Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Cambodian temples may open at night
Source: Agencies |
May 27, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
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 yesterday.
Similar night tourism efforts have been introduced at other sites in Southeast Asia.
Cambodia has already 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 the most coming from South Korea, Japan and the United States.
More than half of the tourists arriving in Cambodia visit Angkor Wat, making the temples by far the country's biggest draw.
Visitors are currently ushered out of Angkor at sunset, but authorities are considering extending visiting hours to as late as 8:30pm.
"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 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.
Angkor is about 230 kilometers northwest of the capital Phnom Penh.
Similar night tourism efforts have been introduced at other sites in Southeast Asia.
Cambodia has already 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 the most coming from South Korea, Japan and the United States.
More than half of the tourists arriving in Cambodia visit Angkor Wat, making the temples by far the country's biggest draw.
Visitors are currently ushered out of Angkor at sunset, but authorities are considering extending visiting hours to as late as 8:30pm.
"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 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.
Angkor is about 230 kilometers northwest of the capital Phnom Penh.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
