Burma forum

Hi Sampan,

Regardless of what anyone says about "private businesses," rest assured there are none in the complete sense of the word private. If a business exists, it is because the military allows it to exist, and they will exact their share either through taxes, partial ownership (e.g. the old saying, "Stay in a 4-star hotel owned by a 4-star general."), or something else along those lines. From the outside there appears to be no connection, but there are always strings attached.

So, no matter how much visitors want to support the so-called local economy, they are still, in some way, supporting the regime.

Perhaps the largest, one-time chunk of cash that most people provide to the junta comes from the visa fee. No way around that if you're going to cross the border.

If you're not sure if you should go or not, and if your only exposure to the country is going to be Tachilek for a day, then you might find that your deep desire to visit the country is not going to be satisfied. I'd say that if you want to go, then go and travel there and satisfy that craving. It's an astounding country with absolutely fantastic people.

Of course there are many arguments for going and not going. Good luck with your decision-making.

i seriously doubt that all of the money spent by western tourists in burma is even a drop in the bucket compared to what china is spending and investing in the country. i guess because of that i wouldn't worry too much about it.

i did that one-day trip across the border to tachilek about a decade ago now. we just wandered around, bought a few trinkets and had lunch and a few beers. pretty decent beers as i remember. i hope you have a good experience and since it has been so long since i went, i'd really like to hear how it goes and what you did and what you thought about spending the day in tachilek. cheers.

Ya, the beer is excellent. Much better than most Thai beer.

China is their biggest investor. All roads being built (with slave labour) lead to China.