Kingdom welcomes ninth World Heritage Site

Thailand is celebrating a major cultural milestone after Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat was inscribed as a World Cultural Heritage site by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

The designation, announced at a meeting in Busan, South Korea, makes the historic shrine Thailand’s ninth World Heritage site and the first in the country’s south.

Culture Minister Sabeeda Thaised, who attended the meeting, encouraged Thais from across the country to visit the temple and experience its outstanding cultural value firsthand.

Photo by Preecha.MJ

To mark the occasion, the Fine Arts Department has opened the first permanent exhibition dedicated to the temple at the National Museum in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The World Heritage Committee inscribed the temple in recognition of its Outstanding Universal Value, including evidence of the historic fusion of Brahmanical, Hindu, Mahayana Buddhist and Theravada Buddhist traditions across Central and South-East Asia.

The temple was founded in the 8th century on a site where a Hindu shrine had previously stood.

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