[burmanet2-l] AFP-Aung San Suu Kyi

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Subject: Re: [burmanet2-l] AFP-Aung San Suu Kyi blasts foreign tourists in

Myanmar
To: TIN KYI <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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It is good to hear her speak out again. Like cool fresh air. Whatever
happened to the New York Asia Society group tour, was there any benefit
for Burma on that, any exchange of views that they boasted about, any
constructive development for democracy? Or did they get lost and never
heard of again like so many Burmese victims of the junta. Thank you Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi for having courage and wisdom to speak out. 
TIN KYI wrote:> 
> Aung San Suu Kyi blasts foreign tourists in Myanmar
> YANGON, Aug 24 (AFP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has
> blasted foreign tourists to the military state for doing nothing to help its
> political or long-term economic situation.
> The 1991 Nobel laureate told AFP in an exclusive interview late Monday that
> foreign visitors did not help to open the country which has been under harsh
> military rule for decades.
> 
> "Tourists don't bring new ideas. Most of the tourists who come (here) come
> to enjoy themselves," the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader said.
> 
> "There are some tourists who take the trouble to talk to various people to
> find out what the situation in the country is like, but the great majority
> of tourists, especially the ones who come to a place like Burma, knowing
> Burma is a dictatorship, come here because they want to see something new."
> 
> A strong advocate of economic sanctions against the regime here, Aung San
> Suu Kyi also dismissed the potential benefits from tourism to the crippled
> local economy.
> 
> "I think any sound economist will tell you that to try to build a country's
> economy on tourism is a very bad idea," she said.
> 
> "It's a soft option and it has no long-term benefit.
> 
> "And if you want to look at it from a social point of view, tourism brings
> in as much ill as good."
> 
> She also deplored the number of French tourists arriving in Myanmar,
> formerly known as Burma.
> 
> French made up the bulk of European arrivals here in 1998-99, with 14,064
> compared to 17,000 the previous season, official figures show.
> 
> "We have too many French tourists," Aung San Suu Kyi said.
> 
> The United States and Britain officially discourage citizens from visiting
> Myanmar, but arrivals from these countries rose over the same period.
> 
> American arrivals rose from 9,300 in 1997-98 to 11,009 in 1998-99, while
> British arrivals grew from 7,981 to 9,577.
> 
> Western tourists are still small in number compared with Asian, particularly
> Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore.
> 
> The junta has set a target of 500,000 tourist arrivals for the new season,
> although only 150,000 arrived last year.
> 
> The junta has made tourism one of its priorities as the economy crumbles
> amid alleged corruption, mismanagement, the repercussions of the Asian
> crisis and international sanctions, particularly those imposed by the United
> States.
> 
> The junta is widely accused of gross human rights abuses and has ignored the
> results of a 1990 election won in a landslide by the NLD under Aung San Suu
> Kyi.