The ban on female visitors specifically "has nothing to do with discrimination against women," the official told AFP by phone. It is considered dangerous for women to travel by sea to get to the island and the shrine will not change the centuries-old rule, he said. UNESCO's heritage committee considered 33 sites for the prestigious status at its annual gathering in Poland. UNESCO's World Heritage list includes over 1,000 sites, monuments and natural phenomena that are of "outstanding universal value" to humankind. It includes treasures such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the Taj Mahal in India, and the rock-carved city of Petra in modern-day Jordan.

Source: The Nation Bangkok July 10, 2017 08:37 UTC