Myanmar’s star attraction Bagan has been closed to tourists during the pandemic, but not to treasure looters, according to Daily Eleven.
Artefacts were stolen from pagodas in the ancient kingdom, U Myint Naing, executive of Bagan Tourist Guides Association, told the newspaper, without specifying the items.
Thieves had capitalised on a lack of visitors and vendors, he said, targeting the top tiers of five pagodas near Ywa Haung Gyi pagoda. Dubbed the “banana bud” because of its shape, this part of a Burmese pagoda sometimes holds valuable items, such as jewels, precious metals, gongs, and Buddha figurines.
About 100 tour guides have carried out patrols around the Unesco World Heritage site out three times a day since April 30. One of the groups discovered the thefts this week and reported them to the governmental department of archaeology.
The thieves probably struck at night, the deputy director of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum (Bagan), U Myint Than, told 7Day News Daily, because departmental staff were near the targeted pagodas during the day.
He added that drug-taking paraphernalia was found near the temples. Although even this episode is arguably not the most offensive thing to happen at the revered site.
Bagan and Myanmar’s tourism industry as a whole has been hit hard by the global shutdown in reaction to the spread of Covid-19.
However, state media today reported that Bagan hotels can resume operations in the first week of July. Despite an annual slump in tourists during the rainy season, the local hospitality industry is likely to welcome the news.
