Ngapali Beach hotels empty despite Thingyan 

By Admin 11 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
11 April 2024, Thandwe

Ngapali, Myanmar’s most popular beach destination in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township, is almost completely deserted despite the upcoming Thingyan holidays.

The Thingyan water festival, the most important and the biggest festival in Myanmar, starts on Saturday. Hotel staff and residents in Ngapali said few visitors have come to the beach.

Normally, the beach draws tens of thousands of local and foreign travellers during the annual festival.

“At this time every year, hotels are teeming with travellers. But this year, almost no visitor has come to the beach. Normally, there are always visitors in Ngapali, even if it is not Thingyan. There were only a few visitors over the past five months,” a hotel employee from Ngapali told DMG.

Ngapali Beach has suffered as the country’s tourism industry has been badly hit by the pandemic and political instability since 2020. The number of Thingyan holidaymakers visiting Ngapali Beach this year is the lowest since the pandemic.

Those whose livelihoods are dependent on the tourism industry are facing hardships as a result.

“There are no visitors at all. Our products do not sell. They do not come because of the fighting. Normally, hotels and guesthouses are fully booked at this time of year,” said a shop owner who sells local products.

The regime has blockaded roads and waterways in Arakan State since renewed fighting broke out with the Arakan Army (AA) on November 13 of last year.

Though people can still come to Ngapali Beach by air, instability in the region is deterring visitors, said residents.

Both the regime and the AA have prepared for war in Thandwe, though fighting has not yet taken place in the township.

The AA has so far seized eight towns in Arakan State and Paletwa in neighbouring Chin State.

Junta media reported that hotels and guesthouses in Ngwe Hsaung and Chaungtha beaches in Ayeyarwady Region have been fully booked for the Thingyan holidays.
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