Sep 24, 2007
Now is the time to support a touristic boycott of Myanmar (the former Burma)
Shockingly enough, several major U.S. tour operators continue to operate trips to Myanmar, despite pleas not to do so by the country's democratically-elected leader, the Nobel-prize-winning Aung San Suu Kyi. On occasion after occasion, Mrs. Kyi has emphatically stated that such visits simply support the brutal, thuggish military junta that now rules Myanmar.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Rangoon for 12 of the last 18 years, and is currently allowed no access to visitors or even use of the telephone. Until a protest march of 10,000 Buddhist monks filed in front of her house last week, she had not been seen by the public for the last four years.
If you live in one of the many U.S. cities whose newspapers carry no mention of the events in Myanmar, then I urge you to obtain a copy of the Economist or the New York Times and read the extensive reporting on the situation in Myanmar that these responsible publications have recently carried. In a country whose citizens become more impoverished and oppressed with every year, things have apparently reached the breaking point, with Buddhist monks leading the public in massive demonstrations, the last one being yesterday's astonishing march by many thousands of monks. The involvement of that country's clergy is the first public protest that Myanmar's grotesque military government has been unable to repress.
To their dishonor and shame, U.S. tour operators have scheduled visits to impoverished Myanmar, whose low price structure is so tourist-friendly. There is never a totally consistent policy for boycotting tourism to certain nations. In some instances, continued tourism keeps a country more open, assists its dissidents, is promoted by all elements of that country.
In the case of Myanmar, the people of that country have made it crystal clear that tourism simply aids the junta and helps keep them in power. As noted above, Mrs. Suu Kyi has pleaded with the travel industry not to send visitors to Myanmar. We should heed that persistent request. Next time you see a brochure or website advertising a visit to Myanmar, you should contact the tour operator and express your disgust over such business-as-usual greed.
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Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Rangoon for 12 of the last 18 years, and is currently allowed no access to visitors or even use of the telephone. Until a protest march of 10,000 Buddhist monks filed in front of her house last week, she had not been seen by the public for the last four years.
If you live in one of the many U.S. cities whose newspapers carry no mention of the events in Myanmar, then I urge you to obtain a copy of the Economist or the New York Times and read the extensive reporting on the situation in Myanmar that these responsible publications have recently carried. In a country whose citizens become more impoverished and oppressed with every year, things have apparently reached the breaking point, with Buddhist monks leading the public in massive demonstrations, the last one being yesterday's astonishing march by many thousands of monks. The involvement of that country's clergy is the first public protest that Myanmar's grotesque military government has been unable to repress.
To their dishonor and shame, U.S. tour operators have scheduled visits to impoverished Myanmar, whose low price structure is so tourist-friendly. There is never a totally consistent policy for boycotting tourism to certain nations. In some instances, continued tourism keeps a country more open, assists its dissidents, is promoted by all elements of that country.
In the case of Myanmar, the people of that country have made it crystal clear that tourism simply aids the junta and helps keep them in power. As noted above, Mrs. Suu Kyi has pleaded with the travel industry not to send visitors to Myanmar. We should heed that persistent request. Next time you see a brochure or website advertising a visit to Myanmar, you should contact the tour operator and express your disgust over such business-as-usual greed.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: rights
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
