mission of burma

[poly800rock]

i know they just cut the internet, but wondering if anyone had been there recently. went in 2003, and it was crazy then, was it more hectic than usual? Burma is still top 5 of places i want to return to....

[todesengel]

I went to Yangon and the surrounding area for about a week and a half in 2005. It was great while I was there (and I definitely want to go back and travel more extensively), but on the plane ride back I was reading about a failed coup that happened the day before my departure

[poly800rock]

i got chased down the street by the police for taking this picture...

[ipractice]

I heard they've been getting worse, especially for countries near burma. They seem to be getting more strict on foreign trade and affairs, and getting pissed off at neighboring countries for stealing their profit. Not sure how bad things are exactly though.

[poly800rock]

one of the strangest things about burma is beside the left wing hype every hippie shoves down your throat, almost no one knows what the fuck is going on inside the country.....there are places you just CAN'T go as a tourist, or ever unless you're a national. Military checkpoints, etc, the whole 9 yards. The border of india is supposed to be unbelieveably poor.

[Tisswat]

no one knows what the fuck is going on inside the country.....there are places you just CAN'T go as a tourist, or ever unless you're a national. Military checkpoints, etc, the whole 9 yards.

I'll take a wild guess.. drug related activities? Regimes like the one in Burma are usually financed by drug trade. North Korea. Even the Taliban.

[Largo]

Man, even here nobody knows what the hell is going on, at least publically. A lot of ASEAN finger waggling, but other than that, no clue. The military might have some information since they're always keeping an eye on the borders, but aside from that....I don't know! On the other hand, I hear the tourist-y districts where you can idle away on your passport free for a day or two were pretty nice places to visit before all this protesting/shooting stuff went down (as in, right before all this happened), so who knows how long before they try to reinstitute that. The Burmese government made decent pocket change from visa charges and stuff, so if everything settles down, that should probably swing back.

[sybaritical]

I'm not that much of a left wing hippy but I staunchly refused to go there when I was living in Chiang Mai on principle of what I'd read and heard from Burmese and Thais about the government. I kept my views to myself when challenged back then, but I feel vindicated in my decision now.

[Largo]

Yeah, I'm not the sort to run around yelling, "Like, they're government is eeeevil man, and we should, like, liberate Burma" or whatever, but just the shit that I DO know they've done, I don't really want to spent any time there. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind one of those day trips or whatever you can do right on the border if I was there. No visa charges and the money you spend (presumably) ends up in local hands.

[todesengel]

When I was in Chiang Mai this summer I heard they shut down the thai-burmese border because of drug trade. Apparently you have to fly in if you want to go there now.

edit: Also, you don't have to support the Junta while touring around burma (aside from visa costs), you just need to make sure you stay in small guesthouses and eat at local places. I've heard it's not too tough to be a responsible tourist there.

[poly800rock]

i wonder if every level of tourism is shaken down by the Junta. Like some monthly fee in order to be able to legally rent out rooms.

[todesengel]

i wonder if every level of tourism is shaken down by the Junta. Like some monthly fee in order to be able to legally rent out rooms.

I'm sure on some level they probably are, but my thought on the matter is that they mostly make their money off drugs and trade, not so much tourism. The people that are going to be hurt the most by not going there are the people running small guesthouses/restaurants. But I guess it's a matter of personal opinion whether you think it's worth supporting people there while also supporting the government.

[poly800rock]

thats the biggest reason they say not to travel burma, it's because you always end up supporting the Junta. You're right, they probably make more money from the drugs, but just knowing how corruption works around south east asia, if you're making money, someone always wants a cut of it.

[jubei]

I've found the shutting down of the Internet in Myanmar to be deeply disturbing... the stranglehold they've had over the control of information can only mean bad things are on the horizon.

[poly800rock]

internet censorship exists in most south east asian countries. The fact that the cut it off is very strange, but you can't say you didn't see it coming...

[Lab]

I suggest reading Finding George Orwell in Burma; it's an intricate analysis of Burma's current governmental structure and social stratification. The author then compares some of the military's omnipresence to particular Orwell concepts.

I would love to go to Burma someday.

[jubei]

that's going on my amazon wish list. thanks for the reco

[sybaritical]

I've found the shutting down of the Internet in Myanmar to be deeply disturbing... the stranglehold they've had over the control of information can only mean worse things are on the horizon.

... Fixed.

[Cue]

thats the biggest reason they say not to travel burma, it's because you always end up supporting the Junta. You're right, they probably make more money from the drugs, but just knowing how corruption works around south east asia, if you're making money, someone always wants a cut of it.

Many lefties also boycott any companies that do business there for the same reason. I remember Carlsberg was on the hit list at one time because they had a brewery there or interests in a brewery.

[xcoldricex]

i've been hearing crazy things about the military having spies that pose as monks.

[Tisswat]

Is it even possible to travel there now? Last thing I heard is that when entering the country from Thailand, they only give you a one day visa, that hardly gives you enough time to travel to any major city and back to the border. This practically makes it impossible to even see what is going on - even in the non-military zones.

[Analyst]

internet censorship exists in most south east asian countries. The fact that the cut it off is very strange, but you can't say you didn't see it coming...

Yeah, during the coup in Thailand, internet access to any websites from outside the country was shut down. CNN and BBC was also shutdown. The next day, CNN and BBC were available but would be "scrambled" everytime the journalists would "report live from Bangkok".

YouTube was also blocked for like 4-6 months for some videos portraying the king in an "unfavorable" light. We just got YouTube back online about 2-3 weeks ago. Nuts.

[poly800rock]

Yeah, during the coup in Thailand, internet access to any websites from outside the country was shut down. CNN and BBC was also shutdown. The next day, CNN and BBC were available but would be "scrambled" everytime the journalists would "report live from Bangkok".

YouTube was also blocked for like 4-6 months for some videos portraying the king in an "unfavorable" light. We just got YouTube back online about 2-3 weeks ago. Nuts.

i remember sitting at internet cafe's in vietnam and not being able to visit some sites. Not even like political sites at all....