The National Flag Carrier Loses Out 80% Of Its Business Share To The Competition!

BREAKING NEWS!!!

The venerable Kuensel has finally found its voice - after suffering mumps for the past 60 years.

I am hugely encouraged! The following report by the Kuensel on the self-defeating foolishness of the DrukAir Corporation may be proof that the Kuensel is finally maturing into a responsible media house:

It is sad – and no less intriguing - that the Royal Government of Bhutan can continue to tolerate stupidity at this scale – in allowing the DrukAir to price themselves out of the market. Imagine, what commercial entity allows 80% of its market share to be usurped by the competition operating from outside their domain? And to think that they have a commanding position given that they are the country’s national flag carrier with advantages that their third country competitors do not have.

The country is ill-equipped to counter the long-term implications of DrukAir’s irresponsible behavior. The consequences of what they are doing goes far, far beyond loss of business; beyond the devastation they have already caused to the country’s vital tourism industry.

According to the Kuensel article, the DrukAir offers the reason that they are operating under conditions that are out of the normal. In other words, what they are saying is that they are justified in imperiling the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Bhutanese people, as a consequence. That is a pathetic justification!

The benefit of tourism cuts across the entire spectrum of Bhutanese society. Some two years back, upon being invited to give a talk to the DeSuups who were being trained to be guides at the Phaduna Skilling Centre in Punakha, the following was one of the 33 PowerPoint slides I presented to the trainees:

ABTO puts the figure of licensed Tour Operators in the country at roughly 800. Sadly, a sizeable number of them have been driven to migrate to Australia and the US, in search of livelihood – one more is due to depart for Australia on coming Tuesday. The GAB puts the number of Licensed Tourism Guides at about 4,700. An official at the GAB tells me that today less than 700 of them have some semblance of employment.

If the superintendents and the management of the DrukAir has any conscience at all, they should know that they have played a major role in contributing to the bleak situation that is currently prevailing in the country’s tourism industry, in addition to the fact that their incompetence has resulted in rank outsiders to siphon away 80% of the market share that should have been rightfully theirs.

When it is clear that they are incapable of understanding the harm they are causing themselves ... it would be futile to expect that they would understand the consequences of their irresponsibility on the nation and the people of Bhutan.

A Bouquet Of A Solitary Flower

I did not expect that it would be any other way – that a visit to one’s alma mater after a gap of more than half a century would be anything but evocative and haunting – a trip down the cherished memory lane. For those select few of us who had the good fortune to make a trip to our old school – Paro Gaupey School – on 17th October, 2025, it was obvious that the memories of our formative years in the school remains vivid and deeply engrained in our very soul.

For a number of hours, all of us put to rest our individual worries, shackled our hidden devils, heedless that we have unfinished and pressing businesses to attend to, a life to live and lives to care for …. we simply reveled in the momentary joy of being transported back into a time when we were young and carefree and, some among us, incorrigibly devilish! – like myself 😛.

Paro Gaupey School is where our impressionable minds were molded, and our characters wrought – it was here that lifelong values were inculcated in us – values that went on to shape us into responsible and successful citizens in the service of the Tsa Wa Soom.

The occasion was also to celebrate and honor our old school Principal – Mr. Stuart Filby – who is in the country to partake in the celebrations of the 70th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo – another peerless architect of events and destinies. Mr. Filby is among the earliest Principals of the school. He joined Paro Gaupey High School in 1967.

More than half a century after he departed the school, and the country, his connections and links to Bhutan and his Bhutanese students remain unbroken. Thus, it is the celebration of this uncommon and enduring connection that we have decided to rejoice – by paying a visit to the bastion where it all began - joined by the very person whom we had chosen to honor.

Old Gaupians have done it all, seen it all. Some of us have circumambulated the globe a few times – many of us have scaled heights loftier than Mt. Gangkhar Puensoom. And yet, even after having walked away a million miles, the fact that we all came together in a spirit of togetherness and celebration - is proof that the umbilical cord that continues to bind us together remains solid and unsevered – it has withstood and survived the vagaries of time and tide.

Paro Gaupey School has produced some truly outstanding citizens of great merit and value to the county, as the following group photo will testify.

Visiting Alumni Members pose for a photo session with the present generation of teachers at Gaupel Lower Secondary School, Paro on 17th October, 2025

We owe a great deal to this school and the many custodians who helped build this great institution of learning. Thus, as an expression of our timeless gratitude, some of us Alumni Members put together a modest token of appreciation in the form of cash donation amounting to Nu.303,751.00. We were honored to present our expression of gratitude to the incumbent school Principal during our visit to the school.

ICING ON THE CAKE

Talking of which, the icing on the cake was that I was singled out for special honor. As I and another Alumni Member – Sonam Zangmo –walked up the pathway of cobbled stones towards the erstwhile Pacific Boys' Hostel, a small girl of class IV walked up to me and coyly offered me the following bouquet of a single flower, enclosed in a holder made of plain, white piece of paper and patched together with a colored plastic tape. I was so humbled – and speechless.

The bouquet of a solitary flower

It has been many days since that day of our visit – but to this day, I am puzzled as to the significance of the offer of the bouquet containing a single pink flower. Why me .... and why for? Regardless, I am happy to accept the gift in all humility.

Thank You a million times my little girl - whoever you are.