Michael Batson

Practical Information - Republic of the Union of Myanmar – Visitor Guide

Many visitors I met using guidebooks complained that information on cost and travel, especially travel times, was incorrect, so here's an update.

Visas
Visitors to Myanmar require a visa. This can be either a tourist of business visa. Visas are available from the Embassy on Sathorn Road in Bangkok at a cost of 810 baht, and are non-refundable. You are required to list your current and previous occupation on the application form. Do not put down journalist, and your application will likely be denied.

Office hours are visa application 9-12pm, 1-3pm. Visa collection 3.30-4.30pm. The process time for a tourist visa is 48 hours. You will need to bring your passport, two passport photographs and a photocopy of your passport homepage (the Embassy will do this for you for a cost of 5 baht).

Visas start from the date of issue and include a digital scan of your passport photo and are valid for a maximum of 28 days.

Yangon is the only entry point into Myanmar. Air Asia flies to Yangon twice daily. There are also flights with Bangkok Airways; Thai and Myanmar Airways International.

Internet

This exists in Myanmar but access is intermittent and in the case of some media sites, for example the BBC, is denied. Assistance may be required to find proxy servers before you can access Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. Internet usage is closely monitored in Myanmar thanks to technology provided by the Government of Singapore. The latter may play at democracy and take a stong anti-drugs stance, but when it comes to making money, don't mind cosying up to some unscrupulous regimes with their fingers in all sorts of pies. If you are frustrated at internet access and resent the monitoring spare a thought for the locals, who have to put up with it all the time.

Money
The Myanmar currency is the kyat (chat) (MMK). There are no ATMs in Myanmar, so you need to bring all your currency with you. Bring clean, crisp US dollars. Notes with creases, folds or marks attract a lower rate of exchange, or, in some instances, will not be changed at all. The rate fluctuates daily.

The best places to change are in Bogyoke Market in Yangon and the jewellery stores, or at hotels in other centres (e.g. Mandalay). Ask three or four different vendors to get an idea of the price. Currently, the US dollar is down against the MMK.

The current rate is ranges between 750-800 MMK to US$1, whereas 12 months ago it was changing at about 1200 MMK to US$1. The rate is usually better the more you want to change. Burmese count money with a well-practised hand. Wads arrive in bundles of 100 1,000 MMK notes. Sometimes you will get 5,000 notes also.

xe.com lists the official exchange rate of 6.41 MMK = US$1.

The official rate is much lower and quite who decides what the unofficial rate is, is a little unclear. In terms of value for money and purchasing power, the MMK seems way over-valued when say, compared with what the same money will buy in neighbouring Thailand, a country with a higher standard of living.

Some larger hotels in Yangon and Mandalay will advance money on your credit card in local currency but charge a whopping 10% of the transaction as a fee.

The airport is about 30 minutes from downtown Yangon (the bus station is much further). There is nowhere to change money at Yangon International Airport. Once upon a time it was an entry requirement to change US$200 into local currency as a condition of entry, but this is no longer the case.

The flat fare by taxi to and from the airport to the hotel of your choice is US$10. Motherland Hotel offers free pick-up and shuttle to and from the airport. Beautyland II Hotel pays half the cost of the fare for guests when departing the country. When departing Myanmar the fare can be paid in MMK.

Money scams
Avoid changing money on the street however attractive the rate. One Spanish guy was offered 850 MMK for US$1 and changed US$100. The money was counted out at 85,000 in front of him and his US$100 placed back on top with a fastened with a rubberband. Laughing the money changer and accomplice then took the bundle back and in the process switched bundles to one with only half the agreed amount before declaring that the police were coming and he had to leave, taking the original (correct amount with him).

Transport
Internal flights operate in Myanmar. The local airlines are: Asia Wings, Bagan Air, Mandalay Airways, Yangon Air, and the national carrier, Myanmar Airways International (no doubt the title is carefully arranged so as to avoid the unfortunate acronym MIA - missing in action).

An extensive rail and road network connects Myanmar’s towns and cities. The highway from Yangon to Mandalay, the country’s two major centres is a brand new toll dual carriageway. Buses travel easily at 100kph. Travel time between the two centres is approximately 8 hours (the guide books are wrong). Myanmar’s bus fleet are older, second-hand Japanese buses, and are often cramped for legroom.

Trains are slow, generally taking longer than the buses and costing twice as much. Generally, transport infrastructure in Myanmar is poor, and the going slow.

Popular routes
Night bus departing Yangon 7pm arriving 3am. Cost 11,500 MMK plus transport to bus terminal (40 mins). Taxi 5000 MMK, shuttle 1000 MMK. Road - very good.
Day bus departing 8am arriving 2.30pm. Cost 12,000 (includes hotel pickup). Road – terrible.
Night bus departing 5pm arriving 3am. Cost 15,000 MMK (18,000 MMK going other direction). Taxi from Yangon bus station 4000 MMK per passenger (some drivers will charge 7,000 per person but taxis have you over a barrel at that time of the morning). Locals pay 1000 MMK-something.

Hotels
Breakfast is usually included with the cost of a room. A larger room with AC, fan and hot water, starts at about US$12. Ten dollar rooms tend to be smaller and more cramped but an extra $2-4 really makes a bit of difference. There is not a great range of rooms, say compared with other Southeast Asian nations, for example Thailand, and accommodation in Myanmar can be described as basic, functional, and sometimes a little dingy. To get something decent you have go up quite a bit however, doubtless this will improve as more tourists visit Myanmar.

Many hotels in Yangon require payment in Euros or US dollars. Change will be given in dollars.

Departure tax
The departure tax from Yangon is US$10 payable only in dollars.
If travelling by taxi you will be charged 200MMK for the taxi to enter the airport.