bust Posted June 26, 2010 Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 That's 99% of the country Did I ever tell you the story of my SPDC escort from Mandalay to Maymyo? The exact reason why I don't register where I am staying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpiceMan Posted June 26, 2010 Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 You had to have a government escort? How did that work out? Excuse me for being ignorant and going slightly off topic but I have a question. What is the correct way to pronounce Myanmar? A Thai I know says Me anmar so is it Me or My? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted June 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 Sorry Shygye' date=' not sure what you mean? "Visitors must use licensed hotels and state details on the visa form."[/quote'] How do you prove you will be using an official hotel? It doesn't say you have to prove it, it just says you have to stay at one of the registered hotels and put the hotels details on the application form. Perhaps they check later to see if you're actually there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted June 26, 2010 Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 You had to have a government escort? How did that work out? Excuse me for being ignorant and going slightly off topic but I have a question. What is the correct way to pronounce Myanmar? A Thai I know says Me anmar so is it Me or My? The escort was not my idea. Happens a lot to westerners travelling alone. Suspicious lot the junta. Observer was probably a better description. As for the pronunciation of Myanmar....it is pronounced B U R M A The name of myanmar (me an mar) was introduced to enable the junta to wipe the history of Burma from all forms of literature. There is a special government department who's entire purpose is to rewrite documents erasing any reference to the country as Burma. Another example was the changing of the name of the capital from Rangoon to Yangon. If you google "Rangoon" the first thing that comes up is a a map of "Yangon" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous God Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Bit like those evil commies who changed Peking to Beijing And the Indians who changed Calcutta Sorry - I disagree with everything about the junta, except the right of a country to change their name one that came from colonial squatters. From Wiki The name "Burma" is derived from the Burmese word "Bamar" (ဗမာ), which in turn is the colloquial form of Myanmar (မြá€â€Ã¡â‚¬ÂºÃ¡â‚¬â„¢Ã¡â‚¬Â¬) (or Mranma in old Burmese), both of which historically referred to the majority Burmans (or the Bamar). Depending on the register used the pronunciation would be "Bama" (pronounced [bÉ™mà]), or "Myanmah" (pronounced [mjÉ™mà]). The name "Burma" has been in use in English since the time of British colonial rule. In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many colonial-era names, including the name of the country to "Myanmar". This prompted one scholar to coin the term "Myanmarification" to refer to the top-down programme of political and cultural reform in the context of which the renaming was done. The renaming remains a contested issue.[6] While most of the name changes are closer to their actual Burmese pronunciations, many opposition groups and countries continue to oppose their use in English because they recognise neither the legitimacy of the ruling military government nor its authority to rename the country or towns in English.[7] Various non-Burman ethnic groups choose to not recognise the name because the term Myanmar has historically been used as a label for the majority ethnic group, the Bamar, rather than for the country.[8][9][10] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Changing your name is one thing but erasing the former name from history is pure evil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous God Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 That's a totally different story though - like many ex colonial countries they chose a name closer to the original, as per the link above. Yes the regime is vile, etc, but I don't see anything wrong with changing the name, USA and Australia are criminal in re-writing history, totally separate issues from changing names - especially if it's closer to the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Personally I liked Van Diemen's Land Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Does anyone know the latest on visas for Burma, as I would quite like to visit in June. I seem to recall that the visa on arrival, which I posted about in June 2010, was stopped not long after, although perhaps temporarily. Is it back on again, now that the Junta are being so "nice"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baa99 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Visa Info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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