Message from SWAN Debate continues to rage about whether or not tourists should visit Burma and risk giving money and legitimacy to the Burmese military regime. We have fed into this debate by exposing atrocities such as sexual violence, torture and murder by the regime’s troops in areas of Shan State out of bounds for foreign visitors, and urging the denial of all forms of support for the regime while these abuses continue. However, we realize that little attention has been given to more subtle forms of repression by the regime in Shan State, particularly related to culture. Given that experiencing local “culture” is a primary aim of tourists visiting Burma, we feel it is important to expose how Shan State culture, religion and history are being distorted and erased, and gradually replaced by the regime’s own homogenized and arti