Cambodia wants to link tourist flight to Myanmar

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made an official visit to military-ruled Myanmar on Monday to promote direct flights between the two countries, home to some of Southeast Asia's greatest cultural treasures, his adviser said.

"Burma has great tourist potential," senior Hun Sen aide Sri Thamrong told reporters at Phnom Penh airport on yesterday. "Not only are they followers of Buddhism but they also have beautiful temples so we could offer joint package tours."

Cambodia's 800-year-old Angkor Wat temple complex is largely responsible for an explosion of tourists to the war-scarred nation, which attracted 1.7 million visitors last year.

Cultural aficionados say the similar-aged Buddhist temples in Bagan in central Myanmar are a close rival to Angkor, but a chronic lack of infrastructure in the former Burma -- power cuts are a daily problem and foreign credit cards are rarely accepted -- means they attract only a fraction of the number of visitors.

Airlines in Thailand have tried to promote a similar "cultural package" in the region, with flights linking Angkor to the ancient Thai and Lao capitals, Sukhothai and Luang Prabang, and Hoi An in central Vietnam.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Hun Sen's talks with the Myanmar junta would not include the detention of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, whose latest 12-month period of house arrest is due to expire this weekend.