Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DAWEI'S MEGAPORT
Along the northern edge of Nabule Beach, 30km northwest of Dawei, a wide, sandy road
leads to the isolated shoreline. Either side of it a series of signs stands in front of scrubby,
desertedplots,proclaimingambitiously“LNGTerminal-35Acres”and“MainPort2km”.
This is the
Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ)
.
In 2008 the Myanmar and Thai governments signed a deal to develop this stretch of coast
intoahugeindustrial estate and
deep-seaport
.Withahighway,railway andpipeline lead-
ingdirectlytoBangkok,350kmtotheeast,thedevelopmentwouldallowfirmsfromacross
Southeast Asia to bypass the busy waters of the Straits of Malacca.
Local people, fearing that they stand to lose their land and livelihoods, and that the bene-
fitswill accrue tooverseas businesses rather thanlocal ones,haveestablished anNGO,the
DaweiDevelopmentAssociation,tomonitortheSEZ.Beforegroundhasevenbeenbroken
for the project there have been accusations that farmers have been forced to give up their
cashew and betel nut plantations without fair compensation, and complaints of land grabs
have surged as developers rush to find a foothold in the area.
In 2013 the Thai developer was booted off the project after failing to attract sufficient in-
vestment, and the Japanese government was approached for help. While a Japanese firm
has shown interest in resuscitating the project, the port is in limbo for the time being. It's
possible to visit the project
showroom
near Nabule to get a flavour of what the future here
might look like but, for now, just off the beach local men continue to fish these waters, as
they have done for generations.
Launglon and the Dawei Peninsula
Some 22km southwest of Dawei, the small town of
LAUNGLON
is the closest to a string
of fantastic beaches that scallop the coastline - if only you can find them. Most of the access
roads are little more than sandy or rocky paths leading over the hills to the coast, so be pre-
pared to ask directions and for fairly challenging road conditions.
SAN HLAN
is a palm-fringed fishing village 5km southwest of Launglon, with a harbour
full of wooden boats and a beach covered with drying racks. While the village is rather
rubbish-strewn,it'sstillaprettyspot,andthere'sthepossibilityofhiringafishingboattoone
of the nearby beaches -
Pa Nyiq
or
Shan Maw
, both to the north of San Hlan, make good
targets, although you may need some Burmese to communicate what you're after.
From Launglon the peninsula stretches for a further 50km, until you reach
Shin Maw
(not
to be confused with Shan Maw) at the southern end. This open horseshoe-shaped bay has a
pagodaonitssoutheasterntip,withbeautifulopenviewsovertheAndamanSeabeyond.The
nearest foreigner-friendly accommodation is in Dawei.
