Come on in, Burma’s lovely

A travel operator has caused outrage by playing down Burma’s problems, writes edward loxton

Even in times of bloody suppression and international outrage, it seems, the multi-billion-pound travel industry must continue to turn a profit.

The CEO of Diethelm Travel Asia, which specialises in trips to Burma among other countries, has written a memo to corporate employees and business partners that has infuriated Burmese exiles and human rights groups by suggesting that the situation in Rangoon is not as the media has painted it.

Looking out from his hotel in the former Burmese capital, John Watson (right) wrote: "As I sit here in the late afternoon overlooking the water from the Dusit Inya Lake Resort in Yangon [Rangoon], it is difficult to reconcile the peace and tranquility against the images in the media of Myanmar [Burma] over the last short period of time."

He claimed not to have encountered a single soldier in Rangoon and ended his

John Watson wrote: ‘It is safe to go to Myanmar where a warm welcome from the locals awaits’

message by suggesting it was again safe to visit Burma - though "normal precautions should be observed... avoid anything remotely resembling a crowd gathering".

If his peace wasn't shattered that same night by military raids on the city's cowed residents, it has since been destroyed by a wave of angry reaction from Burmese exiles and human rights organisations.

"John Watson is clearly living on a different planet from the rest of us, one where the brutal suppression of peaceful protest with thousands arrested, possibly hundreds killed, and so many people facing brutal torture, is nothing more than a diversion from the important business of making money by selling holidays," said a spokesman for the London-based Burma Campaign-UK.

"Disgraceful," said a spokeswoman of the Free Burma campaign movement in Thailand. "How can you sit in a junta-financed hotel and ignore what is going on around you? We realise tourism in Burma has been badly hit by events there, but this is a disgusting way to persuade people to visit."