Resort Business Boom in Paro

Tashi Namgay resort – New resort opposite Paro airport

29 September, 2008 – The resorts business in Paro has gained steam with more than 30 percent of the country’s resorts and hotels for tourists already in the valley and about 19 more under construction.

But do they have enough customers to survive? Many of these resort and hotel owners are private individuals and families who already own properties in Paro. Some of them manage to survive with a limited number of tourists coming in a year, say one of the resort owners. Of the 101 resorts and hotels approved by the tourism council this year, Paro has the highest number with 30. Continue reading Resort Business Boom in Paro

MDGs – Bhutan’s progress report is good but…

…there is an urgency to secure long term sustainable financing arrangements and capacity building

Baby blues – Inadequate levels of skilled birth attendance affect maternal mortality

29 September, 2008 – Bhutan has made significant and sustained progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is potentially on track to achieve them all. As world leaders gathered for a high level event on MDG at the UN Summit in New York, a technical report prepared by UN agencies in Bhutan and the government stated that several targets had been realised in the country’s commitment to achieving the MDGs by 2015.

“Bhutan’s progress in reducing poverty from 36.3 percent in 2000 to 23.2 percent in 2007 keeps it well on track to achieve the MDG,” stated the report. This has been matched by reductions in human poverty, as measured by the HPI-1 index, which declined by 19 percent over the same period, largely on account on improvements in enhancing access to improved drinking water sources and reducing child malnutrition. Continue reading MDGs – Bhutan’s progress report is good but…

Glimpses into (almost) forgotten lives

Source: Kuensel
By Kencho Wangdi

One out of four Bhutanese live in poverty. While covering the elections, Kuensel’s chief reporter came across some of them.

Living off the land: A life of relentless toil

Sangay, 57, didn’t have to hear the thunder – he could see a gray mass of clouds stalking the western horizon. He eyed the clouds in the way all farmers do. Too much rain would ruin his maize seedlings, too little would parch and stunt them.

Sangay is a resident of Pangthang, a hamlet at the bottom of one of Pemagatshel’s perpendicular ridges. It’s a six-hour walk from a road at the hilltop. I was in Pangthang to gauge the political leanings of the inhabitants after a party leader had campaigned there a day or two ago. But, on that day, politics was the last thing on Sangay’s mind. He was clearing an area of weeds and the sudden change of colour in the sky had hastened his pace. Continue reading Glimpses into (almost) forgotten lives

Impact of the Urban Drift

Source: Kuensel
By Kesang Dema

An empty house in Bidung

Mention rural urban migration and images of village bumpkins leaving the countryside in droves for a life in the big city comes to mind.

That has not quite been the case in Bhutan. If people left the villages it was usually after completing education and landing a job in place other than their own village.

It probably started in late 60s when the government, extremely short of human resources, employed anyone who had some years of schooling. These people started a new life in a new place.

Villagers that left the countryside for a life in the city were those taken by city relatives as domestic help or to look after orchards beyond the municipal boundaries or for schooling. Some had left to live with their children working for the government or in the private sector. Continue reading Impact of the Urban Drift

Why a strong economy matters

Source: bhutantimes.bt

By Passang Dorji

Sept 24, 2008-Thimphu: When Bhutan adopted Gross National Happiness as its development philosophy, it had thrown down the gauntlet at itself.

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And today the challenge is staring straight and square at the country’s soul.

With the economy yet to gain strength and stabilize at a self-assuring digit, Bhutan’s immediate challenge, some economists say, is to remain unscathed by the inevitable forces of the global trade integration. 

But, to do so Bhutan must strengthen its economy – a Catch-22, for the time being. The test doesn’t end here, either. There is a weightier challenge, because Gross National Happiness demands more than a tangible economic development. Continue reading Why a strong economy matters

The Monpas of Trongsa are Monpas no more

Distinct old ways are vanishing with the pace of progress

Source: Kuenselonline.com
By Tashi Dema
INDISTINGUISHABLE – Except for language, their culture and tradition have succumbed to modernisation

26 September, 2008 – Cool clouds drift over the Wangling village in Trongsa dzongkhag bringing the inhabitants respite from the searing afternoon sun.

Lhakpa, 15, in faded jeans and black half-sleeve shirt, is on the ground near a old hut. He is in pain. While chipping at tree barks his knife fell and cut his ankle.

Lhakpa picks up a piece of cloth lying in front of the hut and wraps it over his wound. His single mother asks him to go to the basic health unit in Jangbi, located at about a two-hour walk from their village. She speaks to him in their local dialect – Monkha. But Lhakpa does not want to go anywhere. He has to attend his non-formal education class in the evening. Continue reading The Monpas of Trongsa are Monpas no more

Bhutan goes Bollywood

Source: India Today
By Saurabh Shukla

The coronation of Bhutan’s new King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk next month will feature a surprisingly varied cast from India.

jigme Kheser Namgyel Wangchuck
King Jigme Kheser Namgyel Wangchuck

Led by chief guest President Pratibha Patil, a power-packed delegation comprising not merely top political honchos but also Shah Rukh Khan will travel to Thimpu. The Indian delegation will manage a double act of cementing ties with Bhutan and entertaining the new king.

The crowning of Wangchuk, 29, who is world’s youngest king, will be a special affair with lots of colour and fanfare. While UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is a special invitee, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is also expected to be there along with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Continue reading Bhutan goes Bollywood

Old trail in Bhutan to be restored for tourists

Source: kuenselonline.com
By Nima Wangdi

23 September, 2008 – A beaten trail, that passed through Ura to Gayzamchu in Bumthang, was once trodden by villagers from the east to transport goods offered as taxes to local chieftains resident in Bumthang, Trongsa, and Punakha. In the ‘50s, the people of Ura used the path as a mule track to barter butter, betel nuts, and clothes.

When the lateral highway emerged, about four decades ago, the path was used only by occasional mushroom collectors and cattle herders.

Today, the diverse ecosystem along the trail, including mushrooms like Matsutake growing under the pines, and different animal and bird species of the region, will change the purpose of the trail altogether. Continue reading Old trail in Bhutan to be restored for tourists

The Hospitality Commission

Source: Bhutan Observer
By Rabi C. Dahal

19 September 2008

Small handicraft outlets in the country are crying foul over exorbitant commissions paid by bigger competitors as incentives to tour guides. The smaller retailers say they are unable to pay as much to guides and so are unable to sustain their businesses. Hoteliers, meanwhile, complain about tour operators and guides demanding luxurious rooms and food when they are with the tourists. This is said to be most rampant in Paro and Bumthang.

A source in the tourism industry said almost all the handicraft outlets in the country paid commissions to guides, drivers and tour operators and it has now become a custom. About five handicraft shops in the capital are said to be paying (as commission) as much as 20 percent of the value of items bought. Most others paid 15 percent. He said that last year a guide earned Nu. 300,000 as sales incentive from a handicraft shop for a single purchase. Continue reading The Hospitality Commission