Day 3 // 6 Jan

Greeted by the gold architecture that shimmers under the sunlight after ascending 306 steps, we were awed by the grandeur of the Doi Suthep, one of Thailand’s most sacred temple. Overlooking Chiang Mai from its lofty perch, the breath-taking view of the city unfolded before our eyes.

Yet, beneath the splendour of Doi Suthep lies the question of whether the temple is sustainable in the long run. As a top tourist attraction spot in Thailand, there will undoubtedly be millions of tourists visiting this heritage site every year. And with tourism brings destruction. There have always been debates on whether heritage sites can withstand the weight of the increasing number of tourists as more and more heritage sites, such as Ankor Wat in Cambodia and The Great Wall of China, are wearing down under the feet of tourists. Not only are the architecture in danger of being defaced, it may simply be the weight of the millions of tourists that push the heritage sites to endangerment.

While tourism is important in bringing in funds to maintain the temple and aid in economic development of the country, it necessarily brings about other problems such as noise pollution, potential destruction of architecture and artefacts, or simply actions that do not respect the culture there. It remains a point of contention on whether it is really worth it to transform such a sacred place into a mere tourist attraction site. While there remain certain temples hidden from the scrutiny of tourists and certain areas in the attraction sites cordoned away, barring tourists from entering, some may question if this will deter those who are genuinely interested in learning about Chiang Mai’s heritage and Buddhism in Chiang Mai.

We were posed this question by our professors: Should the government sacrifice other temples by diverting funds for their maintenance towards the maintenance of famous tourist attraction sites like Doi Suthep in order to gain more tourism dollars? Or should they sacrifice Doi Suthep by choosing not to maintain it and instead, redirect the funding to other temples that are not under the scrutiny of tourists?

To be honest, I do not have an answer to that question as there are too many factors that we need to consider, and not merely the fact that all temples should be preserved for their heritage value.

Doi Suthep is indeed a place I would want to visit again – to admire its grandeur and astonishing view, as well as to learn more about its origins and how it contributed to the heritage of Chiang Mai. But more than this, I would want to visit other temples that the locals worship at, to gain a fuller experience, instead of merely visiting the tourist attractions that might have suffered from a dilution of culture due to the influx of tourists.