Tourism, Ethnicity, and Territory Appropriation in Post-Dictatorial Myanmar: The Case of Inle Lake Region

Introduction

This paper focuses on Inle Lake region, located on the very western edge of the Shan plateau, a stone’s throw from the Irrawaddy valley. It has a peculiar situation: it is neither part of the center nor a remote periphery; neither part of the Bamar heartland nor a core Shan territory. It is a transitional zone, a “liminal space” (Douglas 2013:192) between Bamar and Tai worlds. The liminality is not only spatial: it reaches much deeper; it opens spaces of uncertainty and potential and it “points to in-between situations and conditions where established structures are dislocated, hierarchies reversed, and traditional settings of authority possibly endangered” (Mälksoo 2012). This “in-between” region is therefore a prime vantage point to observe the complexity of the transformations of Myanmar.

What we call “Inle Lake region” comprises (1) the Nyaungshwe valley and the three lakes that lie at its bottom, along a north–south axis: Inle, Samkar, and Mobye, all connected by the Balu River; (2) the first rows of hills that line the valley (figure 1). This entity features a double coherence. From a topographical point of view, it encompasses highland and lowlands, upstream and downstream, complementary ecosystems. From a social point of view, it brings together different ethnic groups which networks and solidarities have truly structured the region (Robinne 2000).

Figure 1.

Inle Lake region: A lake chain between Bamar and Tai worlds. Map by the author.

The Shan are reportedly the earliest to establish polities in the region. Mainly present in the lowlands north and south of Inle, they grow paddy and corn. The Pa-O belong to the Karen ethnolinguistic group and reportedly settled there in the eleventh century. Most of them live in the hills east and southwest of the lake, farming sebesten tree (Cordia dichotoma), as well as corn, turmeric, ginger, or onion. Intha, whose ethnonym means “the sons of the lake,” reportedly migrated from Tanintharyi in the thirteenth century. According to linguistic analysis by D. Bernot, they speak an “old Burmese” dialect and are culturally quite close to the Bamar (Bernot and Bruneau 1972:74). They live in stilt villages on the lake itself and engage in an original form of floating agriculture. They also catch fish, rowing their teak canoes in a unique fashion—with their legs. Some live in the lowlands surrounding the waterbody, farming paddy, sugarcane, and corn. This complex social fabric is complemented by Danu, Taungyo, and Danaw groups. In his seminal work about Inle Lake, F. Robinne (2000, 2011) delved into the complexity of the local “social landscape”: not only did he highlight how social relationships and economic complementarities between ethnic groups gave coherence, and even identity to the region, but he also emphasized the long history of rivalries between Intha, Shan, and Pa-O, all jostling for regional hegemony.

Inle Lake has been one of the tourism highlights of Myanmar since the mid-twentieth century. However, the activity remained quite confidential until the 1996 Visit Myanmar Year, a promotional event initiated by Than Shwe regime to attract hard currencies, restore its reputation on the international stage, and contribute to the “Myanmafication” of the country (Houtman 1999). This Visit Myanmar Year laid the foundation of modern mass tourism with a network of hotels, tour guides, and so on. Inle Lake received 3,200 foreign visitors in 1994, and 22,400 in 1997 (Aye Myint 2007:27). Due to the calls to boycott, and domestic and international incidents, tourism in Inle stagnated between 20,000 and 30,000 people a year until the 2011 political transition, which initiated its real boom: 29,900 visitors in 2011, and 225,000 in 2017, according to Ministry of Hotels and Tourism statistics. Local tourism focuses on Intha people’s way of life: virtually every visitor cruises on the lake, observing fishermen, floating gardens, stilt villages, pagodas built on islands, handicraft workshops, and others.

The link between tourism and identities is now familiar to the researcher. The clich...