Burma - Situation report please

Having been to Burma last year, it was fine. The gay scene whilst low key was there and I went off to Mandalay and Bagan with a Burmese as a 'guide', I hear that there has been a crackdown on gays in Yangon and my Burmese boy who still keeps in contact has been frightened to go into it in depth in his e mails.
I also hear that boys and girls now are discouraged from being with 'farangs' which would certainly cause problems if I do another trip.
Has anyone been there recently and can give a first hand report?

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[yaraboy]

I was there in Dec and the situation has deteriorated. Contact can still be made but locals are much less friendly than before. Everyone knows someone who is in jail for political reasons
Place is ripe for revolution

Don't worry, it's going on as usual at least Rangoon. Mandalay and other cities are under pressure but for political reasons.

The boys are still shy. And usually money does't talk; except you're out and partying.

Some hotels are pretty homophobic but no trouble. Just chance if they don't like you or your companion.

[fedssocr]

with so many human rights issues there I'm not sure I would want to visit. Seems like putting any money in the place just helps the regime keep on getting rich at the expense of the people.

[billyhouston]

First of all why call it Burma, the name given to it mistakenly by the occupying colonial power, Great Britain? At the UN it is (The Union of) Myanmar and even that left-wing racist organisation Amnesty International uses the same title.

The usual reasons advanced for not going are....'because Aung San Su Kyi says' and 'those who go there favour the regime'. While Aung San Su Kyi has been treated abominably, particularly when it came to Dr Michael Aris, there are many who have suffered more. For every Burmese (in the correct sense of the word) you show me who says not to go, I can show you ten who will say the opposite. (Amongst the Karen and the Shan the ratio will be even higher.) They will tell you that it is important for them to know what is happening outside the country and equally important for the visitor to see what is happening within.

I am a regular and frequent visitor to the country and unlike the smug, politically correct chattering classes who oppose my visits, I loathe the regime with a fury that they cannot possibly understand. I have Shan friends who are still in Shan, some who are displaced in Myanmar and many who are refugees (although the UNHCR does not recognise them as such... disgraceful) in Northern Thailand. At a very personal level I know how bad it is for people who have neither safe water, nor safe rice nor safe food. What the regime has done, and is continuing to do, to my boyfriend and his family makes my blood boil. The area of Shan state between Taungyi and Kyaingtong, which used to export surplus rice, now has severe food shortages even for people with money. Don't even think about electricity.......

Sanctions will never work against the generals..... without the cooperation of China and that simply is not going to happen in the near future. Myanmar has considerable natural resources and has, I understand, commenced construction of a pipeline to take natural gas to China. Have a look around the beautiful houses on the circular road in Maymyo (Pyin U Lwin), many of them are now owned by Chinese. The road from Kunming by way of Lashio is packed with grossly overladen lorries carrying goods from China to Mandalay and beyond.

Of course, some of the money you will spend ends up with the generals but, after a great deal of thought, I am satisfied that it is better to visit and benefit some local people than to ignore them and leave them to rot.

Billy

Apologies, in advance, if any offense is caused. This is a subject very dear to my heart as you will probably appreciate!

...Sanctions will never work against the generals..... without the cooperation of China and that simply is not going to happen in the near future. Myanmar has considerable natural resources and has, I understand, commenced construction of a pipeline to take natural gas to China. Have a look around the beautiful houses on the circular road in Maymyo (Pyin U Lwin), many of them are now owned by Chinese. The road from Kunming by way of Lashio is packed with grossly overladen lorries carrying goods from China to Mandalay and beyond.

But alas no one listens to me. Its nice to hear someone else saying it finally.
Look guys, the Generals in Burma have been in charge since 1962 and they wont go anywhere anytime soon as long as they have timber, gas, gemstones, meth/yabaa and heroin to sell. The few tourist dollars that trickle in aren't a drop in the bucket to them.
I think part of the mentality of the boycott is that the opposition thinks tourists somehow will give the Generals "legitimacy". Its actually quite the opposite. I've yet to hear of anyone visiting Burma who came back singing the praises of the Junta. On the contrary, visitors come back angry with what these criminals have done to this beautiful country and its peoples and might even be energized to get off their asses and get involved in the issue.

I was there in 2002 so I'm sad to hear things are getting worse, as if that were even possible.

(ps. I call it "Burma" as a political statement. The name "Myanmar" is just as fictitious and was cooked up by the generals.)

(ps. I call it "Burma" as a political statement. The name "Myanmar" is just as fictitious and was cooked up by the generals.)

Not exactly. "Myanmar" is how the name of the country has always been pronounced in the Burmese language. It is more "legitimate" than the anglo-bastardized "Burma".

[billyhouston]

(ps. I call it "Burma" as a political statement. The name "Myanmar" is just as fictitious and was cooked up by the generals.)

I'm afraid you are wrong here. This is the ancient name which goes back at least 800 years and also the name used in the Burmese Language version of the constitution bequeathed by the British. In calling the country Burma, the British failed to notice the other 134 or so ethnic groups which make up the country, albeit the Burmese form a majority.

Most of the chattering classes who support the boycott had no intention of going there anywhere, even if they could afford it, but it enables them to stand up in public and say....' Look at me, I'm a righteous citizen.'

Meanwhile the wonderful people of Myanmar suffer.....

[Aunty]

Britian should invade and take the country back over again, and then it can sort it out.

I mean if they are prepared to do it in Iraq...............

ok. I thought I read (misread?) my take on the Myanmar vs Burma controversy somewhere, but since I can't put my finger on the source I'll bow out of that argument. Just call me 2 LA Z 2 google

Here's a cute story that might redeem me. On my visit there I was surrounded by a gaggle of kids as one ususally is. One little 7 or 8 yr old boy did the "Hi Mister. Where you from?" shtick.
I said slowly "I am from America. Where are YOU from?".
He puffed up his little chest, slapped it proudly and said "MEE MA!"

Britian should invade and take the country back over again, and then it can sort it out.

I mean if they are prepared to do it in Iraq...............

Well, after their last little adventure in neo-colonilasm I don't think they are too keen on the idea.
I hear Tony Blair wears a t-shirt that says:
I joined the "Coalition of the Willing"
and all I got was Basra
and this lousy t-shirt

:laughing3: