Border tourism nosedives after permit system modified

By Zaw Win Than
Auguet 8 - 14, 2011

 

Myanmar men walk past a border checkpoint in Jiegao, on the Chinese side of the Myanmar-China border. 

TOURISM industry stakeholders are urging the government to repeal a new rule stipulating that tourists must enter and exit the country at the same checkpoint when using border crossings.

The number of tourists entering the country by land rose almost 150 percent in the first half of 2011 year-on-year, but approvals for border entry permits have come to a virtual standstill since the directive was issued in June.

Industry stakeholders say the government should be making it easier rather than harder for tourists to enter the country at border checkpoints, particularly from China and Thailand, and have warned the change could damage the industry’s competitiveness.

“It’s been hard to get permits for [border areas] since June,” confirmed aspokesperson at a leading Yangon-based tour operator.

“When we recently submitted an application for a border entry permit the office of the Union Government replied that the permit could not be given as it did not follow the procedure that tourists enter and exit from the same border checkpoint,” he said.

“This means tourists who enter at Ruili/Muse or Tachileik now need to go all the way back to those gateways when they leave.

“We cannot just sell trips to Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake any more. We need to diversify our products. Tours combining Myanmar with China and Thailand are attractive ... but these tours can no longer be promoted because of this new regulation. Our competitiveness and attractiveness in the region are at stake.”

Previously permits were issued by the respective Bureau of Special Operations and the application process took 10 to 14 days through the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. However, the new government has shifted responsibility for the permits from the Ministry of Defense to the office of Union Government.

From January 1 to the end of June, 18,073 tourists entered the country via border checkpoints, up from 7236 in same period in 2010.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism confirmed the change. He would not disclose why the border permit system had been tightened, but it is thought to be because of security concerns.

Ko Aung Naing, managing director of EPG Travel in Yangon, said the new rules had had a noticeable impact on his business.

“Previously many of our guests came from Muse and exited Yangon by air, or came in at Tachileik and left from Yangon,” Ko Aung Naing said.

“But now my guests can’t come in from the border and leave Yangon by air or vice versa. For most people it’s not possible to do sightseeing and go back out the same check point,” he said.

The spokesperson from the Yangon travel agency said the government needed to look at the situation elsewhere in the region, where crossing land borders was getting easier rather than more difficult.

He cited the example of Thailand, where tour operators sell packages combining Thailand with Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar.

“Operators in Cambodia and Laos do the same,” he said. “They sell tours combining their products with Thailand and Vietnam.”

In May, Thai state news agency MCOT reported that the Thai government was seeking Myanmar’s cooperation to open the Singkorn border crossing, which would speed up travel between Myeik in Tanintharyi Region and Prachuap Khiri Khan on the Gulf of Thailand, less than 300 kilometres south of Bangkok.

The report stated that the then-Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot planned to lead a delegation to the Singkorn checkpoint to inspect its readiness in anticipation that would be developed into a permanent border crossing.