Thant Myint-U and Mark Farmaner
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From The Times
May 19, 2007
Does Burma need you?
If you want to help the people of Burma, then go, says Thant Myint-U. You'll only be funding the military if you do, counters Mark Farmaner
A couple of months ago, I was sitting in a little open-air restaurant near Sandoway, not far from the sea, enjoying a prawn curry and an avocado salad. I had been at the same restaurant when it first opened a few years back and was happy to see it doing well. The customers were almost all Westerners, the tables were full, and the prices (in dollars) had been gently increased. The young owner had put on a few pounds and had outgrown his earlier nervousness around foreigners, eagerly suggesting dishes and speaking more confidently in English.
He was looking after a large extended family and now thought of expanding his business in new directions. Friends had made some money offering boat rides and snorkelling trips around the picture-perfect islands near by. Perhaps, he said, he could do the same.
I wished him good luck and quietly hoped that his success could be repeated as many times as possible across the country. But would the tourists come? For more than 40 years, Burma has been ruled by a repressive, mendacious and somewhat whimsical army Government. There is next to no political freedom and Aung
San Suu Kyi, the country’s best-known dissident, is under her third spell of house arrest. The Americans have imposed tough sanctions and activists in London have pushed for a boycott of tourism. Many in the UK have heeded this call and in 2005 even Tony Blair signed a pledge not to travel to Burma. But I think this is wrong.
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There are essentially two arguments against visiting Burma. One is simply that the Burmese suffer under a repressive regime and that people shouldn’t visit countries with so bad a human rights record. The other argument is a strategic one, that visiting Burma and spending money there will only prolong the life of the present dictatorship.
The first is a perfectly defensible position and the only possible counter-argument would be to say that Burma is no less free than some other tourist
destinations. But taking a moral stand is different from helping to change things for the better. And staying away won’t change things in Burma.
About 300,000 tourists visit Burma now every year, up from almost nothing 15 years ago, but still a minuscule number compared with about 15 million people who visit Thailand, or the 1.5 million who travel every year to Cam-bodia, another less-than-demo-cratic country. About half are Asian and the rest mainly continental Europeans.
Most spend their time in leafy Raj-era Rangoon, visiting the magnificent Shwedagon pagoda complex, before heading up to the old royal capital of Mandalay, with its massive teak ramparts – designed to withstand a British siege – or along the Irrawaddy to the sprawling medieval ruins at Pagan, one of the most striking and least visited archaeological wonders of the world.
But off this slightly beaten track there is much more to see and do, from trekking in the remote Himalayan villages in the north to sailing off sandy white beaches in the south.
Earlier this year I wrote a book about Burma, The River of Lost Footsteps, in part to introduce people to Burma’s incredibly colourful and often violent history. But I also wrote the book to give an historical context to today’s problems and show the futility of further isolating what is already one of the most isolated societies in the world.
Isolation has been Burma’s curse. In the early 1960s, the military regime, having just come to power, shut off the country from the outside world, ending nearly all foreign aid and investment, and banning tourism. The regime evolved and entrenched itself in this self-made cocoon. Then in the early 1990s, with a dec-ades-long civil war nearly over, Burma’s generals, while still shunning democratic change, decided to liberalise the economy and encourage foreign visitors. Rangoon was transformed. Dozens of hotels were built, together with hundreds of new restaurants, from sushi bars to French bistros, all privately owned.
But the army leadership has opened up only tentatively and this openness is something to make use of, not reject. Isolation is the regime’s default condition. It is what fuels the present system. Burma might not become a democracy overnight, but it will certainly improve with more outside interaction. Would Indonesia be better off if no one had visited during its 30 years of military rule?
Responsible tourism can help to lift many ordinary people from poverty and an influx of outsiders will hasten the possibility of political change. And it’s just not true that tourist money props up the Government. Nearly all hotels are privately or foreign owned (including all the big ones). It’s easy to avoid the few Government-owned hotels if you want – the Lonely Planet guide spells it out. None of the big hotels has made any money, at least not yet, and none has paid significant taxes. It’s true that the state receives money from airport taxes and other small tourist fees, but all this is a negligible amount, perhaps a few tens of millions of dollars a year, a figure which must be compared with the billion dollars a year the treasury now receives from natural gas exports – a figure which will grow rapidly.
Money from tourism is in no way essential to the regime’s survival. Even if the present number of tourists increased several-fold, it would not be an important income-earner for the state. But tourism is the one sector in which a good degree of private enterprise is possible, free from government control. There is little to stop a businessman from setting up a hotel or a guide service and hundreds of thousands of people already make a living from the tourist trade that does exist. Very little is taxed. A real expansion will do much more to help ordinary Burmese than to supplement the government coffers.
Most important, tourism can help to bring in the fresh air so desperately needed. Together with the satellite dishes now mushrooming across Rangoon and Mandalay, it is this greater interaction with the outside world that will unravel the status quo. If the Government one day bans tourism again, it will be because it understands its subversive potential.
So, if you want to avoid spending money in a military dictatorship, then stay at home. But if you really want to help to change things for the better, then go and see Burma for yourself. The River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint-U (Faber, £20). Available from BooksFirst (0870 1608080, timesonline.co.uk/books) for £18, including p&p.
Blood money
Visitors are funding a brutal regime, says Mark Farmaner
The moment the wheels of your aircraft touch the runway in Rangoon, you are putting money in the pockets of one of the world's most brutal dictatorships.
How will that money be spent? Not on hospitals or schools. Burma now spends less on health than any other country in the world. Your money will help to pay for guns, and the soldiers who wield them. You won’t see many, if any, of those soldiers you'll help to pay for. They are mainly in the mountains and jungles of Burma, engaged in a war against ethnic minority civilians, which the UN says breaches the Geneva Convention. On average a village a week is attacked and destroyed. Those unable to flee can face torture, mutilation or execution. Women and children are raped, even girls as young as five. Travel supplements like this don’t publish the pictures of bodies and burnt villages alongside those of golden pagodas and smiling children.
Some people, usually those who make money from tourism, say it is all right to go to Burma, as local people will benefit. Yes, a small number of people do benefit from tourism, but millions suffer from the regime it helps to fund. Others argue that it is good to go and see for yourself, and that tourists bring news and information from the outside world.
But travel journalists and tourists never get to see the real Burma. They don’t see prisoners tortured in Burma’s jails, the people used as slave labour, or the luxury homes of the generals. Nor do they see the intelligence officers interrogating or arresting people after they’ve spoken to tourists, demanding to know what was discussed.
Burmese people do see this. That is why Aung San Suu Kyi and the democracy movement have asked tourists to stay away. It is not a lot to ask. Please respect their wishes. Mark Farmaner is acting director of Burma Campaign UK (www.burmacampaign.org.uk).
Need to know
Thant Myint-U is a former fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was born in New York – when his grandfather U Thant was the UN Secretary-General – and has lived most of his life in the US and UK. He still has many relatives in Rangoon and Mandalay.
Burma Campaign UK (020-7324 4710, www.burma campaign.org.uk) and Tourism Concern (020-7133 3330, www.tourismconcern. org.uk) both call for a boycott of the country. Lonely Planet’s (www.lonelyplanet.com) guidebook to Burma provides the arguments for and against and, if you do go, extensive information on how to avoid spending money that will ultimately find its way to the military regime.
Getting there: Andrew Brock Travel (01572 821330, www.coromandelabt.com), Bales (0845 0571819, www.balesworldwide.com) and TransIndus (020-8566 2729, www.transindus.co.uk) are among the operators which offer tours and address the issues in their brochures and websites.
Red tape: Visas must be obtained in advance; they cost £14 and you need at least six months’ validity on your passport. The Myanmar Embassy in London (020-7499 4340) will normally process a visa within a working week.
I have been to Burma and refuse to go back until democracy has been restored, as requested by the democratically elected leader of the country.
Those only to happy to go and ignore her request might like to consider how many guns and bullets their holidays have provided the junta with.
As for "I had to see for myself" and other such half-baked excuses. Do me a favour.
Guy Cavendish, London,
I am a burmese and worked in tourism field for more than 10 years. Beleive me that Burma has changed alot in tourism for better way and still needs Int'l supports as tourism can be very supportive for those who needed. It's not only goes to hoteliers but to somany people in away. It's safe to be travelled anytime for all major destinations and it's people friendliness can't be easily find in other part of the world. Human right problems are everywhere in the world (especially in third world countries) and why we are only forced to avoid. This is not fair for my point of view. The more tourists are coming the more people of burma can be learned, improved, got some chances.
I agree with Dr. Ajay Kumar's opnion and it was coming true like that ways as government's hotel & airline are not supported by tourist.
Come & see the natural beauty ( which said - secret of asia's and mystical myanmar)
Thandar, Yangon, Myanmar
I was very interested to read Thant Myint-U's views and completely agree. We went to Burma in the early 1990s - a really memorable experience - and made sure we travelled with private companies and stayed in private hotels. We were struck by how many ordinary people acknowledged our presence with either a friendly gesture or discreet conversation and felt there was a sense of solidarity just by us being there. That was particularly noticeable when we had 'a conversation' with an Army General on a train who had commandeered our seats (all 8!) and arrogantly brushed us aside. A very gentle older lady took my hand and held it and people's faces said it all. We spent the rest of the journey all split up in different carriages with the General's bodyguards keeping a close watch!
I disagree with the Western concept of imposing our ideals on countries - it does not always work. In Burma the population need our support to have the strength to change.
Jill Lester, Llandeilo, Wales
I am surprised that so much of morality is discussed about visiting Burma. Castro's Cuba is no different as far as human right and democracy is concerned. So why this hypocrisy of bycotting Burma but sunbathing on the beach of Varadero without any moral or concience guilt?
I have been to both countries. Tourist's money does'nt prop up a repressive regeime. But it does provide bread and butter to people employed in tourist trade which is always a private enterprise. Through taxation, a miniscle ammount will go to the regeime, but it will be too little for any practical purpose. However, money spent locally will always go to poor people, provide jobs and livelyhood. If you want to bycott, don't bycott Burma, go there but bycott all Government hotels, airline and anything to do with Govt.
Dr. Ajay Kumar, Gorleston, Gt. Yarmouth, England
Very often, those with rabid views are those who have never been to Burma. Ignorance is fear. Until they have actually been there to experience and see for themselves, they have no right to rant and rave to others. They are doing more harm than good to the poor, ordinary, Burmese.
It is typical Western arrogance to think that we can use force and might to bully the third World. A little humility goes a long way. We have a lot to learn from them.
P Sutton, Kent, UK
Burma is a fantastic place, lets hope it never gets mass tourists to ruin it like Thailand.
anne meile, bissone, switzerland
And even if you do not visit Burma, you support the government every time you fly from Europe to Thailand because the airline pays for overfly rights.
Why does the Burma campaign not talk about boycotting Thailand for this reason?
Karl, Bangkok, Thailand
The Burmese people I met on my holiday a few years ago were lovely people and I think they enjoyed the contacts with us Brits. I was a little uncomfortable and sensed the horrors of the regime. However, I cannot understand why Burma is being singled out for boycott. I had this same unease on a recent holiday to Cambodia and was shocked by the corruption and nepotism. I was appalled at the way residents around Siem Reap were being moved to make way for development.. The temple complexes in Angkor Wat , beaches in Sihanoukvillle and other attractions appear to be in the hands of private business connected to Government. However, as in Burma, the people were very friendly and benefited from touristm . There are regimes all round the world handling their nationhood in different ways, many of which seem strange and possibly abhorrent to the West. Isolation does not help the people. I try to spend my money in non government establishments and talk about the issues when I return to UK.
John Sanders, Colchester, UK
The comment by the poster below, "You will not get to know any genuine locals as your encounters will be carefully engineered" is completely wrong. I am Burmese, a former political prisoner and now in exile. But I know from both Burmese and non-Burmese friends who travel there, that it is still very easy to meet Burmese people free of any government control and that nearly all Burmese people welcome more tourists. I lived in Burma until late 1990s and had no problem when I met foreigners. Most Burmese people want foreigners to stay away from hotels owned by the government but everyone wants to be more open to the world. U Thant Myint-U is right and we should support responsible tourism to Burma. We need contacts with Western countries. What good is it if all tourists to Burma in future come only from China?
Hla Min, Leeds, UK
Burma certainly needs everybody who is genuinely interested in it's plight and wishes to help. The last thing it nees is for it's people to be isolated and made the guilty party. All major governments have been playing politics in Burma in a very big way while. To date there has only been high profile lip services paid to the delight of those who suport those perfunctory gestures. The outcome of which could clearly be seen apart from the blinded. The past decade or more of attempts to isolate Burma had achieved nothing, not even Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed her freedom; and the people continue to suffer greater tragedy. The past attempts to isolate Burma has only achieved to enrich the generals in Burma; allow them to fortify their entrenchment and contine with impunity; while they do give emotional comfort , gives feel good factor to US & UK. Isolating and stopping travellers to Burma merely assist the inherently isolationist desires of the regime.
Soe-Wynn, Leeds, UK
"You will not get to know any genuine locals as your encounters will be carefully engineered" - funny, I have never experienced that during my myriad trips in Myanmar, including visits to both Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and former members of the military government. Like Mark Farmaner, I guess this poster must also be living in cloud-cuckoo land.
Kyaw Kyaw Win, London,
Don't go. You will not get to know any genuine locals as your encounters will be carefully engineered. If you do by chance have an unplanned encounter the unfortunate Burmese participant will offer traditional warmth and hospitality, then spend 48 hours in detention under interrogation. It is the same in Tibet and parts of Eastern Turkey. You will gradually sense an insidious undercurrent of fear and violence. Ultimately you do as your conscience dictates, but it is not good enough to say staying away will change nothing. It will prevent you legitimising the situation for starters.
Ben Gunn, canterbury, Kent
After everything that's happened in Iraq, we should all be wary of any coercive attempt to 'create' new democracies anywhere in the world. And sanctions and boycotts are a type of coercion. Does Mr Farmaner agree with sanctions on Cuba? Does he believe that isolating Vietnam today would help speed up democratic change? I've lived and worked in China and Vietnam and have visited Burma several times. Thant Myint-U is absolutely right. Burma's biggest problem is its isolation. Of course there are human rights abuses - no one denies that - but there's also poverty and a hundred and one other problems as well in that beautiful and fascinating country. Isolating it is no answer. I highly recommend reading Thant Myint-U's book "The River of Lost Foosteps". As William Dalrymple writes on the cover, it's a 'revelation' and should be required reading for anyone concerned with Burma.
Andrew Highet, Guildford, UK
A lot of people argue that Burma shouldn't be visited as visitors will be literally supporting the military dictatorship.
But, think about it, do we stop feeding a bed-ridden patient with a serious virus in order to kill and stop the spread of thriving virus inside the body! ;no we do not. likewise, it's not a very logical reason to say that one shouldn't visit Burma solely because of its government. To be exact, the taxation system in Burma is not efficient enough to provide a high percentage of foreign income for the government.
And, most important of all, you will thoroughly enjoy your trip.Why? well,it's so cheap! and every thing is very exotic and most of the area is still left unspoiled.. free of car exhausts, all sorts of pollutions,etc.. And, in Burma, most of the food is bought in markets , not in supermarkets with huge freezer so most of the food is organic and very fresh.. so, why not visit there? I hope people could understand why i recommend visiting this country!
T.H.Win, Croydon, UK
I went to Burma with a clear conscience. I think its important to go to these places and see what actually happens there. I don't think you are entitled to moralise unless you've been somewhere...
I am not a big believer in sanctions/embargos anyway as I feel it tends to hurt the people who most need the income, which tourism can bring.
Certainly some of my money went to the Government when I was forced to exchange USD for the Foreign Exchange Certificates at the airport on arrival but after that I stayed in independently owned hotels, took taxi rides, went on hikes with local guides, ate at restaurants, bought souvenirs and my money went straight in local pockets.
Also the Burmese are keen to meet people from the outside. They don't exactly enjoy being cut off you know! Some people want to talk about the political situation with you, albeit secretly and others just want to pass the time of day with you. I felt extremely welcome there.
Francesca, Nassau, Bahamas
Mark Farmaner of the Burma Campaign-UK - with no roots in or organic link with my country, Burma or Myanmar - stated "Aung San Suu Kyi and the democracy movement have asked tourists to stay away" in order apparently to establish the moral basis for his London-based tourism boycott campaign. Two fundamental problems here: first, nobody knows whether the Burmese dissident still holds this anti-tourism view, which she once aired years ago, and second, "the Burmese democracy movement" has, by defnition, multiple views and does not advance a single consensus position on tourism, trade and commerce in and with Burma. Before Mr Farmaner discovered our country many of us Burmese, exiled, jailed, under surveillance by the junta inside Burma or abroad built global boycott campaigns; but, after 17 years, we realize, with Myint-U, "taking a moral stand is different from helping to change things for the better. And staying away won’t change anything in Burma." Zarni, Free Burma Coalition
zar ni, Oxford, UK
If you want to go to Burma then go. If you don't then don't! But ignore all the campaigners -a bunch of neo-stalinists the lot of them. Do not be blackmailed by this respect our wishes stuff. Your money so spend it how you like before the taxman steals it away from you. More important is to find out whether you will like it in Burma.
Emily W, Cambridge, UK
I encourage you to go to Burma and work at British council. You will have wonderful experience. People are very nice and very keen to learn English.
Khin, Yangon, Myanmar
A good case can be made to show that the Burmese Government is in fact subsidising tourism. Thailand earns from tourism in four days what Burma earns in a year. Natural gas exports in 2006 amounted to US$ 1.2 billion, but gross tourism receipts to only US$ 165 million of which most if not all was spent on the provision of goods and services - and the non-payment of taxes and land rentals to the State because profits are non-existent. The tourist industry in Burma is generally a loss-making business.
Opinions are divided among Burma-watchers, but even the fiercest critics of the junta generally agree that responsible, enlightened travel to Burma should be encouraged, even if holidaymakers are advised to stay away. From what she has said in the past, and from what she has told me personally, I have no reason to suppose that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would not fully agree with this.
Derek Tonkin, Guildford, Surrey
I must agree with Mark Farmaner and colleagues who work towards a free Burma that those who truly care about democracy in Burma and ending the human rights abuses suffered by its citizens should NOT visit Burma.
As Aung San Suu Kyi has stated, “people should not come to Burma. Because the bulk of the money from tourism goes straight into the pockets of the generals. And not only that, it’s a form of moral support for them because it makes the military authorities think that the international community is not opposed to the human rights violations which they are committing all the time.”
It is absolutely immoral to support the work of the brutal Burmese junta. If you want to know more about Burma, visit the Thai/Burma border or the Burmese border with Bangladesh. There you will find refugees who truly know the country.
Take a stand against the junta, and speak for human rights! There is no other ethical way.
Caitlin Burnett, Washington, DC
the reason Burma stays at the forefront of my thoughts and why i pass my knowledge, perspective and insight on the country to others is the simple fact that i spent time there - i met and was touched by a wonderful people, an amazing history and a tragic story. If i'd never been, i'd be a typical indifferent observer - like most in the West.
Those who preach the 'dont go' theory are, with few exceptions, either hypocrites or charlatans. HOw can you pass judgement on a place you've never been and if you have, how can you moralise abstinence to others?
Responsible and educated tourism to Burma is essential to the Burmese and to the West. Isolationism is no answer.
Ian, Shanghai, China
I am curious .What do the writers think about the presence of the British Council in Burma?
Recently I was offered a job at the English Language Teaching Centre there and was very keen to go.My colleagues argued against taking up a position.
The British Council has an office there which is a going concern with local wealthy Burmese paying to attend language classes.
This being the case ,where does the UK ,and those employed by the British Council stand in terms of supporting the regime? Should the employees and the Council be supported or condemned?
julie , Pyle, uk
When we put the politics conflict- the theory of democracy versus dictatorships behind. By looking their majority daily life of burma, what i saw during I stayed in Burma was the people have a high moral virtues and peace of mind due to the buddhist culture influence.
By visiting Burma, that is the direct way we can help ordinary burmist from unable to buy foods to has money to purchase daily food or needs. Personally, I think organisation who promote "tourist not to visit Burma" is more on political issues, but it will totally bring disaster and made ordinary burmist who live in the tourirst areas poorer and more suffer in the short run. Please dont promote such unintelligent suggestion that wont made burmist life easier but harder.
Diamond, segamat,
The writer likes to pick on Cambodia. At least it has a democractically elected government and the election process there is no worse than recent elections in Scotland. He is confused by the difference between an elected one party state (China, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam) and a state where there are no elections (Burma and N Korea)
Morever, he totally misses the fact that Thailand is currently run by a military dictatorship.
Time to sharpen your democratic facts.
Anthony Ainsworth, Bnagkok, Thailand