Ancient edifices in Myanmar to be declared historical parks

Historic buildings, including ancient courts, moats and forts in Myanmar, will soon be declared historical, according to the Archaeology, National Museum and Library Department.

The buildings include Myanansankyaw Golden Palace and Moat in Mandalay, Shwebon Yadana Mingala Palace in Shwebo, Kanbawzathadi Palace in Bago, Hsinkyone Fort near Inwa, Thabyedan Fort near Inwa Bridge and the forts in Sagaing.

The department has invited tenders to foreign firms for upgrading the buildings and providing services.

U Kyaw Lwin Oo, director-general of the department, said: "Most people think the ancient regions will be turned into parks. It's absolutely not. We will only need to upgrade them to become parks.

"Other countries have their historical parks. Thailand has many. For example, Ayutthaya serves as a park. In parks, we need landscaping. When we carry out upgrading tasks with outside companies, we will adopt regulations in order that the styles of our ancient buildings cannot be affected."

Myanmar has seen a sharp increase in the number of tourists as it increasingly opened up to the outside world and introduced political and economic reforms.

About half a million tourists have arrived in the country as of July and the number is expected to reach 1 million before the end of this year.-Asia News Network (August 21, 2012)