Suu Kyi's party ends opposition to tourism

[Khun Don]

Suu Kyi's party ends opposition to tourism
Ben Doherty
May 30, 2011

BURMA'S main opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, has formally dropped its long-standing opposition to tourists visiting the country.

In 1996, when the military junta ran a ''Visit Myanmar'' campaign, the NLD urged a boycott to draw attention to the army's human rights abuses and the junta's monopoly of the tourism industry.

Since then some NLD leaders have softened their position, and, when she was released from house arrest in November, Ms Suu Kyi said she personally supported responsible individual tourism, rather than the officially organised package tours that benefit the government and its cronies.

A statement from her party now welcomes tourists. "The NLD would welcome visitors who are keen to promote the welfare of the common people and the conservation of the environment and to acquire an insight into the cultural, political and social life of the country while enjoying a happy and fulfilling holiday in Burma."

But the NLD warned that local people and the environment would be harmed by unthinking tourism development.

"Local populations have been displaced, often without compensation or satisfactory relocation, to make way for … hotels and other tourist facilities.

"To make matters worse, forced labour is used for some construction projects. The net result is economic hardship exacerbated by the abrupt breakdown of a traditional way of life and gross violation of basic human rights."

Decades of neglected infrastructure, international condemnation of the junta and Ms Suu Kyi's influence have kept tourists away from Burma. While neighbouring Thailand had more than 14 million visitors in 2009-10, and Vietnam 4 million, Burma had just 200,000.

Government figures say there are only 600 hotels and guest houses in the country, and 6000 licensed tour guides. The internet is heavily restricted, there are no ATMs and credit cards are essentially unusable.

Six months since deeply fraudulent elections installed a new government - Ms Suu Kyi was released a week later - little has changed for ordinary Burmese. The country remains racked by poverty, hunger and government corruption.

Ms Suu Kyi plans to leave Rangoon in August for the first time since her release, embarking on a rural speaking tour that is certain to raise international attention and government ire.

The last time she campaigned outside Rangoon, in 2003, her convoy was set upon by government-sponsored thugs armed with sticks and knives. Ms Suu Kyi escaped, but she was arrested, tried and put back under house arrest until last year.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/worl...#ixzz1NlqaYdwx

[ian71]

This is really hard to comment on factually but most south east Asian country's have shady lead governments with lots of talk about corruption, so not really sure if going the package tour way would be a problem for Burma,
Im surprised at only 4 million for Vietnam compared to 14m for Thailand,but as ive been to Vietnam twice ive been told by people there when Government want change, change happens end of story,

i believe this is the same for Cambodia as i go there twice a year the amount of change over the last 5 years is huge and so much of that is from tourism. but sadly lots of underhand stuff going on with whole Islands being sold off to Russian inverters! now not sure if this is good or bad for Cambodia? but if it was not developed money would not be brought into the local area! so maybe Burma will be the same?
im still calling it Burma (Myanmar) as this is what it is still called in the above story and known as for the rest of the world.

Now maybe Thailand which seems to have most of the tourists should stop taking for granted the numbers of tourists as if its 14million now could you image how many it would be without the last 5 years of strife and troubles here? and now July elections? please lets hope this go's smoothly.