Interview with Informed Tourism

The Irrawaddy recently spoke to an “informed tourist” who shared his impressions of Burma after a visit to see the country with his own eyes. Below are some observations from a person who has taken the time to look beyond the tourist brochures to gain more than the sanitized experience of Burma promoted by travel agencies and the military authorities.

Irrawaddy: What was your first impression of Burma?

Tourist: Well, after we got off the airplane, we went to wait in line for our stamps to enter the country, and after a pretty long wait, about fifteen, twenty  minutes, we went to the FEC [Foreign Exchange Certificate] exchange counter, my friend and I, and we didn’t want to change 300 FEC because we knew where that money would go, so we told them we’d o­nly be in the country four or five days, and if we could change just $150, that would be nice. And the woman smiled at us and said, “Sure, how much would you like to change?” We said $150 , so she said, “OK. Do you have a present for me and my friend?”

My friend gave her $10 and was very surprised that after being in the country o­nly a short while, she had already experienced the bribes and the way much of the business is done in the country.

I: Did you find it difficult to travel around in the country?

T: Well, transportation was very difficult. Almost every form of transportation I took broke down at some point, except for the train. The buses were difficult to travel in. They were comfortable and air-conditioned, but the roads are so bad. And it’s very strange when you see all the building of hotels and golf courses, and you realize how bad the infrastructure is. Basic travel between Mandalay and Rangoon takes the better part of o­ne day, but at the same time there are golf courses everywhere in Rangoon and in Mandalay and large hotels that stand totally empty. We also got stuck o­n the sandbar, taking the boat from Mandalay to Pagan. o­ne half hour outside of Mandalay, across from Sagaing Hill, we were stuck o­n the sandbar for eight hours, and arrived in Pagan at three, three-thirty in the morning. The boat was strange to me because o­n the bottom deck the local people who pay maybe thirty or forty kyat for the boat are crammed in together, and sitting o­n top of each other with their baskets and their goods and their children, and upstairs are the tourists and the wealthier Burmese who sit in the lounge chairs and in the cabins with beds and private toilets. So it was very difficult for me in that respect, as a tourist, to really feel comfortable in the country. I sort of felt like a colonialist.

I: Did you talk to people about the political situation, or were they afraid to talk?

T: People weren’t that afraid to talk, but they were very careful when they talked about the situation inside the country. I noticed a lot of times, people would look over their shoulder and look over my shoulder when they wanted to talk about politics or economics. But for the most part, people were willing to talk to me, and willing to express their opinions, about what is going o­n in the country.

I: What sort of opinions did they express?

T: The people who I spoke with who had connections outside the country were a little bit apprehensive to talk, but some of the things they said were really interesting, about the political situation now. When we would talk about this, they would be a little nervous and be certain to tell me that this was o­nly their opinion, and not everybody’s opinion. But many people feel that the social tension inside the country is rising, and it is o­nly  a matter of time before people begin to express their discontent. But the o­nly way they can really do that is to organize themselves first . . . .  Some people also said that the soldiers are discontented now with their employment. Their wages are small, and people are wondering whether the soldiers believe in the SPDC ’s  policies, and whether they think that they can continue to be safe under their tutelage.

Other people in the city are upset because their wages aren’t enough to live o­n, and if they want to travel, they have to spend half a month’s salary for bus rides. Gasoline is going up, rice is going up, so a lot of people think that in the next year or so people will not be able to live under these conditions, and something will have to happen,  peacefully or not.

A lot of people I talked to also complained about education. A lot of people believe that because this generation is not able to study freely, the country will lose a generation, and it might take o­ne or two generations of educated people to pull the country back up from where it’s been.