PLAN YOUR TRIP
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL
supplies are lacking, buying them and handing
them out to each of the students.
» Foreign-made gifts (eg pens) are generally
cherished items, and more likely to find a place
in a bookcase than actually get used. If you want
to give useful items, buy locally. This puts money
into the local economy, and locals are more likely
to use the gift!
» Give only to those with whom you have made
some sort of personal bond, not to random
supplicants who happen to ask. Otherwise you’ll
encourage a culture of begging.
» If you do decide to help a begging family, ask
what they need. Often you can accompany them
to the market and pick up food (a bag of rice,
some vegetables, some fish).
» Some items from outside the country are greatly
appreciated, though. It’s a good idea to carry books
and magazines. It’s best, however, to be discreet
about giving them to people you meet (for instance,
leaving one behind in a guesthouse), particularly if
there are any potential political overtones.Back at Home
Your trip to Myanmar doesn’t have to end
once you’re back home.
» Alert Lonely Planet and fellow travellers via the
Thorn Tree discussion board (www.lonelyplanet.
com/thorntree) if you’ve found a new or changed
government-operated service or have advice on
how to minimise money going to the government
or any other tips about how to travel in Myanmar.
» Consider posting photos and perceptions of
your trip on a blog – but make sure your words
don’t have repercussions for locals you may have
met while travelling.
» Write to your local Myanmar embassy and
elected politicians to express your views about the
human-rights situation.
» Contact the various prodemocracy activist
groups in your country.
» Email the people in Myanmar you became friendly
with – let them know they are not forgotten.WHO ARE THE CRONIES?In a rare interview published in the magazine Future in April 2011, Tay Za, founder
of the Htoo group of companies, said that when he started in business in 1984 he
had just US$12 to his name. Today, the 46-year-old is considered Myanmar’s rich-
est private individual. He made his billions through a string of government-favoured
businesses that includes exporting timber, gems and jade (he’s the president of the
Myanmar Gems and Jewelry Entrepreneurs’ Association).
This pantomime baddy of Myanmar’s economy is also the owner of Air Bagan and
two luxury hotel chains: Aureum Palace (in Ngwe Saung, Ngapali, Bagan, Nay Pyi Taw
and Pyin U Lwin) and Myanmar Treasure Resort (in Yangon, Pathein, Ngwe Saung,
Mawlamyine, Bagan and Inle Lake), as well as the Popa Mountain Resort and Malikha
Lodge in Putao. Myanmar experts we spoke to while researching this guide believe that
the airline Asian Wings is also under his control.
Tay Za is on the sanctions lists of the EU, the US, Canada, Australia and Switzerland.
Sanctions are also imposed on his wife, Thidar Zaw, and his son, Pye Phyo Tay. Along-
side him on the cronies blacklist is Zaw Zaw, managing director of the Max Myanmar
(www.max-myanmar.com) group of companies. Among Zaw Zaw’s properties are
Hotel Max in Chaung Tha Beach and the Royal Kumudra in Nay Pyi Taw, as well as a
string of petrol stations (Tay Za also owns petrol stations).
In his defence, Tay Za says his enterprises create jobs and encourage young citizens
who have gone abroad to ‘come back home and work’ in Myanmar. And some of his
luxury hotels are remarkable achievements, notably the reconstructed British-era
Governors’ Palace at Pyin Oo Lwin.26