Tourists Must Race to See Rangoon at Its Exotic Best : Myanmar: ‘Progress’ is apparent in the romantic metropolis as colonial buildings fall to bulldozers and high-rises pierce the skyline. ‘In the next 10 years, Rangoon will be like Bangkok,’ one developer predicts.

With hammers and crowbars they’re knocking down old, atmospheric Rangoon, one of Asia’s last reminders of the past, to make way for high-rise hotels and shopping centers.

The 20th Century has finally caught up with Rangoon, where high-rise once meant the soaring spires of Buddhist pagodas, and tree-lined avenues were flanked by probably the largest collection of British colonial buildings in the world.

Now, big chunks of the uniform urbanscape are being ripped out of the heart of Rangoon--now officially named Yangon--and the skyline has been pierced by several buildings approaching 20 stories.

Foreign investors are putting up office complexes, department stores and hotels that will cater to an expected tourist boom in this still-exotic land, formerly named Burma.

“Business is very good. The government really wants to change the economic policy. We will have many high-rises. In the next 10 years Rangoon will be like Bangkok,” said real estate developer Soe Myint, referring to Thailand’s capital, an urban nightmare that has bulldozed many vestiges of its past.

Rangoon had been frozen in time because a socialist, xenophobic government kept out investment and all but ruined the economy. Major construction was rare.

The current military junta, which seized power after crushing a pro-democracy uprising in 1988, has liberalized the economy, invited foreign investors and laid down modernization plans. Irrevocable changes to Rangoon’s character began about two years ago.

The prospects for saving old Rangoon are not promising, although Lt. Gen. Kyaw Ba, minister of tourism, maintains that “some of Rangoon’s antique colonial buildings must be preserved. The high-rises will be scattered.”

Leading the development are overseas Chinese entrepreneurs who have shown little mercy to architectural legacies elsewhere in Asia.

For all parties involved, more money can usually be made by tearing down and building anew.

There’s also no local lobby, public forum or foreign pressure group currently standing up for preservation.

The military rules by decree, and also profits substantially from many foreign investment projects.

“Nobody would dare oppose military plans to modernize the city,” said one Western resident who requested anonymity. “From time to time you hear individuals grumble. There’s a sigh and resignation that there goes another old building.”

A 23-story hotel is under construction on the northern end of Sule Pagoda Road, the main avenue laid down by the British in the mid-19th Century where structures average four stories.

Another hotel and a 25-floor Japanese office building will go up nearby.

At the lower end of the avenue, little more than 100 yards from the Sule Pagoda, foundations are being laid for the French-owned Sofitel Hotel, which will dwarf the sacred, ancient epicenter of Rangoon with its twin towers and 22 floors.

Last year, Kyaw Ba stressed there were regulations against building large structures near religious edifices.

However, in another interview recently the tourism minister argued that Sofitel could be built because the Sule Pagoda was already surrounded by other buildings which obstructed its viewing from farther away.

The profit motive, however, is also protecting some of the dark red brickwork, the fanciful turrets and neo-Grecian columns of Imperial Britain.

The Strand, one of the finest hotels in Asia when it was built in 1901, has been renovated and now charges $300 a night for a taste of bygone elegance. The Victorian headquarters of the Burmese railway department will be converted into a 90-room, five-star hotel.

Unable to compete with foreign companies coming in to build mega-room hotels, Burmese businessman Khin Shwe says he has sought out old, unique properties for renovation.

Last year he opened the 15-room Mya Yeik Nyo Royal, the magnificent former mansion of Chartered Bank managers set atop Rangoon’s second-highest hill.

Staying there, or at one of several surrounding bungalows, is truly a step back into the world of lawn parties, gin and tonics at sundown and stiff upper lips.

But on the grounds, Khin Shwe has had a large mural painted that showcases Burma’s natural and man-made wonders, including, naturally, his own hotel. Rangoon itself is depicted as a phalanx of skyscrapers, and could easily be mistaken for Manhattan.