Myanmar tightens tourist visa rules

Myanmar tightens tourist visa rules

BANGKOK (AP): Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok has increased the waiting period for tourists to receive visas from about one hour to at least a week, applicants said yesterday.

Tourists applying for visas were told that since Aug. 13 the process would take at least a week, and that on the seventh day applicants must return for an interview.

The moves are believed to be a reaction to 18 foreign activists who entered Myanmar on tourist visas earlier this month and were arrested for handing out democracy leaflets. They were sentenced to five years in prison, but deported the next day.

The government also deported two journalists this week who entered Myanmar on tourist visas. Journalists are required to apply for special visas to work in the country, but the government has approved almost none in recent months.