1.
Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on
“Approaches to Responsible Tourism and
Human Rights in Myanmar”
Tourism development in Kayah State:
cultures and communities
By: Potjana Suansri and Pascal Khoo Twe
Date: 1 October 2015

2.
Placing Kayah State on the tourism map
Three year project launch in September 2014 aims to
enhance job creation and socio-economic development
in Myanmar through an inclusive tourism approach to
benefit local communities.
This project is part of the Netherlands Trust Fund III
programme in support of Export Sector Competitiveness
financed by the Centre for the promotion of Import from
developing countries (CBI)
2

3.
Cultural tourism development
in Pan Pet Kayan village,
and Hta Nee La Leh Kayah village,
Kayah State,
Myanmar.
3

4.
Timeline : working with communities
Community
study
Our Good
Things
Study Tour
Program and
Activities
Product
testing and
management
4
June
July
August
August
Septembe
r

5.
Community Study
5

6.
6
Community Study

7.
Community Cultural Tours… ‘behind the scenes’
7
Developing tourism in partnership
with local communities is not simple.
Requires a step by step process,
combined with respect & empathy:
 Meet the people: learn who is
active and interested?
 Make friends and earn trust;
 Work as a team to Identify cultural
and natural resources, with
potential for cultural tourism;
‘Community Involvement in Tourism’

8.
Our Good Things
8
Why is ‘X’ special and important ?
What else should tourists learn
or understand about ‘X’?
What can tourists do? (do, see, hear,
smell, touch, taste, imagine)
Are there any dangers or risks?
Are there any taboos?

9.
9
Study Tour in Thailand

10.
10
Study Tour in Thailand

11.
Study Tour in Thailand
11

12.
Hta Nee La Leh Village – Seven Lakes
 Full day tour
• Morning: Kayah cultural insight 2.Lunch – Kayah BBQ
• Afternoon: arts and music experience
 Half day tour
• Option 1: Cultural insight
• Option 2: Arts and music experience 3
• Option 3: Highlights
• One option and Kayah BBQ experience
 Kayah BBQ experience at 7 lakes
12

13.
Half day tour Option 1: Kayah cultural insight
13
Welcome to Hta Nee La Leh
Short history
Do’s & Don’ts

14.
Half day tour Option 1: Kayah cultural insight
14
Visit totem and animist temple, where spirits of
nature and village ancestors are worshipped
Try their hands playing a temple drum
Learn about local beliefs, including the
Deku festival
Learn fortune telling using chicken bones

15.
Half day tour Option 1: Kayah cultural insight
15
Visit the hunting shaman
Explain the role of hunting
in Kayah culture
Try their hand shooting a
catapult
Visit the hunting shrine

16.
Half day tour Option 2:Arts and Music experience16
Meet artistic and musical skills
Listen to traditional
instruments
Have a go playing the
instruments
Learn and try on traditional
dress

17.
Visit a traditional Kayah house
17
Visit a traditional Kayah house
Explain how traditional
houses are made
Telling about life in the village
when they were young

18.
Enjoy a ride on an ox cart around the village 18
Traveling past the field
Learn what kinds of agriculture
are being practiced
Local guide may point out the fields
where your lunch was grown

19.
Kayah BBQ Experience at Seven Lakes
19
Enjoy a traditional Kayah BBQ on the
lakeside
Help to prepare it, if they wish
Presentation of local food, local
dress and time for cultural exchange.

20.
Do, learn, feel, share… in Pan Pet Villages
20
 Half day tour
1) Attractive shops, unique products
2) Hands-on, creative, cultural exchange experiences;
 Full day tour
• Local guides to be trained for forest trekking
1) Nature Trail – gentle trekking, through the fields
around the village – learn about local way of life
2) The Trail of the Ancestors - moderate, scenic trek
to the original settlement of Pan Pet villages
 Local food menu

21.
Shopkeepers and souvenirs
21
Make Friends before you take photos
Encourage visitors to speak and interact
and communicate with local people
Present and sell their products
Oh So
Oh
MayaTerai
Bana

22.
Hands on activities in Pan Pet
22
Give guests the chance to handcraft
their own meaningful souvenir.
Learning to play traditional
Kayan instruments
Hands-on activities

23.
Gentle trekking to explore local way of life 23
Enjoy views of surrounding,
forested hills and valleys.
Visit the original Pan Pet
Offer authentic, jungle
picnics to guest.

24.
Tour Operator Prioritisation: UMTA
24
Destination / activity
Not
interested
A little
interested Interested
Very
interested
Loikaw and Demoso
1 Loikaw ethnic group museum 4 9 3
2 Demoso weaving center 1 12 4
3 The path of natural dying 1 9 7
4 The Kayah sausage experience 2 8 6
Other needs / ideas?
Hta Nee La Leh
5 Cultural insight (Totem, Shamen, Hunting) 1 8 8
6 Arts and music experience 2 8 6
7 Visit a traditional, local home 1 5 11
8 Ride in an ox cart and explore the area 3 7 6
9 Kayah BBQ experience - cook, eat cultural exchange 1 5 10
10 Kayah BBQ experience - eat and cultural exchange 1 8 7
Other needs / ideas?
Pan Pet
11 Shopping and cultural exchange 5 8 3
12 Hands-on activities (make your own souvenir) 2 7 7
13 Gentle trekking close to the villages 5 12
14 Full day trek - 'Trail of the Ancestors' 2 7 7
15 Jungle picnic 2 6 9
Other needs / ideas?

25.
Product testing : Pan Pet
25

26.
Product testing : Hta Nee La Leh
26

27.
Management : Hta Nee La Leh
Local Guide
• 5000-8000 Ks
Oxcart
• 4000 Ks
BBQ
• 5000 Ks
27
Community Fund

28.
Management : Pan Pet
Local Guide
• 5,000-8,000 Ks
Jungle Lunch
• 5,000 Ks
Performance
• 60,000 Ks
28
Community
Fund ?!?

29.
Project Steering Committee Meeting
and Visit Hta Nee Lah Leh
29