Spiting The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

I grit my teeth and stomp my feet, in despair and disgust, and swear that I shall never again write another article on Bhutan’s tourism industry. But yet again, and in spite of myself, and despite my abhorrence for the subject, here I am once again wasting my time, writing about tourism, that which I know would be nothing more than a cry in the wilderness. But I cannot help it - I would be failing in my citizen’s duty if I allow myself to remain unengaged, even as the accountants are taking over my world, and that of the rest of the Bhutanese. I still have hope that I may be able to awaken the conscience of some who care.

This time it is the announcement that the visiting donors, or their Bhutanese hosts have to pay the SDF of US$200.00 per donor per day. This is the classic mentality of an accountant at work - the breed who are incapable of looking beyond their noses!

Is this how a society supposedly bursting at the seams with culture and tradition, treat our donors who come to our country to fund millions worth of projects that otherwise remain out of the reach of the government?

This is utterly insane, in addition to being illegal! Lawyer Sonam Tshering, in his article “Penny wise, pound foolish” clarifies: “Article 14 (1) of the Constitution states that “taxes, fees and other forms of levies shall not be imposed or altered except by law.”

I agree that some may have abused the privilege in the past … but pray tell me, who hasn’t? It is in the Bhutanese culture of pride - to pay obeisance to those whom we call “Chiikha Choe Mii” - persons who can bend the rules and hoodwink the system, persons who can regularly bleed the country blind, and yet are able to walk tall and dispense morality to others. Please remember that there is no such thing as a foolproof system - it does not exist anywhere in the world. Even God has failed in His due diligence.

Please remember, the cause for the downfall of a meritorious system cannot be because of stray incidences of abuse. There will always be thugs in the world - what is important is how diligent are the custodians of the law.

What the government should try and do is plug the loopholes, and not put a blanket ban. Putting a blanket ban is the easy way out - it is devised by people who are unwilling to put in hard work - the lazy lot - they just put a ban in place and go to sleep!

Donors come, in most cases they are cajoled to come to Bhutan, to help us fund meaningful projects that the country needs. Do not forget that we need the donors, and not they us! Let us treat them with respect and not with spurn.

Let me give you the following example to prove how meaningful it is to have donors visit us, even at the cost of forsaking few thousand dollars of the precious SDF.

In 2017, the Rotary Club of Thimphu played host to an international Rotary Conference attended by 171 Rotarians and their spouses, from 9 countries. The event was held under the country's MICE rules. During the event, one Rotarian speaker from Malaysia - Rtn. K K Looi - spoke on a very interesting water filtration technology called SkyHydrant. I was thoroughly impressed by the technology. After the conference, in my capacity as the Club Secretary I pursued the matter with Rtn. K K Looi. He suggested that I write to Disaster Aid Australia (DAA) in Melbourne. I wrote to its then CEO - Mr. David Langworthy. Over time he agreed to support Bhutan with a total of 10 of these amazing filters.

The filters were very useful and suited to our type of geographical conditions, in addition to being simple to install and maintain. Thus, in one of our weekly meetings, I proposed to the Club Members that we invite the DAA’s CEO for a visit to Bhutan - so that he might inspect the installations of their donations, and see for himself how beneficial they were to the Bhutanese children.

The DAA CEO visited Bhutan - for a total of 5 nights, in 2018. That cost the RGoB a loss of SDF of US$ 65 x 4 = US$ 260.00. But at the end of the trip, the Minister for Education sought support for additional 60 filters. The CEO agreed without batting an eyelid - but to my consternation, the CEO doubled the asking number to 120! Thus began the saga of the project codenamed “BHUTAN2020”, launched in Toronto, Canada in 2018. Under this one million dollars project, Bhutan received 120 of these filters, installations of which were completed early this year. Even as I was exiting the Club, the DAA had agreed to renew the project for another three years.

Donors come to Bhutan to give - not to take. The above is not an isolated incidence - as at end of 2021, the Rotary Club of Thimphu has done over 150 million worth of projects - in diverse areas such as health, education, agriculture etc. - spanning the whole length and breadth of the country - all with donor money. All of the NGOs in Bhutan depend on donor money to fund meaningful projects for the people of Bhutan. To victimize all of these NGOs because some of them had misused the privilege is not right.

Donors need to come to Bhutan to plan and inspect projects - to satisfy themselves that their money is being well spent. Trust me, they are not the ones with the begging bowl.

In a situation where the global tourism market has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is my belief that Bhutan can do well to promote ourselves as a destination for MICE events. I truly believe in it and that is why I even proposed to the CEO of BTCL a few years back to consider setting up a world-class conference facility on their property in Olathang, Paro. When I got to hear and see the Royal Textile Academy’s architectural drawings of their planned world-class conference facility in Thimphu - I gave them a Thumbs Up and encouraged them to follow through their plan in real earnest. Sadly I was recently told that the government had not approved their proposal. That is so unfortunate and a tremendous loss to the nation and the people of Bhutan, in particular to the bleeding tourism sector.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY IN UNDERSTANDING:
The R C Thimphu’s International Rotary Conference saw participation from 9 countries and 171 Rotarians and their spouses, not counting the Bhutanese Members.

The SDF foregone by the Government was: US$ 65.00 x 171 x 4 nights = US$ 44,460.00.

The total direct $$ collection the country received was: US$ 388,400.00 – not counting the indirect spending by the visitors on shopping, tips and meals in restaurants, and other additional costs they had to pay for their stay beyond the conference period.

What Bhutan seems to lack is competent financial experts on the helm of things - we have dire need for them. What we have are accountants whose only focus is on the cost, and not the benefit. The government has to come to grips with the fact that what it collects directly is pittance, compared to the overall benefit that the country and the people of Bhutan derive from any enterprise of commerce.