Travel information (to Yangon)

IMPORTANT NOTE FROM BOBO: An extra flight from Bangkok to Yangon has now started on Thursday morning. This flight is run by Myanmar Airways International (MAI) under flight code 8M 226. Flight leaves Bangkok at 10:05. This flight also departs on Tuesday and Saturday. The same airline runs an evening flight 8M 222 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, departing at 19:05. All flights code share with Thai Airways. Please note that overseas travel agencies generally have no access to these flights because MAI has no international booking network. These flights are often quite empty even when the Thai flights are shown as fully booked. If anyone is having difficulty arranging flights I would advise them to contact one of the local travel agencies listed on the website to make bookings. (These flights are also cheaper than Thai!) For all the hotels where no individual contact information was given on the website (i.e. all hotels other than Traders, Inya Lake, Strand and Thamada) the single point of contact is Tour Mandalay (e-mail phyuphyu@tourmandalay.com.mm; fax +95 1 548014 or 541098). Mention the 6th Mekong/Indochina Hash when making bookings.

Visas

All visitors to Myanmar need a visa. THERE ARE NO VISAS ON ARRIVAL! Tourist visas cost around US$ 20 and you will need to submit your passport together with two application forms and three photos to your nearest Myanmar embassy. Visa applications usually take two to three days to process. People transiting through Bangkok can obtain a visa there fairly easily.

Myanmar embassies in and around the SE Asia region are located in:

- Brunei Darussalam
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Beijing, China
- Kunming, China
- Manila, Philippines
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- KL, Malaysia
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- New Delhi, India
- Singapore
- Tokyo, Japan
- Vientiane, Laos
- Hanoi, Vietnam

Note: We can provide contact details for any of these embassies if required.

There are basically two types of tourist visas currently available for Myanmar:

1.  FIT [Free Independent Traveller] visa. This visa is available to anyone who wishes to enter Myanmar (unless they are a newspaper reporter or other undesirable alien). All that is required is for the individual to apply for a Myanmar visa at their nearest Myanmar Embassy abroad. Individuals that obtain this visa are nominally obliged to change US$ 200 into FEC on arrival at the airport (see section on Money).

2. EVT [Entry Visa for Package Tourist] visa. This visa is available to those individuals who purchase a package tour from a bona fide Myanmar tour operator. Once a package tour has been purchased through a Myanmar tour operator, they issue the client with a letter confirming the arrangements. This letter is faxed to the individual and also to the Myanmar Embassy at which the client intends to apply for their visa. They will then be able to obtain an EVT visa that exempts the client from having to change US$ into FECs upon arrival at the airport.

Flights

Flights to Yangon are relatively infrequent and tend to get fully booked during the months November to February because this is the cool dry season when visitors (such as they are) arrive. It is imperative that you book as far in advance as possible to ensure that you get a seat.

Bangkok offers the most frequent connections (three flights - sometimes four - per day) but these flights are invariably fully booked weeks in advance. At the time of writing, there are also one to two flights per day from Singapore, four per week from Kuala Lumpur, two per week from Chiang Mai and occasional flights from Beijing, Taipei, Kunming and Dacca, etc. Note that flight schedules and routings can vary from time to time. The attached schedule was correct at the time of going to print.

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