UNESCO World Heritage Drive

Criterion (ii)

An important interchange with civilisations along the coastal maritime trade route — China, India, Persia, Java and the Khmer — reflected in urban structures, religious sites, architecture, sophisticated water management and fortifications: from the rock art of Khao Khu Ha and the European- and Middle Eastern-influenced forts of Singora to the Chinese feng shui town planning of Bo Yang.

Criterion (iv)

A remarkable illustration of maritime navigation knowledge in monsoon latitudes — the natural harbour at the lagoon mouth, sheltered by Khao Daeng and served by the deep-water coast of the Sathing Phra peninsula, protected international junks through monsoon seasons, making these settlements pivotal port towns on the China–India trade route along the western Gulf of Thailand.

Criterion (v)

An outstanding example of traditional human settlement evolving in interaction with the lagoon ecosystem — the indigenous “Rawa” and “Phang/Traphang” water management systems balanced sea water and fresh water for cultivation, fishing and transport, sustaining self-sufficient lagoon towns unlike most port cities dependent on distant hinterlands.