A big thank you for all your comments and thoughts sent
\nto the Beetle. We had two votes for visiting Burma and one
\nagainst visiting. What do you think?<\/p>\n
London based Globetrotters member Steve<\/b> wrote in
\nto ask people not to go to Burma and this is why:<\/p>\n
Dear Beetle, I totally concur with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
\nand applaud Rough Guide’s ethical stance. As a Buddhist, I
\nwould dearly love to visit Burma and its beautiful temples
\nbut so long as the brutal regime are still in power and
\ndeny democracy and enslave their own people and worse
\nstill, the ethnic groups who live there, I will not go.
\nWhat’s more, I will not buy any more Lonely Planet
\nguidebooks or anything from any other company that I am
\naware profit from trade in Burma.<\/p>\n
I have met many Burmese and Karen, Karenni, Mon and
\nother ethnic groups from Burma and most of them have been
\nvery kind and gentle and urged me not to go there. Some
\nyears ago, I was taken over the border to Karen State to
\nsee the conditions they were living in for myself. I met
\nmany people who had been injured by shells and shooting
\nfrom the Burmese army. At Dr Cynthia’s clinic in Mae Sot,
\non the Thai side of the Burmese border, I met many more
\nwith injuries from torture, malaria and other illnesses
\nfrom escaping through the jungle to Thailand.<\/p>\n
If you’d like to meet some lovely people from Burma who
\nwelcome outside contact, then go visit the refugee camps
\nalong the Thai-Burmese border. It’s difficult to find
\na country that does not have some policies or practices
\nthat do not suit our ethical viewpoint but Burma is
\nexceptionally bad, so please do not go there.<\/p>\n
Pam from Chicago<\/b> wrote in to say:<\/p>\n
I did visit Burma for 3 weeks in about ’96. The visa had
\njust been lengthened. We hooked up with 2 Burmese men in
\nthe airport who acted as our driver, guide and
\ninterrupters. We couldn’t stray too far off the beaten path
\nas far as to which towns we went or what hotels we stayed
\nin but their sympathies were very, very against the
\ngovernment and we didn’t stick to the tourist route or
\nrules farther than that. They were invaluable to us and
\nenabled us to see behind the government curtain, into the
\nconditions in the country and speak with “real” people. It
\nwas they that thought it was important for foreigners to
\nvisit their country. At least someone will be there to see
\nfirst hand and carry the message out to the outside world.
\nIt also gave them, private citizens, an income. Sure, they
\nweren’t legal guides and we didn’t eat in proscribed
\nrestaurants but how many independent travelers stick to
\nlegal guides, official exchange rates and sanctioned
\nrestaurants when we travel anywhere?<\/p>\n
A tour group sees only what’s on the agenda which is
\nwhat’s proscribed. Globetrotters independent travelers, by
\ndefinition, find their own way and learn about the country
\nbelow the skin. I guess it’s the same argument that is made
\nfor Zoos. How many people can really get to see most of the
\nZoo animals in their natural homes? If no one sees the
\nanimals or knows anything about them, who will care if they
\nlive or die? How can we know how to help them if we don’t
\nsee and learn about them?<\/p>\n
I was in Tibet in Sept. \/ Oct. of ’87 when the Chinese
\nshot the Monks and some Tibetan people disappeared from
\nLhasa. If foreigners hadn’t been there to carry the news
\nand pictures, the word would not have reached the rest of
\nthe world so soon.<\/p>\n
Michael Rakower<\/b>, our lawyer regular contributor
\nfrom New York wrote in to add his views on visiting
\nBurma:<\/p>\n
This is a very difficult question. I think the right
\nanswer must lie in the individual’s choice. We independent
\ntravellers have a firebrand spirit. We seek to learn and
\nquestion where others don’t dare. We see beauty and
\nopportunity where others see a wasteland of
\nunderdevelopment and lost causes. Additionally, most
\ntravellers are also highly sensitive to the circumstances
\nof the lives of others. This puts us in a difficult
\nposition. On the one hand, we rage against the confines of
\nestablished society. On the other hand, we can’t help but
\nappreciate the level of fairness and quality of protection
\nwe in the developed world enjoy. Clearly, certain very
\nimportant things are being done right for us.<\/p>\n
In 1996 I went to Burma during a lengthy trip through
\nAsia. I considered the same issues back then, and chose to
\ngo. This issue boils down to a moral one. To me, the most
\nmoral thing one can do is to recognize that fact. By doing
\nso, one recognizes that his\/her actions have a moral effect
\non the world. Some will choose not to go to Burma, choosing
\nto pad the pockets of governments more worthy. But the
\nissue does not have to be so simple. There are other
\nchoices that lie between going forward blindly and not
\ngoing at all. For example, one can go but sneak away from
\nchanging money at the government institutions (as I
\ndid).<\/p>\n
In retrospect, I am very glad I went. First of all, I am
\nmore aware of the plight of the Burmese now that I have
\ngone. I watched a speech Aung San Suu Kyi gave in front of
\nher home, along with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of
\nBurmese waving their walkmen in the air so that they could
\ntape her speech for the edification of their families. She
\nspoke of freedom, liberty and resistance, and I’m glad I
\nwas there to attend. On another day, I met a local man who
\nslapped me on the arm while we were walking alone on a
\ndesolete street merely for asking a question in public
\nabout the government. In the privacy of his home, he told
\nme that informants lurk everywhere in his village. The
\nimpoverished Burmese, he told me, are quick to turn on
\ntheir neighbors if they can do so secretly.<\/p>\n
But then there is another side to this struggle. I
\nstopped by an open-air shop one afternoon that sold an
\nalcoholic beverage tapped from a tree. I befriended the
\nshopkeeper and his family. Before I knew it, we were all
\ntaking pictures of each other. Without question, I believed
\nthese people to be warm and decent. Yet, while taking
\npictures, I noticed a military jacket behind the counter.
\nThe eldest son owned it. I have thought about that scene
\nfor a long time. This was a poor and decent family. In a
\nland of poverty, where almost no opportunity exists, even
\nthose families who despise the government may wish their
\nchildren good fortune within it. This poor shopkeeper
\nwanted more for his son than he could give him.<\/p>\n
So, from a moral point of view, what is one supposed to
\ndo? As I said, I think the solution lies in recognizing
\nthat one’s actions carry a moral play on the world. While
\nRough Guides may believe that the statement it can make to
\nthe world by refusing to publish information about Burma is
\nthe most effective measure it can take against a repressive
\nregime, Lonely Planet may feel equally strongly that its
\nposition will have an influential effect toward positive
\nchange. In truth, they are probably both right. To turn the
\ntide of repressive forces, creative and noble people must
\nact in the manner they deem most effective. Raising public
\nawareness, getting everyone to consider the issues and act
\naccording to his conscience, will, in time, have the most
\npositive effect.<\/p>\n
MTV and the Burma Campaign UK<\/b> are running a joint
\ncampaign calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. In
\nthe last month over 40,000 people have visited www.mtvburmaaction.com
\nand emailed Kofi Annan and the five permanent members of
\nthe security council, demanding the UN take action.<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A big thank you for all your comments and thoughts sent to the Beetle. We had two votes for visiting Burma and one against visiting. What do you think? London…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-1236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-main-article","tag-october-2003"],"yoast_head":"\n