The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage which have been nominated by signatories to the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention.[1] Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage.[2] Thailand ratified the convention on 17 September 1987.[3]
As of 2024[update], Thailand has eight sites on the list. The first three sites were listed in 1991: Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns, Historic City of Ayutthaya, and Thungyai–Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries. The most recent site listed was Phu Phrabat, a testimony to the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period, in 2024.[3] Five of Thailand's sites are cultural and three are natural. Thailand also has six sites on the tentative list.[3]