Talk:Yangon

Shouldn't this page re-direct to Yangon (instead of the other way around)?

Myanmar#Cities: "Yangon (formerly Rangoon)"

Burma ("old" name) is re-directed to Myanmar ("new" name)

etc

Done. (WT-en) Jpatokal 11:10, 30 Nov 2005 (EST)

Bulk revert of 202.79.24.30's edits

So, I don't like to do this, but I've reverted the set of 202.79.24.30's changes:

http://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?title=Yangon&diff=403317&oldid=402238

To me, while I'll admit to having no personal experience of Myanmar, it looks like you're whitewashing many of the city's problems ("thousands gunned down" → "Socialism was officially ended", removal of the section on airport hassles, removal of much safety info, etc). Please explain your removals first. (WT-en) Jpatokal 23:16, 5 November 2006 (EST)

Cherie, I know very well that thousands were gunned down - I was there outside the Town Hall when it happened, and have never been so frightened in mu life. I also helped students escape Burma after the event, and met with Min Ko Naing, and with Aung San Ssu Kyi. BUT, this is a travel site, not a political one.

As for the official ending of socialism, this is a matter of fact and history, not of opinion. Ne Win, may he rot in Hell, came to to the big jamboree of the BSPP and told the assembled delegates that the last thirty years had ben a waste of time, and that socialism (and the one-party state) were henceforth at an end. Then he left the room, leaving a very strange scene behind - delegates had ben given speeches lauding specific points of Ne Win's officla speech, in which he (officially) was to have said that socialism was a Good Thing. No-one knew what to say or do. This was the beginning of the end for socialist Burma. Not, unfortunately, for the army kleptocracy, which continues its hold to this day. But socialism was over. (My source for this is the man who wrote the speeches for the delegates - plus, of course, I was there, in the country if not in the room).

Ok, I've created an acount, under the name of The Masked Duck. This is a reference to the great Duckman, who is, of course, always masked. I am not Nick the Duckman, who so far as I know is safely tucked up in bed in his bookshop. But I follow in his footsteps. (WT-en) The Masked Duck 09:32, 6 November 2006 (EST)

As a note, just because this isn't a political wiki does not mean we should exclude the information about thousands being gunned down. This is a travel guide and many travellers travel so they can learn and experience cultures and history. The murder of several thousand people will forever be deeply ingrained in Myanmar's cultural experience and history, so I'd very much prefer that the story be left in the guide. -- (WT-en) Andrew H. (Sapphire) 10:01, 6 November 2006 (EST)

That the masacres of 1988 took place is history, not politics, and should be included. (I've toyed with the idea of running guided tours of the sites - the General Hospital, the White Bridge, the railway crossing in Okkalapa, and of course the Town Hall - but everything has been plastered and painted over and there's really not much to see these days). That ASSK sayd visitors should stay away is politics, and should not. If you want a discussion, (and why not?), this is the issue to focus on. 202.79.24.30 05:50, 7 November 2006 (EST)

Whether to go or not and, yes, what ASSK thinks are fairly big questions for most visitors, so I think the "pro" and "con" sides should be summarized in an infobox — but on the main Myanmar page, not here. (WT-en) Jpatokal 06:09, 7 November 2006 (EST)

Fine. Had a quick look at the Myanmar page - like the Yangon page, it reads like a series of excerpts from the Thorntree. The ASSK part would certainly benefit from being put in an infobox and drastically shortened. see it mentions the fact that ASSK hasn't repeated the call for visitors to stay away. I believe she made this request in the context of the Visit Burma Year, and may never have intended it to be aforever thing, but I don't know for sure. 202.79.24.30 02:50, 8 November 2006 (EST)

"Cantonment"

The article keeps referring to "the cantonment." The downtown part of Yangon was never a cantonment, and the word itself is now obsolete. The Burmese themselves call the various bits of the downtown area by the names of the various townships, and taxi drivers are used to foreigners calling it either Yangon or "the city." But never "the cantonment."(WT-en) The Masked Duck 22:05, 14 November 2006 (EST)

I'm going to remove all references to the cantonment. The downtown area was never a part of the cantonment (which was centered around the Shwedagon Pagoda in colonial times - and still has a heavy military presence) and, as the Masked Duck says, no one uses that word anyway. --(WT-en) Wandering 14:42, 19 May 2007 (EDT)

Condensation of Shwe Dagon Paya (pagoda)

I understand this is the main attraction in the city, but the section in it is enormous and has a lot of relatively un-usefull information.

While I would thank the editor for such a well thought out and written article, I would like to make it a bit shorter.

--Billbarrelrider (talk) 11:07, 7 July 2019 (UTC)

Full disclosure

I'm the barman at the lodge hostel bar- which I listed in "drink", I'm writing the whole "drink" section since there is barely anything there. If anyone believes that this is a conflict of interest or inappropriate they are welcome to revert my edits or write the "drink" section themselves. --Billbarrelrider (talk) 12:04, 7 July 2019 (UTC)