THE RICH are still different. They can afford to go diving off Burma and not feel embarrassed that they are supporting a regime that tramples on democracy and beats and kills protesting monks.
Dive boat companies operating out of Phuket into waters off Burma report that it has been business as usual this high season, with calls for a boycott falling on the deaf ears of divers from around the world.
Burma's ruling generals are actually making more out of the Phuket and regional dive businesses than ever before, having increased the fee this high season for travel in Burma waters to $US200 per person per day.
The result is that an eight-day live-aboard ''experience'' that will carry divers to Burma for four days will cost each passenger about $2200.
I won't name the dive companies or individuals involved because the personal opinions of the people who spoke to me are not necessarily going to be shared by their employers.
Essentially, the clash of principles for the dive industry is the same as the clash between the BBC and Britain's Trade Union Council.
Does tourism actually help to break the general's hold on the country, or does it simply shore up their evil empire?
The TUC now wants the 'Lonely Planet Guide to Burma' banned and has called for a boycott of all 288 Lonely Planet guides unless that happens.
BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the broadcaster, bought Lonely Planet last year and insists the guide simply ''provides information and lets readers decide for themselves.''
Putting aside principle, divers want to go to Burma waters simply to explore the pristine sites that can be found in the 800-island Mergui Archipelago and beyond.
Whether it is morally right or wrong, these well-heeled divers focus on the experience, regardless of the high cost or how their money is ultimately used.
According to dive industry insiders, the marine world in Burma waters is ''fabulous . . . among the best anywhere.''
It may even be that some of the divers who undertake trips to Burma waters are not even aware of the important issue of principle involved.
Or perhaps they have simply chosen to forget the images of protesting monks and the bloody crackdown that were beamed out on the BBC and elsewhere in September 2007.
Certainly, descriptions of the Mergui Archipelago make it sound a wonderful place to visit.
Because the protected Similan Islands off Thailand now attract so many boats each high season, there are plenty of takers for sites that offer so much more, yet in serene isolation.
As well as the Mergui Archipelago, where some islands are said to have probably never been dived, the Burma Banks offers up a rocky outcrop in the middle of the ocean that attracts prolific marine life.
For people who are hooked on the highs of the underwater sport, the fact that they are supporting a corrupt regime seems incidental or, even if it has been considered, of little or no consequence.
Dive companies say there were a few cancellations after the monks' protest was brutally suppressed, especially among Americans.
But people from all countries now go diving with the generals, with Britons, Japanese, Germans and Hungarians taking spots of the 12-berth live-aboards of one company in particular.
Magazines aimed at promoting tourism for the advertising income simply overlook right and wrong while enthusing breathlessly about the chances of encountering a whale shark or a manta ray.
Dive company employees actually say that larger species of marine life are only just beginning to return in numbers now that Burmese authorities have finally managed to control local dynamite fishing.
Business continues to flourish off Burma, with the sole resort in the entire Mergui Archipelago recently being bought by German interests.
One person who visited that island for a few days described it as ''a really lovely diving resort'' where all transactions of necessity took place in US dollars.
When divers talk about the merits of Burma waters, the superlatives flow thick and fast.
Although there is still high demand for trips to Burma waters despite the increasing cost, apparently there are fewer companies involved this high season in making the trips.
This is more likely to be because of basic industry economics than closures on principle.
One dive company employee told me he remembered back six years to the days of a corrupt and obese middleman known as the ''Fat Controller.''
At the time, the ''Fat Controller'' liaised between the dive companies and the Burmese immigration officials. His gold necklets and rings jangled as he collected the bribes.
Passports were handed in, but never stamped. Today, the employee said, even late arrival at a docking point warrants an additional fee for the authorities.
At least one company still involved in Burma diving also does adventure travel on land inside Burma.
A spokesperson said that for tourists, it was relatively simple to make sure that money spent goes to the poverty-stricken Burmese rather than their wealthy and unprincipled masters.
Tourism on land within Burma seems to be a different issue to what goes on in the water.
I know travellers who were in Burma at the time of the monks' uprising.
They were close enough to the action to be able to tell protesters first-hand that the rest of their world supported their stand.
The protesters asked the tourists what the world thought, because inside Burma they don't get to see the BBC, only the generals' one-eyed media.
Another tourist was able to report directly how the families of protesters were rounded up in chains and carried under guard on a river ferry to an uncertain fate. He just happened to catch the same ferry.
I wonder if Britain's TUC would prefer to have workers in Burma simply accept the unadulterated diet of propaganda and lies from the regime?
There are plenty of businesses in the West and Asia still dealing with the generals. This is where the efforts of the union movement should probably be concentrated.
Considering all the circumstances, tourism in Burma can be a powerful force for good, although it's strictly for the adventurous and travellers need to be careful where they spend their money.
However, when it comes to diving off Burma, the issue seems to be clear cut. More and more, it is the rich who fail to take the trouble to separate right from wrong.
Private charters to Burma waters are increasing, industry insiders say. Boats making those trips are becoming more luxurious.
It sounds like the diving adventure of a lifetime. Yet the fact remains that every passenger has to pay $US200 a day.
And that money goes straight to the black-hearted generals.
More on Burma:
2007: Burma Holiday in Hell
What's your view? Register above and let us know what you think
Dive boat companies operating out of Phuket into waters off Burma report that it has been business as usual this high season, with calls for a boycott falling on the deaf ears of divers from around the world.
Burma's ruling generals are actually making more out of the Phuket and regional dive businesses than ever before, having increased the fee this high season for travel in Burma waters to $US200 per person per day.
The result is that an eight-day live-aboard ''experience'' that will carry divers to Burma for four days will cost each passenger about $2200.
I won't name the dive companies or individuals involved because the personal opinions of the people who spoke to me are not necessarily going to be shared by their employers.
Essentially, the clash of principles for the dive industry is the same as the clash between the BBC and Britain's Trade Union Council.
Does tourism actually help to break the general's hold on the country, or does it simply shore up their evil empire?
The TUC now wants the 'Lonely Planet Guide to Burma' banned and has called for a boycott of all 288 Lonely Planet guides unless that happens.
BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the broadcaster, bought Lonely Planet last year and insists the guide simply ''provides information and lets readers decide for themselves.''
Putting aside principle, divers want to go to Burma waters simply to explore the pristine sites that can be found in the 800-island Mergui Archipelago and beyond.
Whether it is morally right or wrong, these well-heeled divers focus on the experience, regardless of the high cost or how their money is ultimately used.
According to dive industry insiders, the marine world in Burma waters is ''fabulous . . . among the best anywhere.''
It may even be that some of the divers who undertake trips to Burma waters are not even aware of the important issue of principle involved.
Or perhaps they have simply chosen to forget the images of protesting monks and the bloody crackdown that were beamed out on the BBC and elsewhere in September 2007.
Certainly, descriptions of the Mergui Archipelago make it sound a wonderful place to visit.
Because the protected Similan Islands off Thailand now attract so many boats each high season, there are plenty of takers for sites that offer so much more, yet in serene isolation.
As well as the Mergui Archipelago, where some islands are said to have probably never been dived, the Burma Banks offers up a rocky outcrop in the middle of the ocean that attracts prolific marine life.
For people who are hooked on the highs of the underwater sport, the fact that they are supporting a corrupt regime seems incidental or, even if it has been considered, of little or no consequence.
Dive companies say there were a few cancellations after the monks' protest was brutally suppressed, especially among Americans.
But people from all countries now go diving with the generals, with Britons, Japanese, Germans and Hungarians taking spots of the 12-berth live-aboards of one company in particular.
Magazines aimed at promoting tourism for the advertising income simply overlook right and wrong while enthusing breathlessly about the chances of encountering a whale shark or a manta ray.
Dive company employees actually say that larger species of marine life are only just beginning to return in numbers now that Burmese authorities have finally managed to control local dynamite fishing.
Business continues to flourish off Burma, with the sole resort in the entire Mergui Archipelago recently being bought by German interests.
One person who visited that island for a few days described it as ''a really lovely diving resort'' where all transactions of necessity took place in US dollars.
When divers talk about the merits of Burma waters, the superlatives flow thick and fast.
Although there is still high demand for trips to Burma waters despite the increasing cost, apparently there are fewer companies involved this high season in making the trips.
This is more likely to be because of basic industry economics than closures on principle.
One dive company employee told me he remembered back six years to the days of a corrupt and obese middleman known as the ''Fat Controller.''
At the time, the ''Fat Controller'' liaised between the dive companies and the Burmese immigration officials. His gold necklets and rings jangled as he collected the bribes.
Passports were handed in, but never stamped. Today, the employee said, even late arrival at a docking point warrants an additional fee for the authorities.
At least one company still involved in Burma diving also does adventure travel on land inside Burma.
A spokesperson said that for tourists, it was relatively simple to make sure that money spent goes to the poverty-stricken Burmese rather than their wealthy and unprincipled masters.
Tourism on land within Burma seems to be a different issue to what goes on in the water.
I know travellers who were in Burma at the time of the monks' uprising.
They were close enough to the action to be able to tell protesters first-hand that the rest of their world supported their stand.
The protesters asked the tourists what the world thought, because inside Burma they don't get to see the BBC, only the generals' one-eyed media.
Another tourist was able to report directly how the families of protesters were rounded up in chains and carried under guard on a river ferry to an uncertain fate. He just happened to catch the same ferry.
I wonder if Britain's TUC would prefer to have workers in Burma simply accept the unadulterated diet of propaganda and lies from the regime?
There are plenty of businesses in the West and Asia still dealing with the generals. This is where the efforts of the union movement should probably be concentrated.
Considering all the circumstances, tourism in Burma can be a powerful force for good, although it's strictly for the adventurous and travellers need to be careful where they spend their money.
However, when it comes to diving off Burma, the issue seems to be clear cut. More and more, it is the rich who fail to take the trouble to separate right from wrong.
Private charters to Burma waters are increasing, industry insiders say. Boats making those trips are becoming more luxurious.
It sounds like the diving adventure of a lifetime. Yet the fact remains that every passenger has to pay $US200 a day.
And that money goes straight to the black-hearted generals.
More on Burma:
2007: Burma Holiday in Hell
What's your view? Register above and let us know what you think
