We're in Bangkok once again after our short respite on the island of Ko Chang. I can't quite claim that we had our fill of beaches, but we decided we should move on before we get completely sucked into the lifestyle of the beach bum.

A long standing problem on our trip is that some of it has felt a bit too planned, too thought out. In an effort to shake things up a little bit we decided to scrap what we had planned to do for the rest of our time in Thailand and head on over to Myanmar...

Myanmar, or Burma as it was once and occasionally still is known, is a country that has been largely forgotten by the rest of the world. Home to a brutal military government that regularly commits some of the world's worst abuses against humanity, Myanmar is a country that often polarizes travelers. Some would like a complete boycott against travel to the country, along with embargoes and boycotts of any foreign businesses that choose to set up shop. Others, like us, feel that more can be accomplished by the independent traveler who is cautious with where their money is being spent.

I'm writing this little introduction to Myanmar before we arrive because the internet is largely banned throughout the entire country. This is a country who's government is run much like George Orwell's 1984 and all of the newspapers and television stations are censored and filled with propaganda. Once we enter Myanmar we will probably be out of touch with the rest of the world until we come out again.

I hope to be able to write in more detail about our personal experiences after we've come out, but I thought some background would be helpful to my readers and perhaps even encourage some to try and help these people out. The recent history of Myanmar is very complicated, but I will touch on a few of the basic reasons why this country is ostracized and criticized by the rest of the world.

Myanmar is a former British colony that was a hotspot during WWII and made famous by the thousands who died there building the Burma Road. In 1990 Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of a beloved independence hero, won the general elections and sought to lead the country to a better democratic society. The ruling military government ignored the election results and place Suu Kyi under house arrest. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest off and on ever since, even missing her husband's last days as he died in England from cancer. In 1991 Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize while the rest of the world either condemned, or more likely, forgot that Myanmar existed.

Myanmar holds the distinct dishonor of possessing the world's largest child army with over 40,000 children forced into serving in the military. The government also utilizes slavery in order to build much of its tourist infrastructure and has even gone as far as to use villagers to find landmines -- by lining them up and having them march across fields. Myanmar is a highly fractured land and the government spends most of its time trying hold its fragile borders together.

A country rich in natural resources (Burmese rubies and sapphires are considered the best in the world), Myanmar now wallows in poverty. Many go hungry and healthcare is limited. The cause of this has a great deal to do with the boycotts and embargoes the rest of the world has placed on the country in order to destabilize the corrupt government. While this is good in theory, it is the people who suffer while waiting for their government to eventually give in.

The reason why many people think travel to Myanmar should be avoided is that it provides desperately needed hard currency to the government. On the other hand, many human rights activists feel that the tourist industry is one of the few places that ordinary Burmese people can make money and that the smart tourist can avoid giving money to government owned enterprises. In addition, by talking to local people, travelers can show the Burmese that they have not been forgotten by the rest of the world and that people still care about their plight.

Reading all this, it probably sounds like we're heading to a very dangerous place. However, everything we've read and heard from others say that Myanmar is a beautiful land full of friendly people, despite the horrors they live through. The government is extremely careful to keep tourists safe since they're desperate for cash. It is the local people who are in the most danger.

We're looking forward to the trip very much. It has long been at the top of the list of places I'd hoped to visit. If you're interested in learning more about Myanmar, a few internet searches and trips to the library will provide a wealth of information and contacting your local politicians to make certain they also understand what is going on can go a long way towards helping these tortured people.

-- Shawn