Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Authorities have once again banned tourists from visiting the 'Land of Jade', after reneging on an announcement last month that foreigners would be permitted to visit mining towns in Burma’s northern Kachin state.

In February, the Ministry of Tourism told tour companies to include the jade mining town of Phakant as a tourist destination in a bid to boost tourism.

“Last month they [ministry officials] said they will allow visits to Phakant, but now say they have not yet allowed any such excursions,” a visitor, who asked the ministry of tourism in Naypyitaw for permission to visit Phakant, told Mizzima.

However, while authorities have restricted foreigners from visiting the country’s mining sites – including both Phakant and Mogoke, a town in Mandalay Division renowned for its rubies – it has eased restrictions regarding visitations to other towns in rural areas, such as to the country’s northernmost town of Putao, also in Kachin state.

Nonetheless, a Rangoon-based tour operator complained of the authority’s fluctuating policy, saying, “Even if we ask for permission they refuse to give it to us. Their policy is always fluctuating and not consistent.”

And while authorities continue to allow tourists to pencil in the destinations of Myitkyina and Putao in Kachin state, guidelines stipulate that tourists must travel only by air and avail themselves to authorized travel agents.