The ministry has released a few rules pertaining to public visits, but not the actual details of entry fees, if any, or visiting times. A spokesperson for the ministry says tour operators and individual visitors will have to apply for permission to visit three days beforehand and also state which parts of the complex they wish to visit.
Parliamentarians have not installed public galleries so far and visitors will not have the opportunity of watching the government at work. Government insiders say setting up public galleries and allowing guided tours would be useful in that it would enable outsiders glimpses of the country’s ongoing changeover from military dictatorship to democracy.
The site of Naypyidaw was little more than agricultural land as the new millennium dawned 15 years ago. In 2005, the government of General Than Shwe shifted the seat of government 300kms north from Yangon for reasons never fully explained.
As Naypyidaw is a new city, its attractions are a bit thin on the ground and the opening of Parliament is seen as a positive step. The highlight of the current attractions is the 99-metre-high Uppatasanti Pagoda. Others sites include Myoma Market, Naypyidaw Safari Park and a gem museum.
Myanmar to open Government House for tourism
News in Asia
According to Myanmar’s tourism bureau, Government House in the new capital city of Naypyidaw will soon be to open to tourists and educational groups. The opening is a part of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism’s project to increase visitor draws in the purpose-built capital.