The State of the Burma Travel Debate

On more than one occasion, I have heard NGO types argue against travel to Burma, yet they themselves have no problem traveling there. So to those who say we shouldn’t travel to Burma I say this: If you don’t want us to go, then you have no business going, either.

Can we please stop agonizing over travel to Burma? Yes, it’s an ugly regime. But China, many African regimes, Iran, et al. are just as bad or WORSE. Read anything lately about what the Putin regime is doing in Russia? Anything about the gulag-style prisons? Read about what Cuba does to its dissidents and journalists? No? You should. And yet, no one has a problem traveling to those countries. In fact, travel to Cuba is considered cool. I challenge anyone to describe the difference between these “good” and “bad” totalitarianism regimes.

Hell, Lonely Planet says if you can only make it to North Korea, good on you! You decide whether it’s a Communist nightmare or a “workers’ paradise” (as they say in one of the guidebooks. And Burma is NOT worse than North Korea.

I think that selecting Burma for a boycott is a way for left-wing individuals and organizations (including the UN) to feel better about themselves and the fact they turn a blind eye on so many despicable governments and tyrants worldwide.

I have been to Burma – and I can tell you the Burmese people need us, travelers. No one in Burma thought the boycott was a good idea. They need us for the money we leave there. For the ideas we can leave there. We need to make them feel that their plight has not been forgotten. That we give a damn.

Dear friends near and far,

You may have been hearing quite a lot about Myanmar(Burma) in the news, as the person on ground I can assure you with complete confidence that despite the economic prob.. the country faces: it remains one of the safest destinations in terms of personal security in the world.

important: you can’t educate ion fist, stubborn, military!

Victor