Mae Hong Son province to become world heritage city?

Right now Thailand has only five sites officially registered at UNESCO as World Heritage. Given the big touristic boost such an official recognition can give the region, already in 2005 it was reported that the responsible department submitted 12 further sites for consideration, however so far only two show in the tentative list of future world heritage sites.

While all of these have nothing to do with the administrative system, the latest proposed submission to the heritage list does. Modeled after the Lao town Luang Prabang, now the whole province Mae Hong Son in the remote northwest of the country is supposed to receive the world heritage badge to boost the tourism there. The news report on this reads as follows

The Ministry of Culture is prepared to submit Mae Hong Son Province to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site.

Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch said the Ministry was prepared to push Mae Hong Son Province as a World Heritage City. He had discussed with Mae Hong Son Governor Thongchai Wongrieanthong and found that the Province planned to put all power lines underground for better outlook of the city.

Mr Teera said buildings in the Province were unique, and the province itself had the potential to become the first World Heritage City of Thailand like Luang Prabang, which was listed as the first World Heritage City of Laos.

Mr Teera said he really supported the idea since the new status of the city would attract tourists to come and witness the beauty in the way of life and culture of residents, bringing in more income to the Province.
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