My wife and I are considering visiting Myanmar next year, and have already received some useful advice from folks here. I'm now asking for different kinds of advice and perspectives, re whether to go.

We've visited many countries with serious human rights problems before (China and Vietnam, for instance), and I've visited many on my own for work in international development. I'm also ashamed to say that my own country, the USA, is legitimately subject to condemnation.

But Myanmar in 2018 seems quite possibly worse for a couple of reasons. I've read a fair amount about the country and had a chance to learn a fair amount more in talking with experts on a consultancy visit there (albeit only in Yangon) last year. So I'm no expert, but I'm not starting from scratch in considering whether to go.

The two reasons it seems different are:

1. The widespread support for the military's attacks on the Rohingya. Yes, many majority populations in many countries may support discrimination, but the popular support for the military's violence seems to be even more deeply ingrained and, even worse, to tolerate stunning levels of violence. During my visit, I was instructed not to even mention the Rohingya to people because even many progressive and pro-democracy activists support the violence. I'm not saying that everyone there knows how brutally the Rohingya have been treated - raped, killed and forced into exile - or that they realize that this has affected many hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. But it does seem that a large majority support the large-scale violence and expulsions. It's not a matter of the military carrying this out with the population being uninformed or indifferent. I know how wonderful the people of Myanmar are in most respects - that's a big reason we'd like to visit. But unlike many other situations where tourism helps innocent people not to blame for a repressive government's policies, it does not seem that in this important respect most people are not so innocent.

2. In terms of the scale and intensity of the cruelty targeting a specific group, this seems to be a kind of genocide. It goes way beyond "ordinary" jailing of dissidents or repression of minorities in many countries,as reprehensible as such human rights violations are.

I say all this because I understand the thoughtful arguments on the other side and we are wrestling with whether to go. In any event, I'd welcome any replies and perspectives regarding concerns I've raised. Thanks.

Personally, I try to leave politics out of the equation when it comes to countries I visit, unless I think my personal safety may be at risk (e.g, North Korea).

It's an individual choice but if you're going to exclude countries based upon a particular political viewpoint, then there are many countries you'd exclude. Are you going to boycott Thailand because of their (silent) support for Myanmar and the Thai ruling military junta's record of refusing to make any serious effort to combat human slavery? Is China off your list because of their alleged human rights violations? Should you bypass the Virgin Islands because you can order conch soup when conch is classified as an endangered species in some countries?

Your decision to go somewhere (or not) will make no difference whatsoever in a given country's politics. Your choice of destinations dwindles quickly if/when you begin prioritizing a particular political viewpoint as a deciding factor.

Again, though, if that's important to you - then by all means do whatever you think is "morally" correct. I guarantee that your country of choice doesn't care what you do or don't do.

Spot on.

satisfy your moral imperatives, but don't expect any of those suffering under a corrupt regime to thank or applaud you.

I love Rangoon, but I will not return until there is a MAJOR change there. I will not pay that government one cent for a visa! The regular people there are wonderful.

Like all these things, it is complex. Don't go, don't give the government your money.
However, once you are there most of your money will likely be spent on local businesses and people, be it hotels, restaurants or drivers, not to mention the many people employed at the airport (who may or may not be on the government payroll)
By going there you will be supporting the wider population, as these aforementioned people will spend the money you give them on other local businesses.

However, by paying to support these people, you may well make them more docile to the government to bring about change - who knows.

A prior poster said it well: if it matters to you, don't go

Yes, if you have to ask, don't go

It's an individual choice and your choice does matter, even if the country visited purportedly doesn't care. If you do travel there consider carefully how your visit can have a positive impact. Some travel agencies operate with fairly strict ethical principles - so seek those out.

I agree that these sorts of issues come up with a great many countries. I visited Myanmar several years ago when the military was still in charge but after they had released ASSK from house arrest. And I spent some time in Rakhine state (Sittwe and several days in Mrauk U). In those days things were segregated to an extent but not violent - that erupted about 6 months after I was there. After considering the issue I decided that I could make more of a difference by going than not going. I just tried to avoid enriching the generals and their cronies as much as I could.

But I agree also that given The Lady's decision to side with the military and the majority of the population's support for ethnic cleansing it would be a much tougher choice for me today.

I also just spent a little bit of time in Warsaw. And Poland isn't exactly the most progressive place in the world.

With respect to Thailand's f-ed up situation noted above, it's also something I think about. I spend time there frequently. I guess the difference for me there is that most people in Thailand do not support the junta. I think they just don't know what to do about it. And I was in human right abusing Cambodia late last year. The hopelessness of my tour guide with relation to what's happening there was fairly heartbreaking. All of SE Asia is a mess

Just like I don't support the current administration ruining my own country, but it's hard to know what we can do other than vote for the other side and work to overcome the government in place.

As a very long term Myanmar residing expat - I see these kind of moral questions posed often, or have been asked/criticised about my long term working and living there

As one poster said above, if you need to ask, may be better not to go.

But which country is without its state-related problems?

Our head office is in Phuket, Thailand. Thailand had (yet another) military coup in 2014, has been run since by the military, and there have been serious questions about the democratic process for many years up to now. Shouldn't this also come on the "should I visit list"

The genocide of the Rohingya is deplorable - this goes without saying. There are many other ethnic conflicts also ongoing in the country and some of these battles get little foreign media coverage

Myanmar on the whole is very safe for foreign tourists, and no visitor here would ever come across any conflict personally in the destinations they visit.
Foreign tourism provides much needed income for local Myanmar citizens trying to earn a daily living and support their families, as in many other countries. Travelers can do their research and be savvy in supporting non-government/military/crony businesses if they feel strongly about this.

I realise the paragraph above doesn't address the OP's specific concerns, but there is a bigger picture to consider and one person's moral afflictions are theirs and theirs alone to decide upon

I have more to add on personal experiences but that is not for this thread. Myanmar has only recently started a transition to a reasonable level of democracy, when you take into account 50 years of dictatorship and brutal military oppression. They still have a long way to go, but life for everyone else in the country must continue - to make a living and support their families.

Difficult question. OP must make their own call on this methinks

I visited Burma in very early 2016 and didn't feel good about it, fully realising that part of where I visited, Sittwe, had been ethncally cleansed, and the non-chalant manner of which the local guides ignored it A reason for my making the trip was because my maternal grandparents were either born or grew up there, and I heard a lot of stories as a child from my late grandmother (who could only read Burmese) about the Rangoon of her youth, and also the faint memories my uncle had of being there with his parents.

It's a personal choice, but if one has no problems visiting mainland China, Burma should be OK as well. And vice versa. I see no real difference how the Burmese treat the Rohingya and how the Han treat the Uygurs et al.

I cannot think of any country that has consistently committed more horrific acts in the last 150 years than the USA. And they have always been very slow or flat out refused to take any responsibility for any of it, including genocide, the instigation of countless wars and bloody coups aimed at overthrowing a government that did not play nice with us and our corporations, and a rich ongoing tradition of racial segregation (still alive and well in the south and against Native Americans, despite all the laws to the contrary). Yet I refuse to be held accountable for any of this despite spending my entire life in the country. And I certainly don't want anyone else to hold me accountable for it. The bottom line is that horrible corrupt regimes will be living fabulous lives of extravagance, regardless of how much their citizens suffer in poverty. This is true in N Korea, Africa, Latin America, and the USA. You are not hurting anyone with any power or influence by staying away. You are, however, depriving many local merchants and businesses of much needed income. In the end, depriving yourself of an experience because of something you have no influence or control over is going to affect you exponentially more than anyone else.

Aha, someone with political agenda came here as well.

I think similar questions were posed about Cuba and whether or not your dollars go to the government. I say go by your own morals and decide from there. I've been do many a'places in this world. Some are worse than others...but I always keep an open mind.

I completely disagree about comparing the treatment of Uighurs in China to the treatment of Rohingya in Myanmar, unless and until met by Uighurs with credible evidence of the Chinese government forces engaging in mass rapes of young girls and even babies in the past couple of years. There is more than enough credible evidence -- grotesque evidence at that -- of the Myanmar government forces engaging in mass rapes of girls and babies in the past couple of years. I don't know about you, but I know that there is a scale and scope of depravity unleashed against Rohingya in Myanmar the past couple of years that hasn't existed in Xinjiang for at least decades. The Myanmar forces' mass rapes of young Rohingya girls and even babies have no contemporary equivalent in China.

Would I still visit Myanmar? That's a personal choice. Would I say Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya during the past couple of years is on par with the Chinese treatment of Uyghur? Not unless and until living in a world of "alternative facts". The fact is that Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya is so grotesque that it makes the PRC in Xinjiang look like relative saints. Government security forces chopping up babies to throw in the water? Welcome to Myanmar and what it has done to Rohingyas in the past couple of years. Even the Uyghurs in Xinjiang wouldn't wish to be Rohingya in Myanmar.