I was excited to receive the following email from our Director in Myanmar Tin. We are huge fans of Myanmar and it’s amazing people and we are excited that the government seems to be moving in a positive direction!

We’re also excited to announce a new direct flight between Yangon and Siem Reap…this is great news for us as we can now easily reach Myanmar, but also great news for our travelers who will be able to go directly from Yangon to Siem Reap or vice versa starting this month! The inaugural flight will be February 23rd from Yangon to Siem Reap and then returning February 26th. And now, a note from Tin:

“Greetings!   The situation in Myanmar is quite and normal as usual.  National Assembly has successfully held in the past few days with elected new president, vice presidents etc.  There is no doubt that a large part of power and decision-makers are rendered into the hand of military-associated personnel.  But, there shall be some civilian involvements in the provincial parliaments that could, to some extent, affect to change the mind-set of old bureaucrats.  This 2010-2015 five year tenure of Parliament could be the confidence-building time between military and civilians.  A change is going to happen for sure.  But, no one knows how long will it take. It all depends on the qualification of the members in each parliament, to what extent and in what way they work of the country.

But still, the country is safe to travel.  More and more people believe that tourism is benefiting the local life rather than straightening the military’s power-grip. We are excited to see what 2011 has to offer us!” – Tin Htun… Read more »