> just  like  Malaysia.

> n Nov 20, 4:02 am, hamaryut <hamar...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> > This is another Burmanization policy of SPDC. Or SPDC call it Union
> > Spirit.
> > -----------

> > Shan women’s group reveals dark side of tourism
> > by Usa Pichai
> > Wednesday, 18 November 2009 18:46

> > Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A Shan women’s group revealed the “dark side”
> > and the ugly face of tourism promotion in Shan State by the Burmese
> > military junta in their latest ‘guidebook’ released on Tuesday.

> > The Shan Women Action Network (SWAN) on Tuesday launched a guidebook
> > “Forbidden Glimpses of Shan State”. It gives tourists an insight and
> > an alternative view of Shan State by providing a pictorial exposé of
> > the deliberate neglect, destruction and reinvention of local cultural
> > and historical sites.

> > A majority of war-torn Shan State is off limits for tourists, but
> > some
> > areas are open to foreign travellers. Tourists are only permitted to
> > visit three areas: Lashio road in the north, Taunggyi-Inlay Lake area
> > in the south-west, and the route from Tachilek to Kengtung and Mong
> > La
> > in the east.

> > The guidebook pointed out that there are a number of things that the
> > junta does not want tourists to see. These include; “over 150 Burmese
> > infantry battalions deployed in the state which are authorized to
> > live
> > on the land: confiscation of farms, extortion and taxing villagers,
> > and requisitioning free labour. Various ethnic groups continue to
> > resist the regime in the hope of getting justice and equal rights for
> > their people.”

> > The guide depicts how Burma’s military regime is erasing the last
> > vestiges of palaces of the 34 former Shan principalities. This
> > includes the demolition of the historic Kengtung Palace in 1991 to
> > make way for a garish modern hotel.

> > The destruction of remnants of former Shan self-rule contrasts with
> > the regime’s construction of new monuments that extol ancient Burmese
> > kings and numerous replicas of the “Shwedagon” pagodas across Shan
> > State.  Photographs of these lavish structures are juxtaposed with
> > images of historic local Shan temples that have been desecrated and
> > left derelict during the Burmese Army’s ongoing scorched earth
> > campaigns.

> > “We have not only been robbed of our rights, lands and resources but
> > the regime is also robbing us of our culture and history,” said SWAN
> > spokesperson Moan Kaein in the statement released on Tuesday.  “We
> > want visitors to open their eyes to the repression going on around
> > them, even in the cultural sites they are visiting.”

> > The book also depicts scenic areas off-limits to visitors, which are
> > threatened by the regime’s development plans, and locations of Shan
> > jails where prominent Burmese political prisoners are being
> > incarcerated far from their homes.

> > The group added that the regime has consistently refused to engage in
> > meaningful political dialogue with these ethnic groups in Shan State.
> > Instead it is carrying out massive anti-insurgency campaigns to try
> > and crush them.

> > Due to the suppression, from 1996 to 1998, over 300,000 villagers
> > from
> > southern and central Shan State were forced to relocate. Many sought
> > refuge in Thailand, while troops are licensed to arrest, torture,
> > rape
> > and kill villagers suspected of supporting the resistance, the report
> > stated.