Burma is an integral part of the Asian and ASEAN fabric – a support of as well as deterrent of the military junta comes from within this faqbric. Tony Blair boycotting Burma is about as relevant as Dalai Lama boycotting travel to USA (another military regime).

Fact remains that for Asians, Burma is part of our lives (my Grandfather died fighting in the British Army against the Japanese and his body never found and so I must go). Travel is organic in that it does percolate down to microeconomies run by ordinary people. Why boycott, when one does not have solutions? It is like boycotting a party where there are drugs in the upper bedroom but the rest of the house is rocking fun and it would be great to go!

To cut it short, as my lecturer in Burmese once said, “the clock goes a bit different in Myanmar”

I am heading to burma soon and did some googling to find info about basic travel advice as well as sites such as yours detailing the moral dilemma about whether or not I will be benefitting a dictatorial regime.

Ideally, I would not like the regime to be benefitted. However, it is clear that they will benefit, at least economically in the short term, from my visit. I suppose for me it has come down to trying to choose an approach which will, on balance, result in an overall benefit (however miniscule my individual contribution will be) for the ordinary people of Burma.

I hope that, as a photographer who generally focusses on community-based issues, that I will be able to begin a project which highlights both the positive characteristics of the people and their country as well as their plight. I also intend, to the extent that I can reasonably determine their legitimacy, to spend my tourist dollars with non-government businesses which are not benefitting indirectly from any forced relocations of original inhabitants from the region.

But how am I reasonably expected to determine this last point regarding issues of forced relocation? I will do my best to research as much as is reasonably possible.

Overall, there is, for me, a point where i must rely on an inner voice which, based on my knowledge and personal values, tells me my intentions are ‘good’ (the definition of which is going to be different for all individuals).

regards,
charlie, melbourne, australia

ps. i found the exchange between aiontay and tim interesting but was dismayed to find Andrew Walker come in over the top and unilaterally decide to block any further messages from tim without any concrete reasons. Iit is not for you, andrew, to decide what readers’ interpretations of a message may be.

Typo in this line:

Whilst we don’t completely discourage the boycott (at least to the extent the BCUK does) we do ponder how can the boycott be effective, if we completely dismiss the largest percentage of tourists to visit Burma each year?

I meant ‘encourage’ rather than ‘discourage” the boycott. I’d hate to be accused of implying the BCUK ‘discourages’ the boycott!! That couldn’t be any further from the truth!!

Cherie

I read your article on Burma Gateway and here with great interest.

In reference to your challenge: “However, it would be great if somebody took on this challenge.”, I’d like to bring your attention to Voices for Burma, whom Tara has already referred to.

Having been in existence for nearly 4 years, we at VFB try to quantify the impact of travel on Burma. We ask ourselves, Burmese, other travellers, academics, politicians, etc these questions every day.

The boycott isn’t black and white. It has many, many layers and shades of gray. I think it is great you are asking those questions – as we need to. We ought not to blindly accept the boycott, or should we accept blindly mass-tourism. Although I don’t think many people are suggesting the latter in any case.

Voices for Burma’s stance is that responsible, independent tourists should consider visiting Burma if and only if they want to make a positive impact to the people of Burma. If a tourist takes that position, our organisation attempts to provide them with adequate information to make informed choices whilst travelling inside Burma.

A question you didn’t ask is “what is the impact of the western-led boycott when Burma’s SE-Asian neighbours have no boycott, and account to nearly half of Burma’s tourism through their package tourism?” Yes, you did allude to this when you asked why we don’t encourage boycott inside Asia.

I’ve been in this game for over two years, and whilst we at VFB ask this question a lot to ourselves and others, we certainly don’t read that question in articles very often. So it was very refreshing to read your question. Whilst we don’t completely discourage the boycott (at least to the extent the BCUK does) we do ponder how can the boycott be effective, if we completely dismiss the largest percentage of tourists to visit Burma each year? Ironically, Voices for Burma also doesn’t engage in this space. We’d like to, but we dont have the resources.

We’d be interested in taking your questions further. However, we also need extra resources in order to do so. If anyone reads this and is interested in researching for us in order to answer some more of Nicholas’s great questions -please contact us!

Best regards
Cherie
co-Director Voices for Burma
Melbourne, Australia

Well an interesting thought from some one looking at the issue of tourism seems to have been sidelined by a confused rant against DASSK and anything else that is vaugely associated with Burma. I have a few simple points to consider.

1. We can be critical without being aggressive and exclusive in our language and style.

2. If you cant even spell DASSK (Aungsan Suchi ) it undermines others confidence that you know what you are talking about.

3. I’d be interested to see what “social revisionist policies are more extreme than the recent Thaksin govt and onbviously aimed at social control” are advocated by DASSK?

4. I apprecite the interest and involvement of anyone interested in human rights and freedom. I’d like to encourage people with constructive debate and welcome discussion on those terms.

Best Wishes

Jamie

Now While I am sure you believe that you have experienced paternalism (western paternalism) in ways or quantities that no one else could understand you weren’t being told about it here (again it wasn’t about you) I was describing a process as being paternalistic, which even if you have in your most special of native existences a virtual monopoloy on it, wouldn’t detract from the fact that the discussion regarding tourism in Burma is paternalistic (and not about you). So do you have anything else to contribute outside fo your auto-biographical details and anti intellectualism?

Tara for the record the accusation was a class traitor who was a pig-ignorant narcissistic and conceited native…thanks for adding condescension to the paternalism.