Burma-As We Saw It PDF

Burma, as we saw it...
Burma Center, Sweden

Burma - as we saw it...
Personal experiences from Burma visits
from November 1997 through January 1998
By
John Oostend, Ma Thida, Ann Frances and Bo A. Olson
Published by Burma Center,

Gecko Series No 5, February 1998
Layout and photographs:

Burma Center
Cover:
Huge statue symbolizing ”Visit Myanmar Year 1996” still to be found
in many public places throughout Burma.
Copyright:
Burma Center, February 1998
ISBN 91-974357-2-4
Burma, as we saw it... Burma Center, Sweden

Burma, as we saw it...
Contents
Page

Introduction............................ 1
About Burma........................... 2
Infrastructure........................... 2
Other transport........................ 5
Utilities.................................... 7
Media...................................... 9
Health care.............................. 11
Economy.................................. 11
Triple currency system.............. 15
Widespread corruption............. 16
Industry.................................... 17
Labour...................................... 19
Education and religion.............. 21
Forced relocation....................... 22
Leisure and entertainment......... 23
Tourism..................................... 24
”Big Brother”............................. 25
Political situation....................... 27
Ethnic areas............................... 28
Refugees.................................... 30
Summary................................... 31
End notes................................... 32

Introduction
Regardless of the reason; there is in my opinion no excuse whatsoever for any go-
vernment to deprive its citizens of their fundamental human rights. Nevertheless, for
over half a century this is what has happened in Burma. This is especially true in areas
populated by the country’s ethnic minorities.
The picture may not be quite the one the very active political opposition wants to
convey but, if you have seen the atrocities committed by goverment soldiers against
unarmed civilians in frontier areas you know that at least a fair bit of it is true.
On the other hand, there have been indications of some improvements lately; at
least as far as the situation in central Burma is concerned.
To try to find out more, the Burma Center (Sweden) sent a team to Burma for
individual research in different parts of the country starting November 1997 through
January 1998. The project was preceded by a great deal of scrutinizing of our own
individual consciences. There is no way you can travel in Burma without supporting
the military establishment and, in addition, Aung San Suu Kyi has asked for a total
boycott of Burma tourism.
However, it was the opinion of several other opposition leaders contacted that
getting first-hand experience from Burma today would weigh heavier than the few odd
dollars surrendered to its present rulers. A reasonable price to be able to say to the
world:
“This is Burma as we saw it…“
Bo A. Olson
Lo Bakao, January 1998.
Burma, as we saw it... 1 Burma Center, Sweden

About Burma
Burma, or as it is officially called today; Myanmar, is certainly in many ways living
up to its United Nations status as one of the worlds least developed countries. Granted,
this unjustified and to many Burmese extremely embarassing label (based on the literacy
rate which is actually over 80%) was only awarded as a result of statistics fabricated by
various incompetent governments since independance from the British half a century
ago.
Burma, once one of the most prosperous countries in Asia, has been both politically
and economically “run into the ground“ according to many international observers. In
addition, constant civil wars have tormented the nation and aspiring hopes for demo-
cracy were frustrated when the parliament elect was invalidated eight years ago.
But, despite it´s poor international image, Burma is in fact one of the richest
countries in Asia, both as far as natural resources and cultural heritage are concerned. It
is also a country filled with clever craftsmen and hard working farmers and there seems
to be no reason at all why Burma should continue it´s downward path; provided, of
course, that widespread corruption and mis-managment is dealt with and acceptable
standards as far as humanitarian issues are adopted.
On the positive side, there are signs that the central government may be moving
towards a more reasonable stance as far as the democratic opposition is concerned, but
there is no doubt in our opinion that the population is still held in an iron grip and any
protesters are dealt with in a very resolute manner. The actual power seems to lie with
regional and/or local military commanders, especially in rural areas and we came across
situations where the central government said one thing but the directives were not car-
ried out due to bureaucracy or corruption further down the line.
No doubt, one of the most reliable ways to take the temperature of a country is to
play a practical part in its infrastructure at grass-roots level. So, we hit the road…
Infrastructure
We decided that travel by road, with stops in places less frequented by foreigners,
was the best way to experience the true Burma. The most convenient, and also least ex-
pensive way, would probably have been to book a tour through the Government tourist
authority but we preferred to hire private cars and drivers.
There are a lot of new cars to be seen moving around in Burma, especially in the
Rangoon area, both japanese and western, almost gone are the rolling museum pieces
from the pre WW2 era so common only a few years ago. You still see a fair number of
old trucks and buses from the 50´s, but then they don´t look all that different from the

Maha Bandoola Street, Rangoon
more recently acquired Chinese replacements. One thing that is very noticable coming
from Thailand is the almost complete lack of motor-scooters.
Traffic in Burma, although not at all as heavy as in Thailand, is a gamble at best. A
few years ago, Ne Win decided, either on advise from his astrologers or in an attempt to
distance the country even further from it’s former British colonial masters, that the Bur-
mese should drive on the right hand side of the road instead of on the left. The change
does not make much sense as the neighbouring countries drive on the left and there is
extremely little cross-border traffic anyway. What makes it even more strange is that
virtually all cars are still delivered with the steering wheel on the right hand side. Thus,
of course, the driver can enjoy an unobstructed view of the landscape beside the road,
but it makes overtaking rather tricky as he cannot see a thing ahead unless he steers out
to the middle of the road thus facing the oncoming traffic head on.
Typical of the Burmese way of doing things, nobody bothers to change things th-
rough regular channels; instead, wayfarers have developed their own communication
system all in accordance with Burmese ingenuity by using constant horn signals with
what seem to be the same irritating sounds to a foreigner but which obviously mean
something different to the other occupants of the road. Whether they be cars, trucks,
ox-carts, bicycles or pedestrians, one makes fair progress through the land. You also
place your life in the hands of the passengers in the vehicle ahead as they happily wave
you on or warn you with specific hand signals of approaching cars.

Apart from one or two showcase roads, like the parade bit from the airport to down-
town Rangoon, most highways are in a terrible state. They are all narrow, only taking
the width of one and a half cars at a time, so if two have to meet at least one has to
slip off the road surface. Approaching drivers seem to challenge each other to see if one
chickens out first, but usually they both seem to drive off with one wheelpair each at the
very last moment. Road surfaces are uneven with masses of potholes. On the highway
from Mandalay to Rangoon via Pegu you can actually drive quite fast over long stretches
whereas on the main road from Rangoon to Pagan, via Prome and Magwe, the average
speed is forty miles per hour in the dry season, and even then we had to stop every now
and then due to punctures. Some stretches of the main roads are completely closed
during the monsoon.
There are a lot of new cars to be seen moving around in Burma, especially in the
Rangoon area, both japanese and western, almost gone are the rolling museum pieces
from the pre WW2 era so common only a few years ago. You still see a fair number of
old trucks and buses from the 50´s, but then they don´t look all that different from the
more
During the dry season, slow moving ox-carts often use the ditches to travel in reaso-
nable safety. On the actual road surface, they, together with horse buggies and cyclists
seem to have very low status and often have to throw themselves out on the gravel when
being overtaken by cars. This way of doing things seems very strange, especially as the
penalties for causing traffic injuries vary from a few months for a broken limb to seven
years or more for causing a death. Naturally, if you can afford to pay there is always a
way out, otherwise it wouldn’t be Burma would it?
Roads are repaired manually. Frequently you see women, and children in particular,
squatting beside the road hacking at stones which are then sorted into piles of ever-de-
creasing size. Finally women and children wearing only thongs on their feet then tread
the hot tarred strips throwing on the gravel which they carry in round flat baskets on
their heads. Only the man pouring the tar from a heavy bucket wears anklelength boots.
It is a strange phenomenum though that you never feel that you are driving on a new
or recently repaired road. Several bridges which had been washed away by the monsoon
had not been repaired months afterwards, even on the main roads.
It is far between the fuel stations even on the major roads. The official fuel stations
are government operated but there are also private one-man enterprises selling fuel to
travellers at a much higher price - fuel the proprietors have bought from the government
pumps and wheelbarrowed home in plastic cans in the hope that travellers will stop at
their place without noticing the proper station. Our drivers had to present ration cards
to buy gas, remarkable in a country so rich in oil.
When you travel on Burmese roads you often encounter all kinds of roadblocks.
Sometimes these are set up by the police to check identity documents etc but mostly
they are permanent installations for the collection of “road taxes“, an activity with roots
in the olden days when rural Burma was run by local warlords. In theory, the tax is to

go to local road improvements but nobody seems to know exactly to what purpose the
money goes in reality. Nobody seems to bother to ask as it is only a question of a few
pennies for each car and the quicker you hand over the few kyats involved, the faster
the road block is lifted and you can be on your way again. Some frequent travellers have
developed a technique in conjunction with the collectors so that they don’t even have
to stop when handing over the money. This saves a lot of time on a long journey as just
about every township has it’s own tax collectors.
Street lighting is almost non-existant in rural areas and very sparse in the cities. Even
on the street where Mandalay’s Night Market is held you have to carry a flashlight to
see the goods on sale. Many cars have substandard headlights and most bicycles have no
lights at all. Added to which, both cars and cyclists often travel in the, for themselves,
most convenient direction regardless of rules and regulations making driving, or even
walking at night extremely hazardous.
In addition to major promenades there is some resemblance to sidewalks, at least in
the larger towns, but these are often blocked with all kinds of obstacles. At night, pede-
strians are forced to use the street anyway, as the sidewalks also contain deep drainage
flumes covered by, at best, rather uneven concrete slabs which are frequently missing
thus leaving dangerous holes for unsuspecting tourists to disappear into. Locals know
where the dangerous spots are after a while as no repairs appear to have been carried
out for years.
Since privatization, Burmese tour operators have improved services slightly. There
are, for example “express busses“ running between the major cities. They may be com-
fortable but time-tables seem to be rather flexible as highways are not geared for things
to run on time. There are other bus lines as well which are cheap as foreigners can pay
the same fares as Burmese in kyats. Unplanned stops seem to be quite common though,
either due to engine trouble, road conditions or missing the only ferry. Sometimes you
even have to spend the night in a monastary or in the bush by the roadside. Most fo-
reigners and others who want to get anywhere within a reasonable time, choose to go
by express train or air.
Other transport
Travel by rail is comparably slow as almost all railway crossings are badly planned
level crossings with manually operated gates. Trains have to pass at slow speed in order
not to crush anything crossing the track. Apart from the main railway line between Ran-
goon and Mandalay most others seem to be badly in need of maintenance. There is also
the danger of sabotage as the main tracks are considered military targets by insurgents.
Nevertheless, the government-operated Night Express from Rangoon to Mandalay
via Thazi is definitely an interesting alternative to flying.
Although Burmese drivers can cross the Myawaddy Friendship Bridge and enter
Thailand for 24 hours there is today virtually no way for foreigners to enter Burma
legally except by air to Rangoon or Mandalay. Flying is also the most common means of
transportation if travelling long distances within the country as well.

Domestic flights in Burma are rather expensive for foreigners who have to pay in
dollars while considerably cheaper for Burmese people who can pay with kyats.
Myanmar Airways is the government owned international airline with regular daily
flights between Rangoon and Bangkok for example and with several domestic routes as
well. Overbooking is said to be quite common so it is best to take the two hour check-
in time seriously. Flights are cancelled every now and then and it is not clear if this is
caused by technical problems or simply lack of passengers. On one of our Thai Airways
departures from Bangkok to Rangoon the previous MA flight had been cancelled and
several passengers (all Burmese) had been re-booked on the Thai flight half a day later.
Although safety on Myanmar Airways is considered better than it’s predecessor
Burma Airways (the US State Department actually warned US citizens against using it)
neither comfort nor reliability seem to be of even average international standard. News
of accidents do not often make world headlines because of the fairly small number of
casualties involved. This is not thanks to any superior skill on the part of the crew but
more likely due to the fact that Burmese flights very often leave half empty.
As with the rest of the country’s tourist services there is an attitude of “foreigners
should be happy that we let them in and make do with what we offer them“.
Most travellers say that the country’s second airline; Mandalay Air, is much more
reliable and also much better run. They are a little more expensive and fly smaller planes,
but according to those we talked to, it is well worth it. Mandalay Air also features an
international route between Mandalay and Chiang Mai.
Considering that Rangoon Airport is the country’s Number 1 arrival and departure
point the airport services are very basic. Plans for a new, larger airport seem to have been
filed away as there are some alterations being made to the arrival and deparure halls of
the old Mingladon airport instead. There aren’t many incoming and outgoing flights so
opening hours for currency exchange etc are flexible. Once a taxi driver wouldn’t take
dollars so we drove by the airport in the middle of the afternoon, merely to find the
cashier fast asleep on a couch in the back. Also, taking into account the very few inter-
national flights and the fact that they always arrive one at the time, it is unacceptable for
the immigration procedure to take more than an hour, not counting the baggage claim
and customs clearance.
Railway crossing near Kyaukse, on the main Rangoon - Mandalay line.

Several hotel proprietors and restaurant owners we talked to claimed that the bu-
reaucracy and inefficiency at the airport was the main reason for the sparse numbers of
tourists travelling to Burma.
Burma has a very long coastline on the Indian Ocean with undeveloped beaches all
the way from Bangladesh down to Victory Point, south of the Mergui Archipelago. If
you are lucky, and wealthy, you can visit Burma on one of the rare cruise ships docking
in Rangoon or by the government-owned Myanma Five Star Line which occasionally
takes foreign passengers on some of it’s ships.
Otherwise, there are plenty of ferries navigating the coastline and also crossing the
many rivers as there aren’t too many decent bridges across. Some of these ferries are
almost a hundred years old and several are in such a dilapidated condition that you
may regret not having taken your chances on the sparsely spaced planks crossing the
river above and which are sometimes offered as an alternative. On the Irrawaddy, go-
vernment-operated tourist cruises have become a very popular means of transportation,
especially the twelve-hour one between Mandalay and Pagan. There are private alterna-
tives as well, maybe not as comfortable but certainly a lot cheaper.
Tourist liner and ferries on the Irrawaddy.
Utilities
Despite the country’s abundance of rivers and thus potential water power supply,
electric power is very undeveloped and extremely unreliable. In many villages and towns
electricity is only available between 6 and 11 pm. Voltage often drops and becomes just
enough for basic lighting only. Complete sudden blackouts, sometimes lasting a few
minutes and often longer, are common. In the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, electric
power is only available four days a week, thus making any serious industrialisation vir-
tually impossible.
The State keeps a tight grip on telecommunications. In September 1996 SLORC
imposed a new law called ”The Computer Science Development Law” which prohibits

owning, using, importing or borrowing a modem or fax machine without government
permission. The same punishment, up to 15 years in jail, is prescribed for anyone who
sets up a link with a computer network without prior permission or for those who use
computer networks and information technology ”for undermining state security, law
and order, national unity, national economy and national culture, or who obtains or
transmit state secrets.” This excludes the use of Internet for most Burmese although
the Government itself as well as several business enterprises use this media extensively
and surprisingly professionally for information, advertisments and other international
communication.
Telephones are widely used and, at least in Rangoon, it is said to be a fairly safe
means of communication for the general populace. We were surprised to find that,
as foreigners, we could contact people without worrying that they’d get into trouble
afterwards. In areas outside Rangoon however we were advised that telephone contacts
should be conducted more carefully as the lines may possibly be bugged.
Use of mobile telephones is surprisingly common. They were intended to be used
primarily by officials and businessmen but are commonly used not only by tour leaders,
black marketeers and touts but by many private citizens as well in one way or another,
legally or illegally. There seems to be no way for the authorities to control their use at
the moment, at least not in the capital, and the number of units is said to be growing
rapidly and thus making it even more difficult to control. As a matter of fact, some of
our own contacts in Burma can only be reached safely through their mobile telephones
nowadays.
Computer usage is growing fast from zero a couple of years ago when it could take
days simply to reconfirm an airline departure. Equipment quality and general computer
usage inside Burma is still extremely low by international standards. This may so-
mewhat be compensated in the enormous computer usage by exile Burmese all over the
world. Even inside Burma interest in learning computer techniques is great, especially
among younger people. There is good private tuition available but it is expensive. You
can also rent basic equipment or use the services of special computer agencies to get ac-
cess to a computer on an hourly basis.
It is obvious that the government is extremely reluctant to let computerized commu-
nication free. It would be like opening a Pandora’s Box and virtually impossible to close
the lid once it has been opened. On the other hand, several businessmen we talked to
claimed in private that the government’s negative attitude to a more expanded computer
usage in the private sector, was the main reason for it’s failure in not reaching its own
economic targets.
As for postal services, some people had warned us that letters are opened by the
Military Intelligence. This may be true but we could find no evidence of this as all our
correspondence both domestic as well as in and out of the country (even to some poli-
tical leaders) came through untampered with. As with the telecommunications; it may
be safer in Rangoon than in the rest of the country though.
Post offices are a riot with very few tellers on duty, added to which there are no
organized line-ups and everyone clambers over each other to get served first. A positive
development is that they have pre-glued stamps nowadays in Burma which doesn’t dis-

courage young rascals from selling dabs of glue to ignorant foreigners.
Media
There are only state controlled TV and radio networks broadcasting from Burma.
The geographical coverage is said to be good within the country and a new TV transmit-
ter in Myawaddy will reach a fair bit into Thailand as well. TV Myanmar features only
one channel airing a couple of hours in the morning and then from 4 PM through the
evening. Programs consists of both local and international news (national news in Eng-
lish nightly just after nine pm), weather, sports, agricultural improvements and other
suggestions for “a strong and healthy Myanmar“. There are quite a few cultural items as
well as Burmese music (degenerate western stuff is banned). Radio Myanmar does not
give you much more choice but it is on the air daily from 8:30 AM to just before mid-
night and it broadcasts news in English and several other languages three times a day.
Satellite discs are fairly common, around 5000 alone in Rangoon we were told, and
we believe it. Several hotels offer both CNN and Indian newscasts. Those (all lower
priced) hotels we tried had very poor picture reception and if the picture was alright
there was no sound attached.
Despite governmental monopoly, the BBC radio is the most popular and reliable
newsmedia in Burma with regular broadcasts in Burmese. During our stay a message
from Aung San Suu Kyi was aired in which she declared closer cooperation between
the military rulers and the democratic opposition was needed. Nothing was mentioned
about this at all in the official media. Good shortwave radio receivers are quite expensive
but BBC (and to some extent VOA) can be listened too on fairly basic models. In any
case, most interested people either know some place where they can listen or have found
other ways of having the messages relayed to them.
We could find no evidence that the exile government transmissions from Norway
(Democratic Voice of Burma, DVB) were received inside Burma although we heard
unspecified statements such as “a friend has listened to it“. On the Thai border we spoke
to representatives of various opposition groups very few of which seem to listen to the
DVB anymore claiming that they get the news much quicker through other media such
as the BBC.
It is interesting to note that several satellite transmitted information projects with
a more specific purpose are currently being tested from various parts of the world and
aimed towards Burma. No doubt the military will try to monitor and/or stop these ven-
tures but the question is if they can spare all the resources needed for this.
The government controls the only permitted major daily newspapers in the Burmese
language; the Myanma Ahlin, Kyemon, Myodaw and Yadana Pon (the latter available in
Mandalay only). The 12 page daily English language edition, The New Light of Myan-
mar (also daily summary Internet edition available) contains a couple of pages of selec-
ted international news and apart from that a lot of government propaganda about the
progress being made in the country’s infrastructure as well as reports from prestigious

visits by foreign dignitaries. Most of all it highlights the activities of leading government
people. For example on Thursday 8 January the leading story that filled the first page
(as well as two following pages) was the opening of the Kengtung-Mongla Road. Of
the total 13 photographs illustrating the article, eleven featured Secretary 1, Lt-General
Khin Nyunt conducting his official duties while none at all showed the actual road.
Thus it is widely considered that the only use the paper may have is to give observers an
idea of which duty is currently being administered by which general.
There is no shortage of books, magazines etc in Burma, including those in English.
However, all publication has to be OK’d by the government so there is not much of real
interest as to life in Burma today. There are older issues of Time, Newsweek etc available
on the black market and no copies of Western publications accidentally left behind at a
hotel find their way to the waste until they have been thoroughly circulated.
The government publish an amazing number of official reports both in Burmese
and English, not many of which private bookstalls show much interest in selling but
they are all available through government book stores. The latest in the line at the time
of writing; Myanmar Today, is a special issue on the 50’th anniversary of Independence
Day 4 January 1998, featuring full color photographs of all the members of the ruling
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) as well as other important items both
foreigners and the local populace should know about. The professional quality of most
of these reports is appalling but often the price is set low enough.
As in many other Asian countries large billboards are frequent. However, as the
litteracy in Burma is high compared to its neighbours, the Burmese boards are not
so picturesque. Apart from tobacco ads, very few present anything but governmental
information. To really make sure that both foreigners and Myanma citizens alike don’t
forget who is the boss, the junta have erected huge red signs with slogans expressing the
“Peoples Desire“ such as “Oppose those relying on external elements, acting as stooges,
holding negative views“, “Oppose those trying to jeopardize stability of the State and
progress of the nation“, “Oppose foreign nations interfering in internal affairs of the
State“ and “Crush all internal and external destructive elements as the common enemy“
. The signs are both in Burmese and English and erected at major intersections of cities
and towns all over the country. Maintenance of these signs is not the best however and

nobody seems to be interested in doing anything about fading paint and trees obscuring
the messages.
Health care
Burma is certainly still a very undeveloped country in most ways. It is also a filthy
country. Even judged by South East Asian standards Burma is in a class by itself. Gar-
bage and waste is dumped in the streets. There are heaps of rotting food and vegetables
amongst the food stalls and tea houses everywhere. You often see big rats, not a bit
timid, scuttling along beside the buildings in downtown areas. One morning, the hotel
staff did not seem at all surprised when we pointed out that there was a dead rat in the
toilet. The rats, along with the starving homeless and stray dogs, are the only reason
why the food-remains in the streets do not lie around long enough to become a more
serious health hazard than they are. At no time did we notice any kind of organized
garbage collection. You tend to get used to the foul smell but it gets into your clothes,
your hair, and even into your bare hide it seems.
All kinds of diseases flourish and HIV/Aids is said to be spreading fast even if the
authorities seem to want to put the lid on this problem. Only three quarters of the po-
pulation of approximately 46 million have access to safe drinking water but bottled or
so called filtered water is available even in rural villages nowadays.
The population is a hardy lot to be able to survive such appalling hygienic condi-
tions. Those who do get sick cannot usually afford a doctor and have to make do with
one of the possibly less efficient and certainly overcrowded clinics in the streets. Someti-
mes along the roads and in most villages we came across meagre first-aid posts as well.
Medical care in Burma today is a gamble anyway as closure of higher education fa-
cilities has meant the loss of at least one generation of physicians. Military bullying has
caused a lot of good medical doctors to leave the country as well. The infant mortality
rate is as high as 8% and life expectancy only 59 years. Foreigners with serious ailments
are recommended to fly to Bangkok or Singapore for treatment or, in more acute cases,
try to get in to the Diplomatic Hospital (Kandawgyi Clinic) in Rangoon or even one
of the military hospitals which are supposed to feature the best medical facilities in the
country. Needless to say; none of these alternatives are readily available to the average
Burmese citizen.
As the economy suffers and less expensive alternatives to proper physicians are ac-
cepted, many doctors have difficulty in keeping up the standard they are used to, thus
we encountered at least two physicians trying to moonlight as inofficial tourist guides at
the Shwedagon Pagoda and asking for 15 USD for the service.
Economy
It is obvious that Burma is badly in need of foreign capital. Although several foreign
companies have invested in the country this is not enough. Things may even get worse

as we didn’t get the feeling that the US sanctions and various boycotts have had any ma-
jor impact yet. It is doubtful though if they will, as long as Burma has China as a friend.
Also a growing number of other Asian investors seem to take the place of westerners.
It does seem clear that last year’s “Visit Myanmar Year 1996“ campaign to boost tou-
rism did not at all turn out according to expectations. If the failure was a result of the
tourist boycott called for by Aung San Suu Kyi, poor marketing, insufficient facilities
or just simply the high prices charged, is anybody’s guess.
The inflation rate is high, 20-30% per annum over the last five years we were told,
and the lack of public funds within the infrastructure is very noticable as investments
are limited to the most prestigious projects such as downtown parks, major religious
monuments, government installations and some roads such as the parade strip between
Mingladon Airport and central Rangoon. It is said that the authorities started a general
clean-up campaign of Rangoon buildings a few years ago, but even accounting for the
exceptional wear and tear in the tropics, this was not very noticeable to us. As a matter
of fact, even the Police Headquarters in Rangoon seemed still to be covered by exactly
the same heavy coat of mildew as it was ten years ago.
In rural areas people seem just as poor as ever. Farmers, often women, children and
old men, struggled with their crops using manual labour and in most cases ancient
equipment. It was noticeable everywhere that groups of farmers took advantage of
windy days for “winnowing“ rice to get rid of the chaff by throwing it through large
sieves and then sweeping up the grains of rice by hand just as in biblical times. The rice
comes in different qualities but even the best is considered fairly poor. Even if they grow
different crops in the dry season, the fields are not rotated sufficiently as in Thailand for
example. The cotton was ready for picking but cotton balls were of truly poor quality
growing close to the ground instead of at eye-level.
Along the roads women sold produce from little stands, and as soon as you stop-
ped the car in a village small kids came running asking for kyats or even dollars. They
are still quite happy to accept
a ballpoint pen or a piece of
soap instead and they use the
few English expressions they
know, which very often are
four-letter words they don’t
even know the meaning of.
Everywhere you can see girls
selling fruit, goodies, sweet
cakes or flowers from trays
they carry on their heads. In
the villages there are plenty of
little restaurants and teashops
of varying quality and almost
exclusively catering to the lo-
cals, and also stands selling ju-
ice from squeezed sugar cane
Selling ”goodies” by the road in filthy beer glass.

Everywhere in central Burma the roads were crowded with pedestrians, and often
one village would run on into the next without any clear definition as to where one
ended and the next began. Irrigation was non-existent farmers depending on rain water
only. Often young girls and older people with a crude bamboo yoke across their shoul-
ders could be seen staggering along balancing heavy rusty old jerry cans full of water. On
extremely few occasions did we see a water tank on wheels drawn by oxen.
Among the urban population we experienced a change from before. On previous

visits to Burma we had noticed a small and very exclusive group of Burmese upper class
citizens; mainly military leaders and higher government officials with their families. At
that end of the social scale you could also find successful businessmen who either lived
well on government contracts or off the black market. This relatively small elite in their
black limousines could occasionally be seen going to or from various doings, mostly in
the fancy Inya Lake district. Apart from them, everyone seemed to be very poor, just
like people in the rural areas.
On this visit, the extremely wealthy did not appear to be as noticeable any more.
Instead, there seemed to be a new “upper middle class“ developing, mainly consisting
of merchants and various entrepreneurs who took their chances when the government
started to allow private investment in the commercial sections. Very few of those we
talked to admitted that they had made their profits on the black market, instead, many
of them were involved in tourist related activities.
Street Market, Downtown Rangoon

The country seems to have changed very fast since the “Burmese way to Socialism“
was abandoned almost ten years ago and apparently the economy was growing at a rate
of 6.4% a year in 1995, the highest since before Ne Win took power 1963. It is also
interesting to note that in Burma, a traditionally farming country, processing and ma-
nufacturing have tripled during the nineties and now takes a larger part of the economy
than agriculture.
Real per capita income was USD 676 a couple of years ago, the lowest in Asia and a
maximum government salary is said to be 15 USD per month of which on the average
65% is spent on food. Rice is the basic food but it seems that the retail price has in-
creased more than ten times since the mid 80’s.
The government encourages people to wear traditional Burmese dress. For men this
often means a longyi (sarong) instead of trousers and an ordinary long-sleeved shirt.
The women’s longyi is called a tame and they wear a waist-length blouse on top. This
initiative also seems practical as other clothing is very expensive. Further north where
nights can be pretty nippy, lots of people depend on imported secondary quality clot-
hing rejects which mostly can be found cheaply in up-country markets. Shoes however
were at a minimum and in four days in Rangoon, we only saw a couple of men in socks
and decent leather shoes - everyone was barelegged and wearing cheap thongs/flip flops,
possibly for practical purposes as they are easy to slip on and off when entering temples,
pagodas etc but it can also be an indication of a less wealthy class.
On the whole, despite galloping prices and minimal incomes, people didn’t seem to
be any worse off today than they were ten years ago. On the contrary, in the cities it was
our impression that things had improved economically for the average citizen. The gap
between rich and poor people is still wide, it just seemed to us that both groups have
increased somewhat.
Two pricing systems are practised in Burma; one for locals and one for foreigners.
This is most noticable in hotels, restaurants and shops frequented by tourists as well as
some government operated transport facilities. It is obvious that the country cannot
handle a great number of visitors so the alternative, even for private operators, is to get
as much as possible from those that come and as quickly as possible while the going
is still good as nobody knows when the government will clamp down on the private
tourist trade.
The average Burmese, especially in cities and towns, have no scruples in charging
foreigners many times the price they would have asked from a countryman and what
seems to be an unpleasant “screw the tourist as much as possible“ attitude has developed
over the last few years. Not only in the tourist trade but among ordinary citizens as well
who don’t seem to mind as “all foreigners who can come to Burma must be very wealthy
anyway“. Strangely enough both in Rangoon and in tourist areas such as Pagan, trying
to buy postcards and souvenirs was no easy task. In Rangoon after much gesticulating
and persistance, one quite large shop, managed to produce a pile of postcards from the
dark depths at the back of the shop but as yet, there are no display racks for postcards
and the tourist trade does not seem to be of any importance to the normal shopkeeper.
Even in the Shwedagon Pagoda, we had to help ourselves to a small temple gong and a

jade ring we wished to purchase. Despite the fact that there were no local customers or
tourists in sight, no effort was made at all to offer any service whatsoever. There were
government-operated tourist shops in the main towns and at the Airport which only
took US dollars. When we pointed out that the jade rings were a lot more expensive at
the Airport, one of the numerous assistants standing around, said we could buy one for
the same price as we had paid at the Shwedagon.
We hardly saw any evidence of precious jewellery, despite the fact that Burma is rich
in precious and semi-precious stones, and that a fair number of those sold in Thailand
come from Burma. On the black market, however, there was an abundance of everyth-
ing if you knew what to look for. We were told that all legal trade with precious stones
had to go through government establishments.
Triple currency system

Despite recent US sanctions against Burma and otherwise frosty relations between
the two countries, the Burmese economy still circulates very much around the US dol-
lar. There are three types of currency in Myanmar.
On arrival at the airport every visitor (except those travelling on package deals) is
required to change 300 US dollars into 300 FECs (Foreign Exchange Certificates). A
FEC looks like the toy money used when playing Monopoly and the most common are
in one, five and twenty denomina-
tions. Each FEC equals one USD
and can be used for paying hotel
bills, taxis, air or train tickets and
other tourist services. As it is legal
for anyone to handle FECs they can
be used in shops etc as well. They
can also be changed into local cur-
rency.
The FEC system may seem a
bit like blackmailing foreigners into
spending their money, particularly
as they are not refundable on depar-
Burmas three currencies; Kyat, FEC’s and Dollars ture. True, the government despera-
tely needs the dollars, but the main reason may be that a lot of foreign currency was
lost to the black market before but now the FEC system effectively puts all the dollars
into the government kitty as soon as the tourists arrive at the airport. To the average
tourist, it doesn’t really matter as it easily costs him 300 dollars to stay, eat and travel in
the country for a week or so. The system also lessens the arrival/departure rigamorole
considerably as the officials do not seem interested in what you bring in or take out as
long as you have given them their 300 US dollars.

It requires a special government permit to handle US dollars in Burma. Government
banks, hotels for foreigners, some restaurants and tourist agencies fall into this category.
Many other items such as most taxi cabs, airport tax, entrance fees to pagodas and other
government attractions must be paid for in dollars or FECs as well. Actually, although
it is illegal in many cases, most people are just as happy to take your cash dollars as they
are FECs. We only came across one single case when a taxi driver refused cash dollars
and insisted on FECs. Nobody at all, except government banks, wanted to take travel-
lers checks though.
The Burmese currency, the kyat, lives a double life like most other things in today’s
Myanmar. The official exchange rate is about 6 kyats for a US dollar but this is rather
uninteresting as nobody is stupid enough to buy kyats officially anyway as the black
market exchange rate gives you considerably more kyats for your dollars/FECs. In the
beginning of january 1998, the highest black market rate we got for one USD was 310
kyats (in Bogyoke Aung San Market, Yangon) and the lowest 280 kyats (in a hotel up-
country). Although this type of unauthorized currency exchange is illegal nobody seems
to care and the transactions can take place quite openly.
One strong indication that the government accepts black market rates is the kyat
prices set on their own products, such as government publications etc, which would
have been astronomical judged by the official exchange rate.
Widespread corruption
Corruption is still widespread all across Burma, especially among civil servants of
all categories. It starts at the airport when the FEC administrator willingly let you pass
without changing the required amount of US dollars, provided he or she gets a “little
present“ and then it follows you all the way whether you are aware of it or not, and it
ends again at the airport departure when an over-zealous customs or emigration official
finally lets you pass only after you have shown him some kind of concrete evidence of
your appreciation.
Corruption among civil servants is quite openly accepted on all levels and bribes of
some kind (commonly referred to as “presents“) are often considered more as a right
by the civil administration. Whether it is in the form of a ballpoint pen or a lipstick for
fairly ordinary duties; a tee-shirt, a few packs of cigarettes or a bottle of liquor if you
otherwise risk missing a departure; or dollars in appropriate amounts if you are really
in trouble. In most cases you only pay for the civil servants to do the job they are sup-
posed to do anyway.
Corruption is going to continue at least as long as salaries are so low that most
civil servants need an extra income to make ends meet. Some people argue that why
shouldn’t they have the little extra when, for example, waiters get extra tips just for
doing their jobs. Despite quite normal official opening hours of government offices,
it is very unlikely that there’ll be anyone person to actually serve customers towards

the end of each day. The reason is that the staff have to run off to other jobs or simply
to swop some black market goods before they return home to their families. Just as the
government let the farmers keep barely enough of their harvest to eat and a little bit to
trade, they turn a blind eye to civil servants doing private business during office hours.
As the state cannot afford to raise salaries or lower taxes, this seems to be the only way
to avoid protests which might eventually lead to riots. Somehow the government seem
to succeed; people are certainly unhappy but not desperate enough to risk their lives in
new demonstrations.
Industry

The Chinese influence in Burma is very noticeable nowadays and it is increasing
rapidly. Many Chinese left their own Communist regime after the Second World War
and settled in Burma. Some of them belonged to Chiang Kai Sheks Kuomintang and
involved themselves in the lucrative opium trade in the Shan State, but others were
ordinary labourers and businessmen.
Many of the latter returned to China when Ne Win took over but they are now once
again coming back to Burma. We were told that those who can speak Burmese can also
get ID cards even if they are not really Burmese citizens. This is important as they, as
well as visiting Burmese residing abroad, can use kyats to purchase goods and services at
a much lower rate than foreigners who have to pay in dollars.
The Chinese influence is definitely not limited to the Shan State any more. Some
people told us that nowadays it seems as though the Chinese government regard Ran-
goon as the sea port for Western China. There may be something in that as many of the
improvements in roads and waterways facilitate transportation between Yunnan and
the Bumese capital.
Trade with China has grown considerably and amounts to over one billion US dol-
lars every year excluding military arms, quasi-legal trade and smuggling.
As a matter of fact, all foreign investments have grown considerably since privatiza-
tion. This may be most noticeable in fisheries and tourism, but it affects other sectors
as well. It seems as though many Southeast Asian speculators have moved their invest-
ments to Burma from other parts of the region over the last few years.
The most profitable industries are still under government control such as Myanma
Petrochemical Enterprise, Myanma Railways, Myanma Gems Enterprise and Myanma
Timber Enterprise.
Regardless of what happens to the natural gas deliveries to Thailand from the Yadana
Fields in the Andaman Sea, the Burmese government will most likely end up with a
fair sized profit. There won’t be any difficulties in finding new foreign investors either
should some of the initial ones pull out. One of the reasons why Burma is not self-suf-
ficient in oil is the government’s stubborn wish to keep full control and thus refusing to
be exploited by large multinational companies. This might very likely change soon, ho-

pefully in a for Burma positive fashion, when more and more people demand improved
production facilities to keep up the national economy.
Burmese authorities have been internationally criticized for their lack of environ-
mentally sound forestry policies. In the early 90’s when the military needed a lot of
quick money for guns in order to crush the ethnic resistance, a ruthless exploitation of
the rainforests along the Thai-Burma border started. Large quantities of teak and other
tropical wood was shipped into Thailand from the ravaged rainforests in primarily the
Karen State. Of this we noticed very little this time, but further north, in the Mae Hong
Son area, a thriving lumber trade was going on. Some sources claim that very little of
this lumber actually came from Burma and that it was cut in Thai reserves and then
floated across the Salween to Burma where the logs got the proper Burmese markings
and then could be legally “imported“ back to Thailand. It seems though that both Thai
and Burmese authorities are aware of these routines and that means to minimize these
activities may be allocated.
Further north, from the Shan State through Ruili and further into China’s Yunnan
Province, plenty of large logging transports were observed. According to Burmese dis-
sidents at the border these shipments are to pay for large amounts of military equipment
entering Burma.
In central Burma, logging operations were most noticeable in the Pegu Yoma area.
Both on the west (Prome) side and on the East (Tuongoo). From easily accessible
locations,it seem as though portions of earlier virtually devastated forestry areas have
been re-planted over the last five to ten years. It is hard for us to evaluate how far into
the Pegu Yomas this has been done however. In addition, almost all renewal areas we had
the opportunity to visit did not look all that healthy to a layman.
Like many other businesses, even the logging industry is gradually being privatized.
Thus we stopped at a very large private lumber yard near Pyu. What struck us was that
it seemed reasonably efficiently run and with some positive signs that more and more
Burmese resources seem to be kept for domestic processing rather than exporting the
raw material.
Nowadays, most Burmese timber seems to go to China, but there are positive signs of increased domes-
tic processing in the Burmese lumber industry.
18
Apart from oil and gas, the Andaman Sea provides great fishing and other seafood.
Unfortunately, these marine resources are threatened by the lack of ecological and long
range conservation planning. With the trees gone in the tropical forests upstream, the
topsoil was washed away by the monsoon and eventually ended up becoming nice new
swimming beaches but at the same time burying many of the mussel banks and other
shellfish habitats on the Tenasserim coast. Even if the massive deforestation has slowed
down and the authorities are prepared to alter their policies, it will take a good many
years and a lot of extra resources, before things are back where they were before, if ever.
Another problem is that most fishing rights, at least in the Andaman Sea, have been
sold to foreign companies, making it very difficult for Burmese authorities to control
catch limits etc.
In many villages throughout the country we noticed that new small industries have
developed, such as weaving and other textile factories, basket and silverware shops, car-
pentry and woodcrafts etc. Obviously many of them cater to the tourist trade, but many
specialise in traditional Burmese cultural handicrafts as well.
The machinery (if any) is terribly outdated, in some cases from the turn of the cen-
tury We visited one small factory making longyis in the Sagaing Division. It was run by
a woman and six young female staff working under appalling conditions without the
benefit of earmuffs or other ergonomic facilities. Grease and oil was spewing out all over
the place, but they were producing materials of excellent quality and in a surprisingly
positive spirit. It seems that the authorities encourage this type of small local enterprise
which, besides delivering goods to bigger commercial outlets, also sell at considerably
reduced prices direct from the shop. They are only charged a ten percent tax on profits
compared to larger production units who are considerably more highly taxed.
Textile shop in
Pa-an. Village in-
dustries use ancient
machinery, if any
at all.
Labour
Proportionally few women work in tourist outlets like hotels and restaurants. On
the other hand, there seem to be more women than men working in manual labour
such as in farming and road construction. In Pagan we noticed the same group of
women working both with street repairs and restoring old monuments. Judging from

their language they seemed to belong to some non-Burman ethnic group and they were
supervised by a man who didn’t really do anything. These women were trucked between
different sites until long after nightfall, and they were then transported back to some
shanties near one of the pagodas under renovation.
We often saw children, as young as 7-10 years old, working with manual labour
such as shovelling sand at sewage works, carrying buckets of asphalt at road works etc.
They seemed to take a pride in their efforts though and did not give the impression of
forced labour.
In some restaurants, shops etc children are used in the trade as for example waiters or
cashiers. We’d be very reluctant to label this as “child labour“ though, as it seemed more
to give the impression of part of their education. No doubt they were used commercially
by the proprietors, but let’s hope that they could keep at least some of the extra tip they
were given by customers who felt sorry for them.
Another category of labourers in the

grey zone are those conscripted for “Special
Duty“ or “Involuntary service to the State“
as it is also called. We happened by acci-
dent to be in the midst of such an operation
near the Police Headquarters in Rangoon.
What happened was that a number of po-
licemen walked around collecting people
in the area, mostly young men who didn’t
seem to be too occupied at the time. They
were subsequently handcuffed and escorted
to a paddy wagon with barred windows ne-
arby. To us, everything seemed to proceed
very orderly and there was no real sense of
alarm. By-passers stopped and watched but
we didn’t get the impression that it was so- ”Volunteer beautification labour”
meting really out of the ordinary. Neither
did the captives seemed terribly distressed and some even joked in Burmese with the
onlookers through the bars. We noticed also that in one case a captive was released from
his hancuffs after having handed over some money to his captor.
Later we were told that this particular type of “Special Duty“ consisted of a day’s
labour needed in some public project somewhere, after which the persons involved are
set free. Several people, especially trade union representatives, angrily oppose this kind
of conscription. Others, ordinary citizens, we talked to accepted it as something posi-
tive for the community.
The Government also requests “volunteer beautification labour“ from residents in
cities, towns and villages. It means painting your own house, digging drainage ditches
or weeding nearby roadsides etc. It should be noted here that through a tradition dating
back to when Burma was ruled by different war lords the people have been required to
give some of their time and effort without recompense to help with construction pro-
jects, harvesting etc much the same as in Russia.
The last, and maybe most internationally debated form of forced labour, is the use of

prisoners for heavy duties among other things in the construction of roads and railways.
The opposition insists that many of these are political prisoners which of course would
be contrary to humanitarian standards. On the other hand if they really are ordinary
criminals, who are we to criticize the Generals as several so called civilized countries
practice this type of penalty as well. As prisoners don’t seem to be used anywhere near
where foreigners may pass these days, it was very difficult for us to check.
Education and religion

Most Burmese children, with the exception of some of those living in very remote
areas, seem to attend some kind of primary or secondary school. Several of these are
administered by Christian churches.
Depending on who you talk to; universities and other higher education facilities are
either open or shut. As far as we could see, the proper established universities are still
closed except for some limited graduate studies, but the government has apparently
introduced new alternative faculties. As one young former Burmese student explained;
“Just so they can continue to educate their own kids as nobody else is allowed to en-
rol“.
Burma is a predominantly Buddhist country and although, apart from some pre-
stigious government properties, most other buildings are left to more or less crumble;
Buddhist pagodas and monuments are comparably well kept.
Usually such upkeep is administered by the local LORC (Law and Order Restora-
tion Council) and the money for repairs is collected from travellers by school children
who, as good buddhists, may get a day or so off every now and then for this purpose.
In almost every village you can see kids dressed in school uniform shaking their metal
pots, often dangerously close to the traffic, assisted by blaring loudspeakers demanding
money from by-passers.
Some pagoda repairs in Pagan are sponsored by private interests. If you give enough
money to restore an object you get a rather ugly slab of concrete erected in front of it
with an inscription to tell the world how generous you are. Unfortunately, only the
more famous and accessible monuments are of interest, as others, often much more
historically or architecturally worth saving, lie a bit off the beaten track and nobody
will notice your efforts. Good Buddhists also believes that they get extra points if they
donate to a religious purpose, but even they seem to chose more conspicuous objects.
Religion plays a very powerful part in Burmese life. Buddhism is the national reli-
gion, attracting over 90% of the population, but officially there is complete freedom of
religion. In the big cities at least this seems to be true, as there are several well established
Christian churches as well as temples belonging to other religions. In Rangoon alone
we counted more than seventy Christian Churches in the telephone directory. Even in
most other parts of the country people of differing religions seem to live side by side
respecting each other’s beliefs.

Some of us were accidentaly forced to stay one night in a village a few miles south
of Magwe and had the opportunity to be invited to both the Buddhist temple and the
Muslim mosque next door. Further up-country, in the Mandalay area, people talked
about trouble between muslims and buddhists but believed it to be more a question of
troublemakers than due to any deep religious tension.
On the other hand, in the Arakan State, the government have played the divided
population; Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingyas, against each other for a long
time. The same thing is happening in the Karen state where Buddhists are played against
Christian Karens or in the Kayah State where the government has tried to divide Catho-
lic Padaungs and Baptist Karennis.
Although the government insists that they respect other religions, some remarkable
things happened in Mandalay where we wanted to visit the British WW2 cemetary, a
memorial over soldiers who’d died trying to recapture Mandalay Hill from the Japanese.
It was supposed to be situated just below the hill and was even marked on a tourist
map. However, instead of finding the cemetery we found an almost brand new ten
storey Novotel hotel complex on the site. According to all the people we asked, this was
the right site but apparently the graves had been removed by the authorities without
anyone’s knowledge.
The other thing that happened was

that when we made further inquires
with the man in charge of the Manda-
lay Hill Temple, he started to criticize
the government very loudly for their
insensitivity both towards the Christian
religion and those servicemen who were
buried there. He ended up almost screa-
ming and we thought for sure that we’d
have the Military Intelligence there in
no time flat. However, nobody else se-
emed to bother.
The new Novotel at the foot of Mandalay Hill where
buried British World War Two heroes had to be
removed to make way for other ”resting” foreigners.
Forced relocation
Apart from forced labour and exhuminations, forced relocation of living people is
also practiced on a wide and highly organized scale in Burma. It is most common in
frontier areas where ethnic minorities are forced to leave their villages for concentration
camps. One reason for this is to let the army grab most of their property and the other
is to prevent any assistance being given to the guerilla forces. It was also practised before
the election in 1990 when the government felt that they needed fewer opposition sup-
porters in certain areas.
Forced relocation has also been used to clear the way for tourism, and nowhere is this
more obvious than in Pagan where the old town centre was raized to the ground and the

people moved away. Instead, new luxury hotels were built in the midst of all the antique
temples, where the package tour travellers stay on their Four Day/ 900 dollars Burma
tours. But, like most other facilities in the Burmese tourist business, the hotels seem
more like ghastly eyesores amongst the magnificent monuments on these vast plains that
used to be the very symbol of Burmese cultural tradition.
In Old Pagan, people were forced to move and the old town centre was demolished to accomodate
new hotels, one of which can be seen in the photograph on the left rising between the historic
temples.
Leisure and entertainment

Apart from “Cultural Shows“ organised for tourists by the government’s travel bu-
reau, there seem to be rather few such opportunities for foreigners to enjoy. There are a
couple of guides like the official visitors guide and the “Panorama Magazine“ in which
you may find some entertainment the authorities find appropriate. If you are lucky you
may even come across some event like the increasingly popular classical dance-drama,
a kind of Burmese equivalent to the Chinese Opera. Otherwise, both Burmese classical
music and pop are often performed as well as traditional Burmese dancing. It is just a
question of finding your way to it. Western music is officially not accepted, but you
sometimes hear it in teashops, even if it mostly comes with Burmese lyrics, and you can
certainly find cassette tapes with both Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen for sale in the
markets.

In Mandalay, the Moustache Brothers still perform their very popular show making
fun of the government but we were disappointed to find the very simple but excellent
original puppet show in Old Pagan had been demolished and replaced by a modern
replica put on in a newly built tourist restaurant.
There are many sports performed in Burma of which kickboxing is said to be the
national one. To our surprise we also found golf courses in the oddest of places. One
of them just below the home of the Nats, at Mount Popa, was apparently built for
“government people only“, according to locals. Nowhere did we see a single golf player
though.
Without question, the most popular sport is the Chinlon, up to six players in a
circle keep a 12 cm rattan ball in the air as long as possible. You see it played almost
everywhere.
Tourism
All over Rangoon you can see a huge, almost grotesque, statue symbolizing “Visit
Myanmar Year 1996“. It is obvious that the national project to lure tourists was a huge
flop but the giant baby with her ridiculous little briefcase is still left standing as some
appropriate kind of epitaph.
Just before 1988 Burma had around 41000 visiting tourists per year who were al-
lowed to stay a maximum of one week. There was a 90% drop when SLORC took
over but it grew gradually with privatization and longer visa periods to 60000 tourists
in 1995. During Visit Myanmar Year
1996 (Oct 96-Oct97) as many as half
a million tourists were expected who
could stay well over one month. We
haven’t got hold of any reliable figures
yet, but 150000 for the twelve month
period seems to be a more realistic es-
timate.
At most, in one day none of us
met more than six foreigners in Ran-
goon, mostly French and Italians.
During half a day at the country’s lar-
gest tourist attraction, the magnificent
Shwedagon Pagoda, only two tourists
were sighted. In Bago and the second
largest attraction; the giant reclining
Buddha, no tourists at all. In Pagan
there were tourists but by no means
any great numbers and almost all of
Sule Pagoda and hotels downtown Rangoon

them were whisked in and out on a four day government package tour of Burma booked
abroad.
There could be several reasons why the expected tourist boom did not occur. In-
ternational demands for a tourist boycott of Myanmar could be one reason. The very
high costs involved in visiting Burma another. The country’s complete lack of medium
standard tourist facilities limits your choice to either travelling in luxury or doing it on a
very basic level indeed. Most average tourists cannot afford the first alternative which is
comparable to luxury travel in neighbouring countries, and only the more adventurous
put up with the filth and complete lack of comfort the other alternative presents. There
isn’t much in between open for foreigners, and you have to pay five to ten times more
for a simple hotelroom with cold water in Burma compared to a slightly better, much
cleaner one in Thailand. In very small towns or villages a foreigner may be lucky and
find simple cheap accomodation (as a matter of fact there isn’t anything else available)
but in some slightly bigger towns but off the beaten track there is often only one guest-
house licenced to take foreigners. This local monopoly means horrendeous prices and
even if a guesthouse for Burmese only is willing to put you up for the night for a frac-
tion of the price, the proprietor may get into trouble later. Finally, travelling in Burma is
rather time consuming due to substandard roads, unreliable timetables and bureaucratic
procedures at airports et cetera. In addition, many areas still require special permits, and
even if you have the permit in your hand it is up to the local authorities if they want to
acknowledge it or not when you get there.
Unless you do it first class at great expense, travelling in Burma is likely to be a

struggle. At the same time it will certainly be a memory for life. The question is; should
one visit Burma at all ?
Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as most exile Burmese, say no as it will only strengthen the
government’s position. It really is impossible to visit Burma without supplying funds to
the military establishment whether you are aware of it or not; starting with the visa fee
and ending with the departure tax. We were also surprised to find a certain hostility
towards foreigners, particularly in some towns and rural villages in the Magwe/Manda-
lay region and even occasionally in Rangoon.
On the other hand, scores of ordinary Burmese welcome foreigners with open arms
as they depend on tourists for their living and mean that increased foreign influence will
eventually force the government towards more humane domestic policies as well.
It really is up to one’s own conscience, but having travelled in Burma for a while,
none of us are prepared to discourage people who want to find out more about the
country for themselves from going there. All one can really hope for in the end is that
maybe the positive things that come out of travel to Myanmar outweigh the negative.
”Big Brother”
Many Burmese exiles told us to be extremely careful in Burma as military intelligen-
ce was just about everywhere. This may be true, and we were very cautious when people

wanted to talk about politics. Not
for our own sake but for theirs.
Surprisingly, none of us had the
feeling of being monitored this
time. Neither were the locals we
had been talking to questioned
by the authorities afterwards. It
seems that the growing numbers
of visiting foreigners as well as
the rapidly expanding commu-
nications outweigh the potential
danger of an odd tourist appro-
ching an ordinary citizen, which
doesn’t necessarily mean that the
authorities do not step in some-
times just to statute examples.
Naturally, known opposition
supporters, journalists etc will no
doubt be put under some kind of The Pyithu Hluttaw (Burma’s Parliament), guarded
special surveillance. by the symbol for”Visit Myanmar Year 1996”. The
It is very easy to be paranoid
huge statues are still standing all over Rangoon but
in a country with Burma’s reputa-
tion. All of us were no doubt in the the MP’s, publicly elected in May 1990, are still not
beginning, but it seem to wear off allowed to take their seats.
as the lokals did not seem to worry
unduly themselves. Only once did
we definitely feel watched, when we hired a car with driver to take us up North from
Rangoon.
Although many of these taxis really are privately owned and operated, there is always
the old suspicion that the Generals have their fingers in there somehow. Thus it was very
suspicious when the driver who was supposed to take us out of Rangoon through the
Pegu Yomas declared that he had to bring a companion along. Apparently this one was
to act as a co-driver and learn the trade as he himself was to become a taxi driver ferrying
tourists around the country eventually.
Judging from the regular driver’s nervousness we decided not to trust the man. Espe-
cially when his driving abilities turned out to be rather questionable judged by western
standards. Thus, whenever we wanted to take a closer look at something interesting
but which might be considered off limits we always had to “loose“ both gentlemen
somehow.
But on the whole, ordinary people in central Burma did not seem as scared of the
police and military as they had been before. They didn’t seem to hurry by policemen or
military personnel with bowed heads nor did they seem to whisper or glance over their
shoulders to see if they were being followed. Nevertheless many Burmese still show a
certain inbred respect, bordering on fear of the establishment and they avoid any close
contact if possible.

On one occation our car met an army truck head on in the middle of a country road.
Our driver tried to give way but the truck continued straight on without slowing down,
ripping bits of the Toyotas left side with its heavy fender. We stopped immediately and
the truck, hesitantly it seemed, came to a stop some fifty yards past us. Both drivers went
out and looked at their own damage and our driver looked very shaky while the army
man looked extremely irritated. It was obvious that our driver was very scared but in
our opinion it was perfectly clear who was at fault so we stepped out to say so. But when
the soldier saw a westerner appear, he quickly jumped into his truck and took off. Our
driver was naturally upset about the damage to his own car but he seemed relieved at the
same time as he had avoided more serious trouble with the army.
We encountered surprisingly few incidents with police or army involved, and only
on a few occasions were we stopped. As a test, one of us once walked straight through
the barricades at the entrance of the Tatmadaw Hall in Rangoon, right into the very
holiest of the armed forces property. The armoured vehicle positioned near the entrance
did not look too hostile and the soldiers on guard certainly looked a bit surprised but
did not even try to check the bag for potential explosives.
On the few occasions when some of us were harassed, it seemed more like personal
antipathy towards foreign civilians than official policy. Of course, there are always oc-
casions when you cannot present the right papers at a checkpoint. This may mean a
lot of disappointment if you are turned back or maybe a few extra dollars if you are let
through, but won’t harm you much. You may have all kinds of permits signed and stam-
ped in Rangoon but it is finally up to the local commander, or even the private sentry at
the road block, to decide whether you can continue or not.
Political situation
As in most countries, obvi-
ously many citizens are dissa-
tisfied with their government,
especially those who have mana-
ged to get going in some kind of
business and who really feel the
need of an economic upswing
on a national level to be able to
expand themselves. We found
them often surprisingly unafraid
when they expressed their views
as well, regardless of if they were
overheard or not. Among the or-
dinary citizens the dissatisfaction
was not so openly noticeable.
Many military units have
been moved further into frontier
Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) headquarters in Mandalay Palace.
areas as the army has captured territory from the ethnic guerilla forces. Central Burma is
surprisingly free from armed soldiers except for some sentries at the entrances of certain
government properties but even they give more the impression of watchmen rather than
soldiers. The military shadow is nevertheless always there as army compounds are quite
frequent along major roads and in the vicinity of possible trouble spots. You may not
actually see the guns, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to guess what lies behind
the few yards of trees and well kept lawns within sight. A contracted billion dollars
worth of weaponry from China can’t be kept merely as toys.
Burma used to spend over half the national budget on arms ten years ago. Today,
some people say, this figure is down to only fourteen percent.
Some people also argue that the State Peace and Development Council, SPDC (for-
merly SLORC) really mean what they say when they try to convince the world that they
want to move in a more democratic and humanitarian direction. It may be true that this
is the case as far as the central government in Rangoon is concerned, but the bureau-
cracy and widespread corruption will not allow such ideas to take hold with the local
authorities in the townships and villages. This is especially so in the frontier areas where
ethnic minorities live and the local army commanders are the law. This may be one of
the reasons for the recent reshuffle in trying to get the regional and central government
levels working along the same lines politically.
All movements of the main opposition coalition, National League for Democracy
(NLD), which won a land-slide victory in the 1990 elections, are no doubt watched
very closely by the Generals. Noticeable is that where you find a regional NLD office
there is bound to be a police station or military establishment close by. Thus, visitors’
comings and goings can be conveniently recorded which doesn’t seem to worry the
NLD themselves very much though.
Although the NLD has obviously lost strength, there is no doubt that the opposi-
tion against the sitting rulers would win a three to one victory should there be a free
election in the near future. Aung San Suu Kyi is no doubt a big name in Burma but she
actually seems more popular among Burmese exiles than among the people we talked
to inside Burma. Some expressed disappointment that she hadn’t been able to change
things. Nobody we talked to had ever heard of the exile government (National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma - NCGUB) based in Thailand and the US.
Maybe most important of all was that nowhere in central Burma did the amount of
displeasure indicate any kind of revolt brewing.
Ethnic areas
There seems to be a certain war-weariness among the ethnic minority peoples in the
frontier areas. Regardless of what their leaders say there is, not at all the patriotic deter-
mination found among exile Burmese, or even in the refugee camps abroad. Thus there
are definite signs of internal splits within the previously so solid national groupings.

With the exception of the Karen National Union
(KNU), all major ethnic minority groups have come
to some kind of truce arrangement with the central
government. Nevertheless, there is still considerable
fighting going on in the Karenni and Shan States es-
pecially as the SLORC did not stick to their part of
the bargain as far as providing the promised resources
in the truce agreements were concerned.
In the Kachin State, people are dissatisfied with
the government as well but not to the extent that
they have dug up their arms yet. They don’t believe
anymore they’ll get what they were promised ac-
cording to the truce agreement, so instead they are
trying to get economic aid from abroad in order to
develop their own infrastructure so badly needed for
future industrialization.
Guerilla fighter at the front.
Traditionally, opium has been one of the major issues in Burma, not that addiction
within the country has been a serious problem, but the fact that anything to do with
opium and heroin production is good money and Northern Burma is the place for it.
Several Burmese we talked to insisted that the government had taken over the trade
when the former opium king, Khun Sa, “retired“ and left the Shan State. We also talked
to Kachins who, in their serious desire to eradicate the opium production, desperatly
need help to find and slash poppy fields in their state as well as assistance with the in-
troduction of alternative, legal, crops. We were told that, despite promises, the Burmese
authorities had shown no interest in this at all.
KNU President Bo Mya cannot accept anything but tri-partite negotiations

(SLORC/NLD/Ethnic Minorities) and he rejects SLORC’s demands to surrender his
arms before entering into negotiations. Knowing of earlier deceits by various Burman
leaders, you can’t really blame him. At present, the KNU is harassing the government
troops through guerilla tactics in the eastern Karen State and are prepared to “fight to
the end“. The KNU does not have any large permanent bases left, and as the Burma
Army cannot get to the guerilla they take it out on the civilian Karen population.
There are younger Karens who cannot stand to see their people suffer any more and
who want to challenge the KNU policy. They believe that cease-fire negotiations can be
started without the Karen People losing their integrity. If this cannot be done within the
KNU, then it is just a question of time before unarmed splinter-factions will pop up.
Of several ethnic minority officials spoken to, a few harboured hopes but none had
any great faith in the NLD. All of them felt let down by the exile parliament as “they
(the NCGUB) only distribute strictly humanitarian aid and keep the money for demo-
cratization to themselves“. When we pointed out that there actually were minority MP’s
included in the NCGUB the response was; “They are NLD members first and ethnic
representatives second only. They do what the Burmans tell them to do“.

Refugees
There are still some 20000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladeshi camps South of Cox’s
Bazaar awaiting UNHCR-supervised repatriation to the Arakan State. In Thailand
there are nearly 100000 refugees, mainly Karens but also Karenni, Mon and Burman
students, who remain in temporary shelter, some of whom are scheduled to be deported
back to Burma by the Thai army. In Maesot on Christmas Eve, we saw several minibu-
ses loaded with Burmese people and escorted by Thai police driving down to the new
Friendship Bridge to Myawaddy to be handed over to Burmese authorities.
We visited several refugee concentrations and the conditions in the established camps
seem to be quite good, although it is rather poor in the temporary camps. One reason
for this is that Thai authorities want newcomers to turn back to Burma. They have also
positioned some of the locations very close to Burmese military bases. At the moment,
the largest refugee camp is Maela, some 50 km North of Maesot and with a population
of 25000 refugees. According to camp authorities, the Thais are planning to close some
of the camps, among them Huei Kaloke just outside Maesot, and move the residents
to Maela. This would bring the Maela population up to a fair sized city of more than
40000 people, in the middle of nowhere and basically without much at all in the way
of service facilities.
On the whole, morale in the proper camps seem to be good, although the refugees
along the Thai-Burma border are living in constant fear of new DKBA raids (Democra-
tic Kayin Buddhist Army, a break away group supporting Rangoon). One of the camps
which have suffered the most attacks is Huai Kaloke which was almost completely de-
vastated by the DKBA earlier in 1997. Now, a high barbed wire fence has been erected
Karen refugees in a temporary Thai camp, waiting to be deported.

to prevent the camp from surprise attacks. We were concerned that it would also prevent
the refugees from escaping the raiders should they enter anyway, but were assurred by
the camp leaders that they had arranged alternative means should that situation occur.
We had an opportunity to observe the amazing work of Dr Cynthia in Mae Tao who,
in addition to having established a basic but excellent health service for poor Burmese
refugees coming to Thailand, also organizes field trips by medics far into the Karen
State.
Besides the official count of refugees, most of whom are not recognized as such
anyway, there are probably at least the equivalent number hiding in Bangladesh, India,
China and Thailand. For example, a large number of Shans have tried to escape the
recently escalated fighting on their territory and have fled to Thailand. They have not at
all been given the international attention that other refugees from Burma have, and risk
certain deportation if they surrender to local Thai authorities. In India, many Burmese
have faked Indian nationalities in order to purchase Indian passports or other identity
documents in their fear of being located and sent back home.
Finally, the largest number of refugees still seem to be the displaced people hiding
in virtually all the frontier states but primarily the Arakan, Karen, Karenni and Shan
states, as well as the Tenasserim Division, together they could very well amount to one
million people or more.
A more complete evaluation of the ethnic minorities’ situation can be found in our
special report on the subject.

Summary

There is in our opinion, no question that infringements of basic human rights are
still wide-spread in Burma. Neither is there any doubt that ethnic minorities in frontier
areas are grossly abused, in some cases bordering on genocide. Neither do we doubt
that, if there was a fair election today, the present junta would only get a maximum of
25% of the votes. However, at least in central Burma, there are certain signs of impro-
vements for the average citizen; both as far as human rights and economic progress is
concerned.
No doubt there is a lot of dissatisfaction, but definitely no real tendency to a new po-
pular uprising. Instead, it seems to us that a lot of people are prepared to accept a com-
promise with the military establishment; thus abandoning demands on full democratic
rights in favour of peace and a better living standard. There also seems to be a desire
by many Burmese at least to give the government a fair chance to improve conditions
instead of piling up obstacles.
What would be right in the long run will be left for others to speculate on but, in our
opinion, it is the suffering masses in Burma’s slums, villages and hills who need a break,
and they deserve one soon.

Note:
This survey has no ambition whatsoever to be a tho-
rough study of Burma today. It is just a brief account of
some experiences as recorded by one Burmese national
as well as three foreigners, each with more than fifteen
years involvement in Burma matters.
Similar fact-finding missions inside Burma were

carried out by Burma Center in 1983, 1985, 1988, 1992
and 1996.
Geographical areas covered this time were, in ad-

dition to central Burma, the Arakan State and the
Bangladesh border, southern Kachin State, southeastern
Shan State and the Chinese border, the Tenasserim, the
Karen and Karenni States and the Thai border. Later this
Spring the Chin State, northern Shan State, the Mon
State and a further study of the Karenni State will be
added.
Regarding name changes.

Despite the official name change to Myanmar, Burma has been used throughout
this report. We have also used the old English names on places, rivers etc. To avoid
further confusion, here are a few of the names which also have been changed to the
Burmese language.
Old name: New name: Old name: New name:
Burma Myanmar Irrawaddy River Ayeyarwady

Rangoon Yangon Salween River Thanlwin
Bassein Pathein Sittang River Sittoung
Martaban Mottama
Maymyo Pyin U Lwin Arakan State Rakhine
Mergui Myeik Karen State Kayin
Moulmein Mawlamyine Magwe Division Magway
Pagan Bagan Tenasserim Div. Tanintharyi
Pegu Bago
Prome Pyi
Sandoway Thandwe
Syriam Thanlyin
Tavoy Dawei

Previous publications in the Gecko Series:
December 1996
1 Inside Burma,
Report from a single visit, by Peter Halford
March 1997
2 Who´s afraid of the Big, Bad SLORC ?
Friction in the opposition movement, by Bo A. Olson (3:rd edition)
December 1997
3 Fifty Years of What ?
Chronology - Burma since Independence, edited by Bo A. Olson
4 January 1998
Burma Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997
US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Burma Center
Independent, non-profit, voluntary foundation for
research and information regarding Burma.
Established in 1983.
E-mail: burmacenter@gmail.com

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Burma, as we saw it...

Burma Center, Sweden

Published by Burma Center,

Layout and photographs:

Burma, as we saw it... Burma Center, Sweden

Burma, as we saw it... Burma Center, Sweden

Burma, as we saw it... 1 Burma Center, Sweden

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Railway crossing near Kyaukse, on the main Rangoon - Mandalay line.

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Tourist liner and ferries on the Irrawaddy.

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Among the urban population we experienced a change from before. On previous

Street Market, Downtown Rangoon

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Triple currency system

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Another category of labourers in the

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Education and religion

Burma, as we saw it... 21 Burma Center, Sweden

The other thing that happened was

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Leisure and entertainment

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Unless you do it first class at great expense, travelling in Burma is likely to be a

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Burma, as we saw it... 28 Burma Center, Sweden

KNU President Bo Mya cannot accept anything but tri-partite negotiations

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Karen refugees in a temporary Thai camp, waiting to be deported.

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Burma, as we saw it... 31 Burma Center, Sweden

Similar fact-finding missions inside Burma were

Geographical areas covered this time were, in ad-

Regarding name changes.

Old name: New name: Old name: New name:

Burma Myanmar Irrawaddy River Ayeyarwady

Burma, as we saw it... 32 Burma Center, Sweden

Burma, as we saw it... Burma Center, Sweden

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