Research & Article

The Thai heritage conservation community has been stunned by the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Thailand to demolish the venerable buildings on Sanam Luang , in which the Court has been housed for several decades. The A remarks that the Court, which should be an ultimate source of redress against illegal destruction of heritage, is flagrantly flouting zoning restrictions and the attempt by the Fine Arts Department (FAD) to protect heritage sites from destruction. The case is but one of many examples of the difficulties that progressives forces face in safeguarding Thailand’s rich and diverse cultural heritage against the unsympathetic bureaucratic bodies, ambitious interests, and well-meaning but ill-advised agents of “development”. - (GL)