Protesters target Air Bagan for boycott over junta links

Friday, 29 October 2010 16:46 Thea Forbes

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A group of westerners launched a boycott against Air Bagan in northern Thailand yesterday over its tycoon owner’s close connections to the ruling Burmese military junta.

Nine protesters gathered outside of the office of the largest private airline in Burma in Chiang Mai, Thailand to register their opposition to junta cronies, such as the carrier’s owner, billionaire Tay Za.

“Our boycott against Air Bagan is about informing travellers to Burma to look for alternatives to travelling on Air Bagan, and not allowing them to expand unchecked in Thailand,” demonstration spokesman Garret Kostin told Mizzima.

Protesters arrived at the airline’s office at noon on Thursday armed with placards, leaflets and whistles. Employees of Air Bagan quickly shut the office after the protest commenced.

The demonstators then walked around Loi Kroh Road and Thapae Gate (the ancient entrance to the old city), and other tourist areas of Chiang Mai, delivering leaflets and information in Thai and English to pedestrians, travel agencies and tour operators.

Tay Za is a close business associate of the military regime and a confidant of junta chief Than Shwe.

The Air Bagan office opened in Chiang Mai in July and has been running flights twice a week between Chiang Mai and Rangoon.

The carrier has had failed attempts to secure international routes to Bangkok and Singapore, leaving it Chiang Mai as an important international destination.

Kyi Kyi Aye, a director at the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism in Burma told the Chiang Mai Mail in July that: “The office marks a new stage in Myanmar-Thailand tourism co-operation.”

Tay Za has formed another proxy airline named Asia Wing, according to report in The Irrawaddy magazine this month. It will apparently be managed through a prominent travel company in Burma to escape the problems Air Bagan has faced, which included heavy losses from targeted financial sanctions from the United States and European Union countries and problems gaining insurance.

In 2008, British bank and insurer Lloyds TSB rejected the airline’s insurance policy renewal and by the end of the year, the airline was supposedly operating without sufficient cover. It is now believed to be covered by a Russian insurer.

Air Bagan’s office in Rangoon was unavailable for comment.