Paradise lost to Unesco

Label has saved Luang Prabang’s buildings but killed its soul, writes Denis D. Gray

It is described as the best-preserved city in Southeast Asia, a bygone seat of kings tucked into a remote river valley of Laos. Luang Prabang weaves a never-never land spell on many a visitor with its tapestry of French colonial villas and Buddhist temples draped in a languid atmosphere.

But most of the locals don’t live here anymore. They began an exodus from this seeming Shangri-La after their hometown was listed a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1995, and sold itself wholesale to tourism.

It’s not an uncommon pattern at some of the 1052 sites worldwide designated as places of “outstanding universal value” by the UN cultural agency.

The international branding sparks mass tourism, residents move out as prices escalate or grab at new business opportunities, hastening the loss of their hometown’s authentic character to hyper-commercialisation. But locals may also prosper and some moribund communities are injected with renewed energy.

“If you open the door you will have some fresh wind, but you will also get mosquitoes,” says Prince Nithakhong Tiaoksomsanith, a leader in preserving Luang Prabang’s artistic heritage.

Since Unesco helped lay down the town’s welcome mat, its long-time residents have been replaced by wealthy Lao outsiders, an ever- GETTING THERE singaporeairlines.com DETAILS growing influx of tourists and enough French, Australian, American and other expatriates catering to their needs to have locals rhyme Luang Prabang with “Meuang Falang” — meaning either French or Western town.

Luang Prabang’s rich architectural heritage, protected by Unesco’s regulations, has been spared the eradication of countless historic sites across Asia. But virtually every home and mumand-dad store in the historic centre has been converted into a guesthouse, restaurant, cafe, bar or travel agency. The former prison was transformed into a luxury hotel and the French Cultural Centre has become the Hibiscus Massage Parlour.

Scenes of workaday life are rare because as prices shot up — a small plot of land that sold for US$8000 ($11,000) three years ago now goes for US$120,000 — residents moved into surrounding areas, selling or renting their properties to the newcomers.

As former Unesco consultant and long-time resident Francis Engelmann said: “We have saved Luang Prabang’s buildings but we have lost its soul.”

Similar criticism has been levelled at Unesco’s