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

Abstract

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 The Journal of Burma Studies Vol. 25, No. 1 (2021), pp. 89–134 © 2021 Center for Burma Studies