Following the near-disastrous injury of a foreign tourist in northern Shan State last month, Aung San Suu Kyi’s new government has set up a committee to monitor the actions of tourists and tour companies in Myanmar.
The Committee for the Smooth Entrance of Foreign Visitors was established May 4, according to the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a few weeks after a female tourist was injured in a landmine explosion in an off-limits zone. She escaped with minor wounds.
“Their guide took them into a restricted area in Kyaukme in April,” said Myint Htway, director of the Department of Hotels and Tourism. “They traveled around the outskirts of the town, but [foreign travelers] are only permitted to wander within the town itself.
The new committee will liaise with local police in rural areas to find out if foreign travelers are entering restricted areas or simply displaying “unsuitable behavior within cultural zones”. Dancing on the ancient Bagan temples, for example…
It will also be tasked with educating tour companies on rules and regulations.
Those that violate the laws – taking foreigners to restricted areas, for instance – will face prosecution.
