A 'world' site, a 'world' war, a 'world' apart

8/02/2011
Atiya Achakulwisut
Bangkok Post
COMMENTARY

I am sure Unesco's World Heritage Committee must be very proud of its achievement at Preah Vihear. Two Thais and three Cambodians were killed and scores injured in the latest skirmish along the troublesome border shared by the two countries where the ancient ruin is perched - its perimeter seemingly straddles both countries.

Would the committee like to erect a Southeast Asian version of the "Wailing Wall" inscribed with the names of the five who have most recently fallen so that future visitors to this "World Heritage" site can remember how fatally difficult it was for the site to be successfully listed and managed?

Not a bad idea, is it? But the powers-that-be at the committee had better make it a big wall because, considering the circumstances, there certainly will be many more names of people who will have to give up their lives so that this sacred place of ruin can be successfully managed as a World Heritage site. Death means revenge. And revenge is an interminable heritage usually managed by means of war.

But who am I to talk about "heritage", especially one for the world? I am obviously invading into the committee's territory here. I hope it forgives me for my cumbersome trespassing.

Since both Thailand and Cambodia have seen more than a dozen deaths of their soldiers and civilians in regard to this temple and the disputed area around it, I am confident both countries will manage the "heritage" that the committee has inducted them into beautifully, deep into the future generations.

What did you say? That Unesco director-general Irina Bokova has expressed her "deep concern" at the "sudden" escalation of border tensions? Of course, I have no doubt that Unesco must be troubled, even shocked, at the recent shoot-out and use of heavy weapons. It definitely could not have seen it coming, considering the history of amicability that the two countries have publicly displayed, at least not from the Unesco's vantage position at Place de Fontenoy.

It's true that Thailand has consistently protested Cambodia's unilateral listing of the temple whose entrance is on the Thai side but the Unesco or World Heritage Committee could not have thought of the gesture as something serious. The two countries are neighbours and the verdict by the international court of justice granting sovereign right over the temple to Cambodia was clear enough, the international body must have thought. Cambodia asked for its temple to be listed. The committee granted that right. It's a simple state of affairs. What more would the world body need to manage?

By now, the WHC must have received the news sent out by Cambodia that parts of the temple have been affected by the fighting. "A wing of our Preah Vihear Temple has collapsed as a direct result of the Thai artillery bombardment," a Cambodian military commander based near the 900-year-old temple was quoted as saying.

The report must be a cause for even deeper concern for Unesco. But then again, for the sake of the heritage issue it specialises in, why not leave the ruin in ruins? Leave the marks of destruction and traces of fighting, if there are any, the way they are so that the international agency can tell the world and the people who will surely throng to visit the place once it can be opened to the outside world what a precious heritage it is, that people from the two adjacent countries had to drag their heavy weapons and fight head over heels on how it would be managed.

The world body must know that the war scars will make the place even more "exotic" to would-be visitors.

But of course, the WHC never wants a war to break out between neighbours. It's there for culture and beauty - those are its deepest concern.

The committee must have assumed that the prestige of being on its World Heritage list must be big enough for the two countries to want to talk it over and end their decades-long territorial feud. The listing is good for all humankind. It's good for the economy, of the whole region if not for the whole world. It should not be delayed by some unresolved territorial disputes by two small countries. This is the WORLD heritage the committee is talking about. Try pronouncing it. "World" - the word does have a grandiose and altruistic ring to it. That is probably why Ms Bokova is also calling upon both sides to exercise restraint for the sake of the "temple". And I am sure that both countries will be paying heed to her "deep concern". Eventually, I suppose. After they are done shouting the word "war" into each other's ears and firing another RPG into each other's territory.

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Atiya Achakulwisut is Deputy Editor, Bangkok Post.