Very often, those with rabid views are those who have never been to Burma. Ignorance is fear. Until they have actually been there to experience and see for themselves, they have no right to rant and rave to others. They are doing more harm than good to the poor, ordinary, Burmese.
It is typical Western arrogance to think that we can use force and might to bully the third World. A little humility goes a long way. We have a lot to learn from them.

P Sutton, Kent, UK

Burma is a fantastic place, lets hope it never gets mass tourists to ruin it like Thailand.

anne meile, bissone, switzerland

And even if you do not visit Burma, you support the government every time you fly from Europe to Thailand because the airline pays for overfly rights.

Why does the Burma campaign not talk about boycotting Thailand for this reason?

Karl, Bangkok, Thailand

The Burmese people I met on my holiday a few years ago were lovely people and I think they enjoyed the contacts with us Brits. I was a little uncomfortable and sensed the horrors of the regime. However, I cannot understand why Burma is being singled out for boycott. I had this same unease on a recent holiday to Cambodia and was shocked by the corruption and nepotism. I was appalled at the way residents around Siem Reap were being moved to make way for development.. The temple complexes in Angkor Wat , beaches in Sihanoukvillle and other attractions appear to be in the hands of private business connected to Government. However, as in Burma, the people were very friendly and benefited from touristm . There are regimes all round the world handling their nationhood in different ways, many of which seem strange and possibly abhorrent to the West. Isolation does not help the people. I try to spend my money in non government establishments and talk about the issues when I return to UK.

John Sanders, Colchester, UK

The comment by the poster below, "You will not get to know any genuine locals as your encounters will be carefully engineered" is completely wrong. I am Burmese, a former political prisoner and now in exile. But I know from both Burmese and non-Burmese friends who travel there, that it is still very easy to meet Burmese people free of any government control and that nearly all Burmese people welcome more tourists. I lived in Burma until late 1990s and had no problem when I met foreigners. Most Burmese people want foreigners to stay away from hotels owned by the government but everyone wants to be more open to the world. U Thant Myint-U is right and we should support responsible tourism to Burma. We need contacts with Western countries. What good is it if all tourists to Burma in future come only from China?

Hla Min, Leeds, UK

Burma certainly needs everybody who is genuinely interested in it's plight and wishes to help. The last thing it nees is for it's people to be isolated and made the guilty party. All major governments have been playing politics in Burma in a very big way while. To date there has only been high profile lip services paid to the delight of those who suport those perfunctory gestures. The outcome of which could clearly be seen apart from the blinded. The past decade or more of attempts to isolate Burma had achieved nothing, not even Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed her freedom; and the people continue to suffer greater tragedy. The past attempts to isolate Burma has only achieved to enrich the generals in Burma; allow them to fortify their entrenchment and contine with impunity; while they do give emotional comfort , gives feel good factor to US & UK. Isolating and stopping travellers to Burma merely assist the inherently isolationist desires of the regime.

Soe-Wynn, Leeds, UK

"You will not get to know any genuine locals as your encounters will be carefully engineered" - funny, I have never experienced that during my myriad trips in Myanmar, including visits to both Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and former members of the military government. Like Mark Farmaner, I guess this poster must also be living in cloud-cuckoo land.

Kyaw Kyaw Win, London,

Don't go. You will not get to know any genuine locals as your encounters will be carefully engineered. If you do by chance have an unplanned encounter the unfortunate Burmese participant will offer traditional warmth and hospitality, then spend 48 hours in detention under interrogation. It is the same in Tibet and parts of Eastern Turkey. You will gradually sense an insidious undercurrent of fear and violence. Ultimately you do as your conscience dictates, but it is not good enough to say staying away will change nothing. It will prevent you legitimising the situation for starters.

Ben Gunn, canterbury, Kent

After everything that's happened in Iraq, we should all be wary of any coercive attempt to 'create' new democracies anywhere in the world. And sanctions and boycotts are a type of coercion. Does Mr Farmaner agree with sanctions on Cuba? Does he believe that isolating Vietnam today would help speed up democratic change? I've lived and worked in China and Vietnam and have visited Burma several times. Thant Myint-U is absolutely right. Burma's biggest problem is its isolation. Of course there are human rights abuses - no one denies that - but there's also poverty and a hundred and one other problems as well in that beautiful and fascinating country. Isolating it is no answer. I highly recommend reading Thant Myint-U's book "The River of Lost Foosteps". As William Dalrymple writes on the cover, it's a 'revelation' and should be required reading for anyone concerned with Burma.

Andrew Highet, Guildford, UK

A lot of people argue that Burma shouldn't be visited as visitors will be literally supporting the military dictatorship.
But, think about it, do we stop feeding a bed-ridden patient with a serious virus in order to kill and stop the spread of thriving virus inside the body! ;no we do not. likewise, it's not a very logical reason to say that one shouldn't visit Burma solely because of its government. To be exact, the taxation system in Burma is not efficient enough to provide a high percentage of foreign income for the government.
And, most important of all, you will thoroughly enjoy your trip.Why? well,it's so cheap! and every thing is very exotic and most of the area is still left unspoiled.. free of car exhausts, all sorts of pollutions,etc.. And, in Burma, most of the food is bought in markets , not in supermarkets with huge freezer so most of the food is organic and very fresh.. so, why not visit there? I hope people could understand why i recommend visiting this country!

T.H.Win, Croydon, UK

I went to Burma with a clear conscience. I think its important to go to these places and see what actually happens there. I don't think you are entitled to moralise unless you've been somewhere...

I am not a big believer in sanctions/embargos anyway as I feel it tends to hurt the people who most need the income, which tourism can bring.

Certainly some of my money went to the Government when I was forced to exchange USD for the Foreign Exchange Certificates at the airport on arrival but after that I stayed in independently owned hotels, took taxi rides, went on hikes with local guides, ate at restaurants, bought souvenirs and my money went straight in local pockets.

Also the Burmese are keen to meet people from the outside. They don't exactly enjoy being cut off you know! Some people want to talk about the political situation with you, albeit secretly and others just want to pass the time of day with you. I felt extremely welcome there.

Francesca, Nassau, Bahamas

Mark Farmaner of the Burma Campaign-UK - with no roots in or organic link with my country, Burma or Myanmar - stated "Aung San Suu Kyi and the democracy movement have asked tourists to stay away" in order apparently to establish the moral basis for his London-based tourism boycott campaign. Two fundamental problems here: first, nobody knows whether the Burmese dissident still holds this anti-tourism view, which she once aired years ago, and second, "the Burmese democracy movement" has, by defnition, multiple views and does not advance a single consensus position on tourism, trade and commerce in and with Burma. Before Mr Farmaner discovered our country many of us Burmese, exiled, jailed, under surveillance by the junta inside Burma or abroad built global boycott campaigns; but, after 17 years, we realize, with Myint-U, "taking a moral stand is different from helping to change things for the better. And staying away won’t change anything in Burma." Zarni, Free Burma Coalition

zar ni, Oxford, UK

If you want to go to Burma then go. If you don't then don't! But ignore all the campaigners -a bunch of neo-stalinists the lot of them. Do not be blackmailed by this respect our wishes stuff. Your money so spend it how you like before the taxman steals it away from you. More important is to find out whether you will like it in Burma.

Emily W, Cambridge, UK

I encourage you to go to Burma and work at British council. You will have wonderful experience. People are very nice and very keen to learn English.

Khin, Yangon, Myanmar

A good case can be made to show that the Burmese Government is in fact subsidising tourism. Thailand earns from tourism in four days what Burma earns in a year. Natural gas exports in 2006 amounted to US$ 1.2 billion, but gross tourism receipts to only US$ 165 million of which most if not all was spent on the provision of goods and services - and the non-payment of taxes and land rentals to the State because profits are non-existent. The tourist industry in Burma is generally a loss-making business.

Opinions are divided among Burma-watchers, but even the fiercest critics of the junta generally agree that responsible, enlightened travel to Burma should be encouraged, even if holidaymakers are advised to stay away. From what she has said in the past, and from what she has told me personally, I have no reason to suppose that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would not fully agree with this.

Derek Tonkin, Guildford, Surrey

I must agree with Mark Farmaner and colleagues who work towards a free Burma that those who truly care about democracy in Burma and ending the human rights abuses suffered by its citizens should NOT visit Burma.

As Aung San Suu Kyi has stated, “people should not come to Burma. Because the bulk of the money from tourism goes straight into the pockets of the generals. And not only that, it’s a form of moral support for them because it makes the military authorities think that the international community is not opposed to the human rights violations which they are committing all the time.”

It is absolutely immoral to support the work of the brutal Burmese junta. If you want to know more about Burma, visit the Thai/Burma border or the Burmese border with Bangladesh. There you will find refugees who truly know the country.

Take a stand against the junta, and speak for human rights! There is no other ethical way.

Caitlin Burnett, Washington, DC

the reason Burma stays at the forefront of my thoughts and why i pass my knowledge, perspective and insight on the country to others is the simple fact that i spent time there - i met and was touched by a wonderful people, an amazing history and a tragic story. If i'd never been, i'd be a typical indifferent observer - like most in the West.

Those who preach the 'dont go' theory are, with few exceptions, either hypocrites or charlatans. HOw can you pass judgement on a place you've never been and if you have, how can you moralise abstinence to others?

Responsible and educated tourism to Burma is essential to the Burmese and to the West. Isolationism is no answer.

Ian, Shanghai, China

I am curious .What do the writers think about the presence of the British Council in Burma?
Recently I was offered a job at the English Language Teaching Centre there and was very keen to go.My colleagues argued against taking up a position.
The British Council has an office there which is a going concern with local wealthy Burmese paying to attend language classes.
This being the case ,where does the UK ,and those employed by the British Council stand in terms of supporting the regime? Should the employees and the Council be supported or condemned?

julie , Pyle, uk

When we put the politics conflict- the theory of democracy versus dictatorships behind. By looking their majority daily life of burma, what i saw during I stayed in Burma was the people have a high moral virtues and peace of mind due to the buddhist culture influence.
By visiting Burma, that is the direct way we can help ordinary burmist from unable to buy foods to has money to purchase daily food or needs. Personally, I think organisation who promote "tourist not to visit Burma" is more on political issues, but it will totally bring disaster and made ordinary burmist who live in the tourirst areas poorer and more suffer in the short run. Please dont promote such unintelligent suggestion that wont made burmist life easier but harder.

Diamond, segamat,

The writer likes to pick on Cambodia. At least it has a democractically elected government and the election process there is no worse than recent elections in Scotland. He is confused by the difference between an elected one party state (China, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam) and a state where there are no elections (Burma and N Korea)

Morever, he totally misses the fact that Thailand is currently run by a military dictatorship.

Time to sharpen your democratic facts.

Anthony Ainsworth, Bnagkok, Thailand