests refused to pay for hospitality services because of the disruptions.
He said the long-lasting parties complete with loud music not only annoyed guests, but also affected the local lifestyle.
“The authorities are working hard to address the problem,” he said.
Since Luang Prabang was declared a United Nations Educational, Science, and Culture Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Site in 1995, the city has become a famous destination among domestic and foreign tourists.
More than 500,000 people visited the city last year, and the province has raised more than US$152 million (Bt4.8 billion) from the industry this year.
To maintain Luang Prabang’s heritage status the Lao government and local authorities have to follow the guidelines set down by Unesco, including rules regarding construction in certain areas.
Khampheng said the city’s development would be slow as construction of infrastructure and facilities in the world heritage zone should cause as little damage as possible to its original geographic form. He added that sustainable development protecting both the environment and customs of Luang Prabang would ensure that tourists continued to flock to the city.
At the annual government meeting with provincial governors, which will continue to Friday, participants will discuss the government plan on socio-economic development and state budget plan for 2013-2014 among other things.
