Cambodia's ancient wonders suffer modern ills

07.12.11
By DENIS D. GRAY
Associated Press

EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press reporter Denis Gray has covered Southeast Asia for more than 30 years and first visited Angkor in 1980.

SIEM REAP, Cambodia -- The blistering heat at Cambodia's Angkor temples eases, and the sun's last soft shimmer will soon brush some of the most wondrous monuments ever created by man. A moment for peaceful reverence? Hardly.

A traffic jam of up to 3,000 tourists surges up a steep hillside, trampling over vulnerable stonework and quaffing beer at a sacred hilltop that provides spectacular sunset views of the massive beehive-like towers rising from the main temple in this ancient city: Angkor Wat.

Below, guides describe its wonders through blaring loudspeakers in a host of tongues as buses circle what is said to be the world's largest religious edifice, one of hundreds erected by Angkor's kings between the 9th and 14th centuries.

"Nobody should be allowed to walk on 1,000-year-old stones," says Jeff Morgan, executive director of the U.S.-based Global Heritage Fund.

Cambodia's treasures among areas at risk of soaring tourist numbers

Locals are concerned about the surge in visitors to Cambodia's Angkor National Park, which topped 1.15 million in 2010, up 25 per cent on the previous year. Source: News Limited

March 08, 2011
AFP

SOME of Asia's most popular, and fragile, attractions are in danger of being overrun, as soaring tourist numbers threaten ancient infrastructure.

The faded 'No Climbing' signs are no match for the tourists jostling to capture that perfect shot of the sun setting over the temple of Angkor Wat, Cambodia's most famous attraction.

The view is stunning but the chaotic scene at Phnom Bakheng, also known as the sunset temple, is not exactly relaxing and it can be a struggle to even get a picture with no strangers in it.

Visitors to Angkor National Park topped 1.15 million in 2010, up 25 per cent on the previous year.

Conservation group urges action to save Angkor, other developing world cultural heritage sites

18/10/2010
By Sopheng Cheang
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A U.S.-based foundation is urging concerted international action to preserve world-famed cultural heritage sites at risk of loss or damage, including Cambodia's ancient Angkor Wat temple complex, one of the great landmarks of Asia.

The Global Heritage Fund says in a report circulated Monday that "of the nearly 500 global heritage sites in the 100 poorest and emerging countries of the world ... over 200 are facing irreversible loss and damage today."

Among the other sites highlighted are Sumerian archaeological sites in southern Iraq it says that are subject to massive looting; the ancient city of Hasankeyf in Turkey that could be flooded by a new dam project; and Kashgar in western China, where old quarters face demolition under government plans to guard against earthquakes that will relocate over 50,000 people.

"The trend of loss is accelerating due to the simultaneous man-made threats of development pressures, unsustainable tourism, insufficient management, looting, and war and conflict," says the report, "Saving Our Vanishing Heritage: Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage."

The report says that visitors to Angkor Wat increased by 188 per cent from 840,000 in 2000 to 2.4 million in 2009. The temples were built when Angkorian kings ruled over much of Southeast Asia between the ninth and 14th centuries. After centuries of abandonment — and neglect in the 1970s during a civil war — they have emerged as Cambodia's leading tourist destination.

Visitors climbing over the ruins is causing "heavy deterioration of original Khmer stonework," the report warns. It adds that hotels and restaurants nearby are sapping region's aquifer, which has caused the famed Bayon temple's 54 towers to sink into the ground.

Tan Sambu, an official of the Apsara Authority — the Cambodian government office that oversees the temples — said it has issued guidelines for tourists, telling them not to touch carvings and statues. Earlier this year, South Korea provided $9.2 million to build a new road that will circle the temple complex and reduce traffic inside the heritage area.

"Of course when there are many tourists visiting, the deterioration of the original stonework at the temples can't be avoided, but our agency has tried to reduce the effects as much as possible," Tam Sambu said.

The Global Heritage Fund report calls for the preservation of heritage to be recognized as a global priority like combating climate change and biological diversity. It is due to will host a forum on the issue Tuesday at California's Stanford University.

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Online:

Global Heritage Fund: http://globalheritagefund.org/

Angkor: How can a UNESCO site keep tourist temple raiders in check?

Image credit: Angkor Wat (Workbook Stock/Thomas Kokta/Getty Images)

Fri Mar 5, 2010
By Sarah Dowdey
Discovery News

It only takes a quick Google image search to understand why Angkor, the Khmer empire's ancient seat, makes plenty of "must-see" travel lists. Its ruined temple complexes pop out through the forests, and its sprawling reservoirs offer a testament to the city's impressive engineering.

When I podcasted on Angkor a while back, my co-host and I talked a bit about the possible role of environmental degradation in the city's downfall. Deforestation may have caused silting, something that could damage the complex waterworks that kept the city running so efficiently.

Another hypothesis, this one from National Geographic's Richard Stone, centers more on plain old environmental bad luck: an El Niño cycle beginning exactly when the delicate water management system was showing its age. Deprived of the mechanical wizardry that kept dramatic seasonal changes in check, the city may not have been equipped to face a long dry period.

But since Angkor's fall could have had as much to do with war, religion or rivalry among feuding Khmer royal offspring, I'll focus here on the present-day site's environmental woes. The ruined complex, situated near Siem Reap, has been one of Cambodia's tourist cornerstones since the country opened as a safe destination after years of war and internal strife.

And while Angkor has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, and spent 12 years on the group's "threatened" list, such a designation requires some trade-offs. With international protection comes international exposure and a flood of new visitors. According to the non-governmental organization Heritage Watch, Angkor saw 7600 visitors in 1993; by 2006, the number was 1.6 million; by the time 2010 is up, the complex will likely draw 3 million. Tourists of course bring in money for the developing country, as well as help assure a certain degree of protection for cultural sites. But they also walk everywhere. They touch things. They require hotels, resorts and transportation. The development of Siem Reap may even be sucking Angkor dry, drawing out its groundwater and weakening the temples' foundations.

Fortunately, groups like Heritage Watch are advocating for a more sustainable type of tourism. Working with the Cambodian government, they've started a "heritage friendly tourism campaign" to save antiquities, discourage looters and encourage visitors to fan out, spread their wealth and take a little heat off of Angkor.

Cambodian authorities consider opening Angkor Wat temples at night for tourists

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodia is considering opening the famed Angkor Wat temples at night to draw more tourists to the impoverished country, an official at the archaeological site said.

Similar night tourism efforts have been introduced at other sites in Southeast Asia.

Cambodia already has installed some lights at the network of centuries-old temples, said Bun Narith, who leads the agency responsible for managing the Angkor park.

Tourism is a major foreign currency earner for cash-strapped Cambodia. More than a million foreign tourists are expected to visit this year, with most from South Korea, Japan and the United States. More than half of tourists visit the Angkor temples, by far the country's biggest draw.

Visitors are now ushered out of Angkor at sunset, but authorities are considering extending visiting hours to as late as 8:30 p.m. local time.

"We want tourists to see all views of the temple, even in the dark places where they may have not have seen some of the sculptures and statues," Bun Narith said.

But conservationists have long expressed concerns about tourism's impact on Angkor. They say the uncontrolled pumping of underground water to meet the rising demand of hotels and residents in the nearby town of Siem Reap may be destabilizing the earth beneath the temples.

Would You Be More Likely to Visit Angkor Wat if it was Illuminated At Night?

June 6, 2009
Jaunted (USA)

The 12th century temple complex known as Angkor Wat is by far the most popular tourist site in Cambodia, drawing a million travelers a year to walk among its austere columns and soaring spires, many of which are overgrown with tree roots that resemble the tentacles of an octopus. Hoping to wring a few more dollars out of tourists - and enhance the visitor experience, of course - the government recently announced that it is considering installing artificial lighting throughout the ancient city so the temples can be open at night. The AP points out that visitors are typically ushered out of the area at sunset, and the new lighting will enable the park to stay open as late as 8:30 p.m.

Conservationists, however, are less thrilled with the idea. They worry that the area's resources - particularly the already overtaxed underground water supply - aren't sufficient to support an influx of tourists, who will require roads, hotels, and all the other amenities that go along with the tourism industry.

I can see their point, and would be sure to tread as lightly as possible, but I kind of like the idea of seeing Angkor Wat at night. I imagine some of the statues, carvings, and shadows would be pretty amazing, particularly after happy hour. And hopefully they'd use really environmentally-friendly lighting, like LED lights, in a smart and innovative way, creating lots of trippy, dramatic angles. But I'd also hope they left most of the park undisturbed, all the better to retain its unique position at the nexus of natural and supernatural.

New lighting to be installed at Angkor Wat by advise of UNESCO

PHNOM PENH, June 6 (Xinhua) -- UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) offered positive recommendation to ease the public concern over the installing of lighting at Angkor Wat, local media reported on Saturday.

Cambodian authorities installed new spotlights on the world famous tourism attraction - Angkor Wat to allow the temple to open more longer after sunset. The scheme includes the installation of lights near the ceiling of the northern gallery of the temple.

However, local press and opposition officials questioned the scheme and expressed their concern for the lights, claiming the light fixtures would cause damage to the centuries-old heritage in the long term.

After several days of increasing public arguing and attention, UNESCO gave a positive recommendation to the project recently on the condition that it (the project) is conducted in close cooperation with its International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for Angkor, the Chinese language newspaper Jian Hua Daily said.

The ICC, which advises government body the Apsara Authority on management of the World Heritage Site, advised the authority to limit illumination to the entrance way to the temple and its bas-relief gallery on the north side.

"We have to abide by the recommendation, but the decision is still from the Apsara Authority, as sovereignty from Cambodia," Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said, adding that the lighting project was still in a study phase.

This installation was monitored by the Apsara authority and UNESCO, according to the company who installed the lights, adding that the UN organization provided technical assistance.

UNESCO Country representative Teruo Jinnai denied that a test setup of the lights had damaged the temple. "There was no direct damage and all the holes were made a long time ago," he said. And the Apsara Authority said that only existing holes that once held wooden support beams were being used.

The dark side of Angkor's night visits

Thousands more tourists could pour into Angkor, damaging the 12th-century site (AP)

Plans to boost tourism by opening temple at night alarm conservationists

Saturday, 6 June 2009
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia correspondent
The Independent (UK)

The magical temples of Angkor – already visited by around half a million tourists a year – could lure even more people if the Cambodian authorities go ahead with a controversial plan to open the 12th-century complex into the night.

In an effort to boost tourism at the site, officials at Angkor say visiting hours could be extended and lighting provided to give visitors a different experience. "We want tourists to see all views of the temple, even in the dark places where they may have not have seen some of the sculptures and statues," said an official, Bun Narith.

The plan is just one proposal being considered by officials who are trying to counter the first slump in visitors to Angkor, which for a decade has experienced a boom. Recent figures show a 14 per cent drop in visitors to the town of Siem Reap, where Angkor is located, compared with last year. The authorities have also called on hotel owners to reduce their prices.

Foreign tourism is hugely important to Cambodia, reportedly providing up to 75 per cent of its foreign currency earnings. Around 50 per cent of all tourists to the country end up visiting the temple complex, six hours' drive north of the capital Phnom Penh.

But the issue of tourist numbers is complex. Conservationists warn that boosting the number of people visiting Angkor, without doing more to control them when they are at the site, could have a detrimental effect.

"Angkor is colossal but the problem is that there is very little control over the movement of tourists," said John Sanday, country officer with the Global Heritage Fund. "It can handle the number of people that are there if they are co-ordinated – perhaps with tickets."

Already, there has been controversy about the installation of lights at Angkor. This week officials were forced to deny reports from tourists that the building's structure had been damaged by the lights. "This accusation that new holes were created simply is not true," said Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Cambodian Council of Ministers. "The installation will not involve any new holes being drilled."

Ahmed Bennis, a French lighting expert who was commissioned to install the new lights, said there would be no structural alterations made. "These new lights will use solar power and they will not be built into the structure of the temple," he said. "Because the lights are powered by the sun there will be no electricity cables at the site."

Angkor was removed from Unesco's World Heritage in Danger list in 2004, but conservationists remain concerned for its welfare. Last year, Unesco raised concerns about the impact that the growth of Siem Reap was having on Angkor's foundations.

The UN organisation said that a surge in demand for water had led to a massive increase in the amount of groundwater being pumped. Philippe Delanghe, the culture programme specialist at Unesco's Phnom Penh office, said: "There is a very important balance between the sand and water on which the temple is built. And if that balance is taken away then we might have trouble with collapse."

Angkor is believed to have been built as a funerary temple for King Suryavarman II to honour the Hindu god Vishnu. The sandstone blocks from which it was constructed were quarried more than 30 miles away and floated down the Siem Reap river.

Poland wipes Cambodian debt, how about Vietnam, the so-called close ally of Cambodia, can it do the same?

Poland wipes Cambodian debt, backs it for UN Security Council

Oct 25, 2007
DPA

Phnom Penh - Outgoing Polish ambassador to Cambodia Habil Ryszard Olszewski has announced Poland will wipe Cambodia's foreign debt on the condition the money is instead used to preserve the ancient Angkor Wat temples, an embassy spokesman said Thursday.

Poland will also continue to back Cambodia for a place on the non-permanent committee of the UN Security Council, the Phnom Penh based Polish embassy consul said.

'Cambodia and Poland have a relationship which goes back a long way,' he said. 'Aid has been spread across the board, but education and cultural funding have been well supported by Poland.'

The spokesman declined to disclose the total amount of Cambodia's debt to Poland, but government statistics put Poland's contribution for 2006 alone at around 10 million dollars.

The World Bank website lists Polish projects in Cambodia ranging from demobilisation to irrigation projects and flood relief. Poland also donated armoured personnel carriers to Cambodia in 1995.

The countries first established diplomatic relations more than 50 years ago, and Poland was the first to answer the call of Cambodia's newly installed Vietnamese-backed government in 1979 to assist in preserving the world-famous Angkor Wat temple complex, which lies 400 kilometres north of the capital.

Aid constitutes more than 12 per cent of Cambodia's gross domestic product, according the World Bank, and the CIA factbook listed Cambodia's external debt at 3.6 billion dollars in 2006.