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A Requiem For Angkor?

Image from Sacred Faces of Angkor Wat-Copyright 2006 Tewfic El-Sawy
The Washington Post published a pessimistic article about the future of Angkor. Peace in Cambodia has opened it to the tourism industry, and the magnificent temples of Angkor have in recent years generated considerable revenue for the national government. This year, a deluge of tour operators is expected to bring in nearly 1 million foreign visitors, a sixfold increase since 2000. According to UNESCO, the total number of visitors to Angkor will reach a record 2 million this year and at least 3 million by 2010. I understand that the largest tourist numbers are from Japan, Korea and then the United States.

I saw this marauding influx first hand during my photo expedition in February 2006, and witnessed the increasing damage it caused to the temples' infrastructure when compared to my previous year visit. My driver told me that 40 hotels and inns had been built in Siem Reap over the course of only 4-5 months, giving it the feel of a gold rush town. I recall feeling that Angkor Wat would be a Cambodian Disneyland within a few years, and I read an echoing quote in the article by Khin Po Thai, a longtime Angkor guide and preservation activist who said "Angkor has become a sort of cultural Disneyland". It's sad but I doubt if there are any solutions.

Linus Harms, a Dutch photographer, has a sensitive multimedia B&W photoessay: here.