Last Saturday, I was sitting in the kitchen, eating my breakfast while listening to excess baggage on BBC Radio 4. They had a special feature on Burma, about tourism in the country and how Burma (I'm not going to call Burma, Myanmar because I don't support the military Junta which has tormented a nation for around forty years, and if you use the word Myanmar, you essentially legitimise their criminality). (sorry for the long digression, you probably need to remind yourself where I was). (OK, lets go!) has opened itself up for tourism.
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| Burma. |
Instead of a mature debate on the morality of visiting Burma. One which took into account the fact that all the big hotels in the country are Junta or Junta crony run, the fact that tourist attractions such as the temples of Pagan are free of people due to brutal state ordered evictions, or a debate which addressed human rights and the environmental impact of tourism, we got a great big pile of donkey poo!
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| The Temples of Pagan, Burma. The Site of Brutal Evictions! |
The BBC had invited the grandson of U Thant, (a Burmese General Secretary of the United Nations) who is often asked to speak on Burma. Unfortunately, despite his eminent lineage Thant Myint-U himself is a braindead sympathiser of the Burmese military dictatorship. Unchallenged by John McCarthy, Thant was free to plug today's Burma. He enthusiastically began lecturing the excess baggage audience about how Burma is a new, vibrant, fun loving, emerging economy, ready for tomorrow's challenges today!
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| Thant Myint-U, An Internationally Renowned, Grade A* Idiot |
According to Thant, Burma is on the crossroads between India and China, poised for stupendous economic development in the near future. He raved about the fact that the forests have been cut down, the “tigers and snakes” have been cleared and roads and railways have been built. Cutting down pristine rainforests is NEVER a good thing! How can anyone with an ounce of grey matter celebrate infrastructure improvements that come at the expense of unique and fragile environments?
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| The Beautiful Burmese Rainforest, Which needs to be Protected! |
He then started rabbiting on about how free the Burmese people now are. How Military rule has now ended with last years elections. Even a naïve simpleton should understand that Burma's new democratic façade, is just that, a façade! All the parties which compete in Burma's “Democratic” elections are pre approved, run for the junta, by junta cronies. But fear not, even though all residences need to register any visitor who may be staying with them with the state, Thant insists that the Burmese are no more oppressed by an over imposing government than the inhabitants of Laos or Vietnam! What a load of crap!
If people go to Burma on holiday, that's fine, but not if they follow the advice of Thant Myint-U! Don't stay at the 4 and 5 star hotels of Burma's brutal Junta! Stay at the small hotels owned by ordinary people, help the supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi, help the Burmese overcome their government like so many other countries have managed to do this year!
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| Aang San Suu Kyi: What a Hero! |
If you want to hear the nonsense that inspired this rant, go to:
And to visit the website of an organisation who know what they’re talking about when it comes to Burma, visit http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/burma.html
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5 comments:
it is a nice place i like it a lot its beauty thank you for sharing this with us
a great place Myanmar really nice country a great decision to travel Myanmar
Thant Myint-U is fucked up!!!!
Internet Marketing Belgium, did you even read my post? Or are you just a braindead spammer, I guess I should delete your post but I kinda want people to know that I have to spend ages deleting this sort of crap, urgh!
Great rant Sammy! I am very disappointed that radio 4 didn't see fit to question Thant Myint-U, that is outrageous. The only chance for change is for the Western world to force it upon the Burmese and that would have been a good opportunity. I tried very hard to steer clear of crony owned hotels in Burma and found this total treat of a place, not sure if you made it there? http://www.themilnerguide.com/all-activities/staying-at-inle-lake.aspx Thanks for sharing your rant!
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