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Kathmandu Wednesday January 09, 2002 Paush 25, 2058.
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Faithful friend
As an introduction, let me say that I am an
old French lover of your so beautiful country since a long time. I have already paid eight
visits since 1980.
Today, I request you to stop immediately this
stupid, unfair, discriminatory and ineffective new touristic charge and tax for only
getting the right to walk in Hanuman Dhoka, Durbar Square and Basantapur area.
Paying for a special service like visiting a
palace or a museum is of course something absolutely normal, but paying for the freedom to
come and go in the streets is definitely unacceptable. This is not a problem of money,
it’s just a problem of freedom.
This regulation is a silly thing for at least
three main reasons:
- It is stupid: You are making everybody
angry and you are by yourselves damaging the public image of your country.
- It is discriminatory: Not only against
tourists, but also against your own people and, more particularly, the Nepali inhabitants
of this area (shops, hotels...). Why free Thamel and not free Durbar ?
- It is ineffective: If you have to imagine
new means for collecting more money with a view to offer a best city and a best service,
the most productive, just and indisputable measure is certainly, for example, to fix a
more expansive visa of entry to Nepal. It is absolutely certain that foreigners will not
discuss about the cost of this tax, because at that time, they remain free from going or
not to Nepal. Please, accept this request from a faithful friend of your country.
Christian Fremont
Paris, France |
