Before I start posting about my time in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), I thought I would include some information from Lonely Planet and Burma: The Alternative Guide since little is known about the country. Lonely Planet addresses the issue of whether it is “right” to visit the country since some tourist dollars ultimately goes to the government. Feel free to read as much or as little as you like.
“Burma is known as the land of the golden pagodas, with an ancient culture and a religious tradition that have persisted right through to the present day. It is a country of many different races and creeds, though little is known about some of the minority groups. Thanks to the predominance of Buddhism, the tourist will find himself choosing between thousands of temples and shrines, but beneath this shining, tranquil surface lies a history of bitter conflict” (Ganz 7).
“Visitors require permission from the tourism authorities to enter various parts of the country, and there are some towns and regions that foreigners are simply not allowed to enter…. Travelers’ checks and credit cards are rarely accepted in Burma, and tourists usually have to pay for accommodation and travel in US dollars, which invariably goes straight to the military” (Ganz 7).
Population estimates range between 50 and 55 million, but there has never been a reliable census and the last one took place in 1983. The former capital of Yangon was moved to Naypyidaw in November 2005.
“Six decades since independence from Britain, Myanmar remains a rocky work in progress. In fact, it’s never enjoyed stability for long.
Squabbling kingdoms plagued the area for hundreds of years, till the British took it in three waves in the 19th century. Britain managed the mountainous border regions separately from the fertile plains and delta of central and lower Myanmar, building on a cultural rift between the lowland Bamar and highland ethnic groups that lingers today. Civil war erupted between minority groups after independence in 1948, and continues still.
General Ne Win wrestled control from a failing government in 1962 and began the world’s longest-running military dictatorship, which quickly pursued xenophobic policies and led the country to full isolation. Ruined by a rapidly deteriorating economy and a major currency devaluation in the 1970s and 80’s, many thousands flooded the streets – peacefully – on 8 August 1988. The prodemocracy marches saw Aung San Suu Kyi emerge as a leader, who was recognized worldwide. After a violent reaction by the military, the administration, to everyone’s surprise, called a national election. It thought it couldn’t lose. But it did. At the 1990 election, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won 82% of the assembly seats, but the military refused to transfer power.
In the years since, Myanmar’s neighbors (particularly China) and its membership in Asean (since 1997) have ensured that the government has been able to withstand increased scorn from the USA and EU. But in 2007, after gas prices jumped by 500%, nationwide protests erupted for the first time since ’88. The world watched as the generals’ army clamped down, leaving a number of fatalities in the streets. Then, on 3 Mary 2008, Cyclone Nargis tore through the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, claiming nearly 140,000 lives. The government blocked any foreign help for weeks, as some local groups and monks strove to get food and supplies to victims.
Many outsiders hoping for democracy… feel that the past two decades have been a waste of time and are beginning to wonder if it’ll take more than peaceful marches to ignite any meaningful communication” (Lonely Planet, History).
“Since 1987, Burma has been classified by the United Nations as a least developed country (LDC), which is based on the criteria of low income, weak human resources and economic vulnerability… Poverty is widespread, with many barely scraping a living from the land, while wages are generally very low…. Thanks to the catastrophic policies of the military dictatorship, the health system is in an appalling state. Only 3% of the national budget is devoted to it, while almost 50% is spent on arms” (Ganz 10).
In 1886 Burma lost its independence and became a province in the British colony of India. The British were driven out in 1942 by the Japanese, but it wasn’t until January 1948 that Burma officially gained independence. Even with a new prime minister and president, there was political instability and in 1962, the military leader Ne Win staged a coup. In 1989, General Saw Maung set up the State Law & Order Restoration Council whose first task was to rename Burma the “Union of Myanmar” and to give new names to many towns and rivers.
International pressure forced the junta to hold free elections in 1990, which resulted in a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy (NLD) but the military refused to hand over power. I fear the elections coming up on 7 November will result in much the same way.
“A visit to Burma will produce many highlights of culture and landscape, but the country also has a darker side that may not be immediately apparent. In the shadows of its pagodas, the people are suffering under a brutal dictatorship that has plunged Burma into economic, cultural and spiritual ruin.
In the border regions, a civil war is being waged against the non-Burmese either peoples, who are fighting for freedom and self-determination. Burmese troops continually rape the women of these ethnic minorities, while farmers are arrested at random or even shot without cause as they make their way to the fields…. Burma has the largest arm of children in the world, numbering 70,000. These children have virtually no chance to flee this forced recruitment, and any escape is punished with torture or imprisonment. …
The military junta shows no mercy to its political opponents, and any assembly of more than five people can be classed as a demonstration, with severe consequences. …
Burma holds a collection of world records that the visitor will not be aware of: it has the longest-ruling military dictatorship in the world; it has been classified by the World Bank as one of the worst governments in the world; and in 2007 Transparency International also ranked Burma as the most corrupt country in the world” (Ganz 138-139).
“No-one argues Myanmar isn’t one of the world’s most exciting destinations, but a complex question mark has hovered over the country since the birth of a tourism boycott in 1995. Does your money, no matter how carefully spent, sustain a military dictatorship that has imprisoned political dissidents, used forced labor, cracked down on peaceful demonstrations and seized foreign aid (most notably following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008)? Or does isolating one of the world’s poorest countries not only deprive a burgeoning private sector of income, but also push the government into the arms of neighbors with bigger bankrolls and their own serious human rights issues?” (Lonely Planet)
Reasons Not to Go (from Lonely Planet)
- The government used forced labor to develop tourist-related sights and services
- Thousands of families have been forcefully relocated to make room for some tourism facilities, such as Old Bagan
- International tourists can be seen as a symbolic stamp of approval for the Myanmar government
- It’s impossible to visit without some money going to the military junta
- Activists claim that tourism dollars help directly fuel government repression
- The government forbids travel to many areas, particularly those inhabited by minority groups, due to unrest
Reasons to Go (from Lonely Planet)
- The vast majority of locals you meet – including many veterans of the 1988 prodemocracy protests – want you to come
- The majority (possibly 80%) of a careful independent traveler’s expenses goes to the private sector, a higher percentage than the government allocates for the public
- Many observers point out that a four-decade (and going) trade boycott against Cuba never changed its leadership, and Myanmar gets more outside investment than Cuba
- Through ‘direct aid’ efforts, visitors can help a local community facing a humanitarian crisis
- As outside communication is regulated, tourism provides an open two-way exchange between many locals and the outside world
- Human-rights violations are less likely to occur in areas where international visitors are present
Sources:
Ganz, Nicholas and Elena Jotow. Burma: The Alternative Guide. Thames & Hudson, 2009.
Lonely Planet. Myanmar (Burma). Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, 2010.
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