Nice Country - Shame About the Dictatorship

Description: 

Many Burmese have likened their country to a prison; but for foreign travelers, it?s more of a "fascist Disneyland". Neil Lawrence recounts some of his experiences in the "Golden Land" of Myanmar, where repression rules behind a facade of peace and stability. Travels in a ?fascist Disneyland? reveal tensions behind a facade of stability. by Neil Lawrence Two large circles appear on the tourist map of Rangoon: One, just north of the city?s downtown core, marks Shwedagon Pagoda, the spiritual center of Burmese Buddhism and the country?s most famous tourist attraction. The other, slightly larger, is tucked away in the upper-left-hand corner of the map, just west of Mingaladon International Airport. Not exactly a tourist attraction, its name has a sinister resonance that at once evokes the "other" Burma: Insein Prison..."

Creator/author: 

Neil Lawrence

Source/publisher: 

"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 1

Date of Publication: 

2001-01-00

Date of entry: 

2003-06-03

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Language: 

English

Format: 

Size: