Responsible Travel through the Myanmar / Burma Lens

By Noa Deutsch 9 min read
Responsible Travel through the Myanmar / Burma Lens

I want to start by asking you two questions.

  1. When was the first time you associated travel with politics?
  2. Do you think about responsible tourism?

Over tourism has been getting progressively worse for decades, but more so in recent years. I think we all know what the issues are, and the role social media has been playing in making it worse.

I love travelling, exploring different cultures, scenery and food (which can be challenging sometimes because of the whole celiac thing). On the other hand, there is also guilt. I feel guilt for contributing to the problem by travelling.

Of course, there are ways to be more responsible and respectful when you travel. I think about responsible travel every single time I plan a trip.

The first time I associated travel with politics, was in 2017 when I visited Myanmar / Burma. I was there for a photography workshop (my second one), and it was pivotal in many ways. It also happened to be the first time I gave responsible tourism more thought.

Why did I decide to travel to Myanmar / Burma?

Myanmar / Burma is a prime example of South East Asian culture and scenery. Because of it's isolation, it has remained relatively untouched by Western influence. To be honest, that was a major draw for me.

On the surface, it seemed like a magical, unknown land and I wanted to see it with my own eyes. When I started exploring Myanmar / Burma under the surface, I realized how political travel can be... Starting with my decision to visit the country to begin with.

My first photography workshop was to Lofoten Islands (Norway) in February 2017. I wasn't sure photography workshops would be my thing, so it was a bit of an experiment. I absolutely loved it and have been on many workshops around the world since. The same (USA based) photographer who lead the Norway workshop had a workshop scheduled to Myanmar / Burma for that fall. My curiosity was peaked, so I started reading more about it. It became clear that it was a now or who knows when kind of a trip, so I booked it.

The photography workshop was run by a photographer who has worked in travel and tourism for decades, along side a second photographer. We also had a local guide with us the entire 10 - 12 days, which was incredibly valuable for learning about the history and connecting with locals more authentically as we travelled through the country. Having the private, local guide was also important for reasons that I will get into below.

I believe that when you visit a place that has a different culture than what you are used to, it's important to take the time to learn a bit more about the history, local customs and political climate. It allows you to immerse yourself in the culture and leads to a more meaningful travel experience, one that leaves a mark.

In the case of Myanmar / Burma, I think learning more about the political climate before vising was key... More on this below.


A Quick & Recent Myanmar / Burma Background

Myanmar / Burma is fascinating with a rich and often troubled history that goes back centuries. I am very glad I got to experience it when I did, as it is not quite like anywhere else I visited.

It has been under military rule for decades, suffering from widespread poverty and civil war with ethnic minority groups. Corrupt military rule lead to human rights abuse, displacement of civilians and (child) slave labor to build tourist infrastructure.

In 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won in Burma's first multi-party elections in thirty years. The party was never allowed to govern and the democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi (a Nobel prize winner) suffered from many restrictions, including years of house arrest.

In the fall of 2007, thousands of monks protested against the military regime. During the late 90's and early 2000's, Aung San Suu Kyi called for international tourism boycott because tourism money was going into the pockets of the military generals and because it could make the military authorities think that the international community is okay with the human rights violations committed. Many countries boycotted Myanmar / Burma for ethical reasons as a result during that time.

There are always two sides, and the Free Burma coalition (Burmese-led political initiative), noted that "an open society can not be built in and through isolation". In 2011, Aung San Suu Kyi invited tourists back, urging them to promote the welfare of the people, the conservation of the environment and to learn about the cultural, political and social life.

I found this article interesting, as it briefly presents both sides of the story when it comes to a tourism boycott (it was written in 2006 and updated in 2015), as well as this one for more background. There are many more, of course, but you can start there and do additional reading as you see fit.

In 2010 Aung San Suu Kyi was finally released and in 2011, a transition started from full military rule. Sadly, hopes of democratic reform did not come true. The military maintained a level of control over the government and started brutally ethnic cleansing the Rohingya, a mostly muslin ethnic minority, in the fall of 2017.

Remember I mentioned guilt earlier? Yeah, I definitely felt guilt for visiting Myanmar while it's people are suffering. That said, I visited when there was no tourism boycott, things were relatively status que and there were options for responsible tourism.

Sadly, not for long. If the trip had been scheduled for 2018, I would not have visited this magical country. You can not and should not visit it now.

Eventually, in February 2021, Military commanders seized control of the Myanmar /Burma government. Activists, journalists and citizens risk facing criminal charges, arrest and severe violence for voicing objection to military rule. Millions are displaced, including hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. Read more here.

There has been a brutal civil war since 2021 and it is unsafe to visit - Here is the Canadian travel advisory. My thoughts are with the people of Myanmar / Burma and I hope they get their freedom asap.

I think it is clear to see why my decision to travel to Myanmar / Burma made me think about the connection between politics and travel.


Here is what we did during out trip to support the locals directly and travel responsibly. These things may seem small, but they were impactful. Obviously, these apply to many if not all destinations.

A local guide

Our guide was a soft spoken, kind, smart and wonderful man who shared stories about his life in Myanmar, his life outside of Myanmar, his time as a monk, the people, the culture and more. Despite everything happening over there, he loved his country and it was an honor to have him share it with us.

Do not sneak photos of people in public

This trip was the first time I did both portrait photography and street photography. I was deeply out of my comfort zone.

We donated funds directly to the monasteries so we could take photos of the young monks, visit a school, a monastery... The same applied for the long neck women, every day people at various places, fishermen, etc.

That said, unless arranged in advance like we did, it is advised not to pay people for photographs because that can encourage begging.

When photographing in the markets for example, we asked for consent. How do you ask for consent when there is a language barrier? You lift the camera, point at it and wait for the response. They let us know if photos are welcome or not - Some turned around to hide their face, indicating that taking photos isn't welcome. Some went into full on model mode, striking a pose. Others nodded in agreement, then went back to whatever it was they were doing.

In many cases, after taking a photo, they pointed at the camera and it was fun showing them the photos we took and seeing their response. A small, but impactful way to interact with the locals, sharing some smiles and laughter.

Learn about the country and it's people

Myanmar has a complex, rich, troubled and fascinated history and it would have been a shame visiting it blindly, especially when the purpose was to photograph it and learning more about it in the process!

I read the book 'from the land of green ghosts' before my visit, and learned a lot from our guide throughout the trip.

Spend local

Money obviously plays a major role in travel and tourism. Money is also political... Combine the two and you'll see that being mindful of where your money is going it really important when you visit other countries.

I mentioned the local guide above. We also stayed at hotels that are not owned by the government, purchased things locally, ate at local restaurants (it was a bit of a challenge for me with gluten, but our guide was very helpful), donated to local monasteries...

I purchased several scarves directly from those who hand made them (both in Bagan and Inle Lake) and I still use each one regularly.

As an example, the women of the Kayan tribe (long necks women) migrated to Inle Lake to earn their living through tourism. Sadly, some people get off the boat, take photos of them and carry on, meaning these women get nothing in return (these women are exploited in Thailand, but that is a story for another time). We donated funds, as well as purchased from them (I got a scarf and a bracelet) and I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with them with our guide as the middle man.

Follow and respect local customs

Myanmar is a very conservative and religious country. Both men and women do not wear shorts and shoulders are covered.

This is especially important when entering temples, and there are a lot of those everywhere - You must cover both your knees and shoulders. This is where those scarves purchased locally came in handy!

A few other things - Do not point your feet at anything (especially buddha) or place your feet on tables (you also must go into temples barefoot), do not touch buddha or someone's head and do not touch monks.

Learning about the country you are vising and following their customs is a sign of respect in a country like Myanmar / Burma in particular, but the same goes everywhere else too.


I know that the points above are not directly applicable as you will not be able to visit Myanmar / Burma at the moment, but you can modify them so they apply to other destinations.

If you plan various trips in 2025, I invite you to consider your footprint on those destinations, if you have not already.

I hope you enjoy the photos of this magical (yet troubled) country. These are just a small sample... The full gallery can be seen by clicking the button below (it was very hard narrowing it down to 275 photos out of thousands...)⤵️