From the sound of these posts, few of these FTer's are concerned that the foreign currency they spent in Myanmar is supporting a military junta that represses democracy and restricts freedom of speech and freedom of movement of its own citizens. I'm no flaming liberal and even the Bush Administration has criticized the junta for repressing democratic activities. Nevertheless, I have travelled to Kengtung and Mongla (NE Myanmar) with local Burmese who sent as little of our tourist dollars as possible to the central government. No one we spoke with wanted to continue living under the existing government. Like other FTer's I witnessed Myanmar's beauty. I also witnessed the results of the government's repression. It is an awful thing to talk with people scared to death to criticise their own government. I am not suggesting that FTer's avoid travelling to Myanmar. Furthermore, I do not claim to be an expert on the complexities of this amazing country. However, I am suggesting that we spend our travel dollars in ways that respect the same democratic principles in the countries that we are visiting that we want for own country.

[This message has been edited by bennytma (edited Mar 02, 2004).]