Did anyone within Burma think I shouldn't be there? What?  Did I get that right? 

Some Westerners thought I shouldn't be going there.  One Shan refugee living in Thailand was concerned about our visa dollars supporting the junta.  But the people I met inBurma were delighted to see us, invited us home, served us food and tea, and engaged us in intelligent conversations often accompanied by whispered comments about the government.  Some told of atrocities that I've never read about (the beheading of monks, whole families arrested for one member’s supposed crime, etc.) but I believe are true. 

I asked a few of the better educated people we met, what they thought of sanctions.  A Buddhist abbot and head teacher of a school for poor tribal children was disgusted. "Sanctions only hurt the poor," he said.  

His school relies on donations.  Stanford University promised to help with a project but pulled out when the U.S. applied sanctions. Who does that harm? Not the generals with their mansions, fleet of Mercedes and slave laborers.  They prefer an ignorant population.

A former NLD member who lost his job and was imprisoned after the 1989 elections told us he supported his children from the money he made as a guide and selling used books.  Without tourism, he has no income.

Did anyone not want us there ?  I had monks say they would feel sad when I left. 

I think this erroneous idea comes from Aung San Suu Kyii discouraging visitors during the big "visit Myanmar" campaign in 1996.

If the question is whether or not it is ethical to visit Burma, I think it is highly unethical to abandon the people of Burma because of opposition to the military government.  They don't want the junta.  They have a democratically elected leader who has been under house arrest for most of the last 16 years.

Boycotting travel to Burma has not improved the situation for the populace of the country.   It hasn’t hurt the xenophobic generals whose money comes from selling the resources of the country, (mostly to China or Thailand) not from our visa fees. 

The people of Burma are hungry for contact with the rest of the world.  They want the education which once was available to them.  I brought a copy of Encarta Encyclopedia with me as a present.  I would encourage anyone traveling there via Bangkok to consider

stopping by the huge computer store, Porntip Plaza where you can purchase software for around $3/disc. Be sure to buy CDs and not DVDs; they use mostly older machines. Books are better but obviously not as easy to pack along. Bring anything educational and donate

it to either schools or the monks.

I love Burma and am thoroughly convinced that not only do the people want us to visit, they need to know the world hasn't forgotten them. 

By afront