The World Heritage Committee may also specify that a site is
endangered, citing "conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List." One site in this region,
Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, is listed as endangered;
Angkor and
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras were once listed but were taken off in 2004 and 2012 respectively.
By comparison with other world regions such as East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Central America, and Western Europe, the designation of UNESCO sites in the Southeast Asian region has been regarded as 'too few and too slow' since the inception of the 21st century. Scholars from various Southeast Asian nations have suggested for the establishment of an inclusive Southeast Asian body that will cater to the gaps of the region's activities in UNESCO as the majority of nations in the region are underperforming in the majority of the lists adopted by UNESCO, notably the World Heritage List.
Legend
The table is sortable by column by clicking on the at the top of the appropriate column; alphanumerically for the Site, Area, and Year columns; by state party for the Location column; and by criteria type for the Criteria column. Transborder sites sort at the bottom.
Site; named after the World Heritage Committee's official designation[3]
Location; at city, regional, or provincial level and geocoordinates
Criteria; as defined by the World Heritage Committee[6]
Area; in hectares and acres. If available, the size of the buffer zone has been noted as well. A value of zero implies that no data has been published by UNESCO
Year; during which the site was inscribed to the World Heritage List
Description; brief information about the site, including reasons for qualifying as an endangered site, if applicable.
Buddhist monument dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, located in Central Java. The monument structure is a large stepped pyramid crowned with rows of stupas.
Located on a plateau in central Laos, gets its name from more than 2,100 tubular-shaped megalithic stone jars used for funerary practices in the
Iron Age.
Sawahlunto is the oldest coal mining town in South East Asia. At the end of the 19th century, Dutch Indies had discovered and further exploited coal in Sawahlunto.
The 6 km north-south axis central axis of Yogyakarta is positioned to link
Mount Merapi and the
Indian Ocean, with the
Kraton at its centre, has become a centre of government and Javanese cultural traditions.
Southeast Asia has the fewest
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asia, next to Central and North Asia, despite being the base of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific headquarters located in
Bangkok,
Thailand and having a diverse line of natural and cultural heritage sites. Due to this, numerous scholars have been calling on Southeast Asian governments to participate and nominate more sites in UNESCO annually.
Various institutions have also criticized UNESCO for its 'Europe-centric' designations. An example of which was when UNESCO declared 10 UNESCO sites in
Italy (a European country) in just a single year (1997). During the same time, 8 sites were declared for the entire Asian continent, where no designated site was located in Southeast Asia at all.[57]
Green - Natural; Yellow - Cultural; Blue - Mixed; Red - In danger
Location of World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia
Performance of Southeast Asia in UNESCO
The performance of Southeast Asia is contrasted by the performance of South and East Asia. Southeast Asian countries are in blue.
UNESCO Tentative List of Southeast Asia
Brunei and Timor-Leste currently have no tentative list sites. Both Brunei and Timor-Leste are presently undergoing comprehensive research for tentative site submissions [citation needed]. The latest countries revised their tentative lists are Vietnam and Singapore in 2022, followed by Malaysia and Thailand last revised their tentative lists in 2021, Cambodia last revised in 2020, Laos last revised in 2019, Indonesia and Myanmar last revised in 2018, and the Philippines last revised in 2015. The following lists also include the current nomination process being focused on by each country.
Cambodia: Currently in process of nominations on 27 March 2020.
^First inscription as Ha Long Bay. Extended inscription in 2000 to include natural criterion (i) (in present nomenclature criterion (vii)) and extended again in 2023 to include Cat Ba Archipelago and name change to the present name.
^First inscription as Tubbataha Reef Marine Park. Extended in 2009 and name change to the present name.