Information
Information
ContentsImportant Travel Information - (NEW) -
Credit cards, TRAVELLER’S cheques Currencies, Exchange Rates.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Car Info
(5th May, 2010)
For Germans, Swiss and Austrians:
Embassy of the Union of Myanmar, Thielallee 19, 14195 Berlin.
Phone (030) 2061570, Fax- (030) 20615720
Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.botschaft-myanmar.de
We expect the government to continue the Visa-Upon-Arrival program after the election in early November. And this is how the Visa-Upon Arrival system works:
A. Any national holding a normal and valid passport can be issued a Visa-Upon-Arrival at the time of his or her arrival at the airport in Myanmar.
B. The passport of the applicant must be valid for at least 6 months (starting after the date of arrival).
C. Visa-Upon-Arrival (for Tourist): Fee of USD 30 to be paid at the airport. Permit valid for 28 days. Renewal not possible.
D. Visa-Upon-Arrival (for Business): Fee USD 40. Permit for 71 days. The permit can be extended with a special application. Someone from the Myanmar company (for tourism or business), that is sponsoring the business traveller, must be present at the airport and inform to the office for VOA at the airport in advance (before the aircraft is landing). He must present an official letter with the respective data of the applicant. The travel agent will charge a fee for handling such visa request.
E. Applicant must have a return air ticket.
F. Applicant must stay in licensed hotels, motels or guesthouses recognized by the Myanmar Government. The exact address of accommodation entered into the application.
G. Applicant must bring two photos (4x6 cm in size), having been taken within the past 6 months.
H. Applicant can get the application form for Visa-Upon-Arrival on board of the plane, from the airlines. You can also find the application form on the internet.
To download the visa on arrival form, click here. (Visa on Arrival.pdf) 
Flights
For flights, please contact your domestic travel agent. You can also find reasonably priced tickets on the internet.From Bangkok, you can fly to Yangon with several airlines including Thai Airways, Air Asia, Myanmar Airways Intern. and Bangkok Airways. The flight time is only 50 minutes. Myanmar time is 6 ½ hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). You may want to spend a few days in Bangkok in order to adjust to climate and time difference. But you do not have to go through Bangkok, if you want to enter Myanmar via Yangon. There are also flights from many other cities in Asia to Yangon: Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou, Kunming, Taipei, Kolkata, Gaya, Chiangmai, and Hanoi. Sometimes it is cheaper to choose Kuala Lumpur or Singapore and not Bangkok as a stopover from Europe or from the US on your way to Yangon. The newest connection is an Air Bagan flight between Chiangmai and Yangon. Presently, there are no international flights from and to Mandalay.
Money
There are only two currencies for you in Myanmar: the US Dollar (cash) and the local currency called Kyat (pronounced chutt). Traveller cheques and credit cards are almost never accepted, except for Visa Card in a few leading hotels. American Express and Master Card are never accepted. The Euro is usually not accepted; please ask your travel agent, if he will accept Euro or if he can change Euro into Kyat for you. So bring enough US Dollar cash, in new and undamaged $100 bills (be carefully with the numerical order of ''CB'' on $100 bills, because it is not well accepted by local changers and you will get a much lower price). Bring some smaller dollar bills for change.
Your guide will help you to exchange some dollars into local Kyat. The rate presently fluctuates around 1000 Kyat for one Dollar. Remember that Kyat cannot be taken out of the country, nor can it be exchanged back into dollars at the end of the trip. You need Kyat, if you eat at local restaurants or shop in the markets for souvenirs and handicraft.
Insurance
We strongly recommend travel insurance (German: Reiseversicherung und Reiseruecktrittsversicherung) from your country in order to be insured against illness, accident, travel cancellation, and lost baggage.Customs Regulations
Myanmar Customs is polite and cooperative. All visitors must fill out a Customs Declaration Form, which they receive on the airplane. Local currency cannot be imported. Sometimes, there it is necessary to declare all foreign currency in excess of $2.000. This declaration, however, is not checked or asked for when you leave the country. Officially you cannot bring any mobile phone into the country, however some tourist do. They buy a local SIM Card with which they can call home at a reasonable price. They can also make local phone calls with the SIM CARD. Laptops you can bring in, but they are rather useless as it is not possible in Myanmar to connect them to the internet except at some leading hotels that have Wi-Fi service. Buddha images, antiques and gemstones cannot be taken out of the country without an official receipt by a licensed dealer.
For US citizens it is important to know that they cannot import any items from Myanmar into the US, however, you can claim that they were made and bought in Thailand.
Health, Vaccinations and Medications
No vaccinations are presently required for Myanmar. Please consult with your physician. It is usually recommended that you be immunized against polio, typhoid, tetanus, and hepatitis A. Some doctors recommend vaccination for Japanese encephalitis. Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Lake Inle are not designated as malaria areas. Malarone is recommended, if you intend to enter malaria areas. Bring lots of mosquito repellent and use it in the evening. Sun lotion will be useful. Bring Imodium. Almost all other medicine is available in Myanmar, but please refrain from buying medicine that was produced in China or other neighbouring countries; it may not be safe. Should you get seriously ill in Myanmar, we recommend that you take the next plane to Bangkok (50 minutes) and check into a private hospital like Bumrungrad.
Airport Departure Tax
Airport Departure Tax for international flights is $10.Electricity
Electric current is 220 volts AC, 50 cycles.
Do not forget to bring or buy a strong flashlight in Myanmar, because the streets are dark at night and sidewalks have many holes. Please use your flashlight whenever you go out after darkness.
Climate and Clothes
The seasons are:Dry and warm – End of October to middle of March
Dry and hot – Middle of March to middle of May
Rainy Season – Middle of May to middle of October
Best time to travel: End of October to end of February.
For daytime: light clothes. Shorts are not popular, long pants are more appropriate. Cap or hat. Sun glasses, flip-flops or sandals because you have to take off your footwear when you visit temples or monasteries. Small bag or backpack for daily trips. For the evening especially in the mountains and near the lake, you need warm clothes: windbreaker, sweater, warm pants, socks, shoes or sneakers.
Food and Beverages
Burmese food is not so spicy. Chinese food is available in most cities and towns. Western food is available mainly in the big cities and in hotels. The hotels and restaurants that you will be visiting are quite safe, except for the tap water. Please drink enough bottled water (or other liquids) every day; 2 liters a day are recommended.
Lunch and Dinner
The meals at your hotels may be expensive. Ask your guide for good local restaurants. They are cheaper and much more fun. There are many good local restaurants not only in major cities (Yangon, Mandalay, Pathein, Mawlamyine, Bagan, Myitkyina, etc.) but also in towns that are frequented by foreign tourists like Nyaungshwe (Lake Inle), Mrauk-U, Ngwe Saung Beach, Nga Pali Beach and Chaungtha Beach. Try some of the local dishes like Shan noodles.At smaller hotels, you can ask the cook (in advance; early in the morning or the night before) to prepare Burmese or local dishes for you. Myanmar has a wonderful variety of vegetable, some of which are not available in Europe. If you do not ask, they will serve you such boring dishes like mixed vegetable and fried chicken. You would not eat that at home, so why would you eat that abroad. At the coast or on the lake you can get fresh fish at very reasonable prices.
Internet, Email, International Telephone Calls
Email is available in larger hotels. Internet (and access to your email provider) is also available in internet cafes in Yangon, Mandalay and other places. Yahoo, Hotmail, MS, GMX, T-Online are officially not accessible, however, clever young men in the internet cafés know how to get around the blockage. Be discreet when you ask them for help. International phone calls from hotels are very expensive and very complicated.Guidebooks and Maps
Bring a guidebook. Maps are available in Yangon.
Tipping
You may want to give (small) tips in restaurants or hotels, but generally Myanmar is not a country of tipping. If a Burmese tour guide accompanies you during your trip in Myanmar, you may want to present him with a more generous tip at the end of the tour (if she or he served you well).
Additionally, please be noted with our car information
Enjoy your trip!
To download this important travel information as pdf,
click here. (Important Travel Information 2010.pdf)
enjoyable experience that you will remember for many years to come.
Myanmar Frangipani Travels & Tours Co., Ltd.
Credit cards, TRAVELLER’S cheques Currencies, Exchange Rates.
Latest information about using credit card in Myanmar (Burma) - December, 2007
No credit card can be used officially due to US embargo. All credit cards including Visa, Master, American Express, JCB that will be used for USD payment are not authorized by US government in Myanmar (since August 2003).
However.
You can pay certain tour company, hotel and shops with your international Credit card especially Visa, Master Card. Practical situation is you must ask them if they can accept your card.
You have to know some facts if you are going to use your card and we collected some individual’s experience here.
Not-So-Regular Procedure
If you are to use credit card in Myanmar, you almost always accept a not very regular procedure.
1. The shops will ask for your passport, exact address when you register your card with your bank.
2. The shops will take a manual print of your credit card with the amount in Thaï or Singapore currency and they also take a copy of your passport (your name in passport must be the same as your card)
3. The shops will ask you to sign on a form - which very often you filled in your details yourself - with an overseas company name. This overseas company name and the merchandise name may appear in your bank’s credit card statement. The country can vary such as Singapore, Thailand, UK, USA or EU countries - this is because their counterparts are in those countries with credit card accepting Merchant Account facilities.
4. The shops normally trust you if you are with a travel company or the guide who usually is their friend.
5. The currency may vary such as Thai Baht, Singaporean Dollars, Euro other than US Dollar. Note that amount in US$ in your credit card statement may be higher as bank rates are not very favourable as street Money Changers.
6. The shops may impose 3% to unbelievable 12% some times.
7. Airlines
Whatever the company and the solution you propose, they do not accept credit card.
8. Hotels
Pansea, Summit, Tharabar gate and other main hotels accept your Visa card. Jewellery shops, hotels shops (Pansea, Park Royal..) are also accepting the Visa credit card via the above procedure.
Please write to us if you find our information incomplete or incorrect to help other travellers.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1-Q
What currency do you use in Myanmar? What is the current exchange rate for that currency against the US Dollar?
Ans: The local currency used is called Kyat (pronounced “chat”, abbreviated as Ks). The currency exchange rate: please see Money info. above.
2-Q I understand that I have to exchange US$200 into FEC (Foreign Exchange Currency) upon arrival in Myanmar. Does this requirement still exist? I was also told that the FEC is worth about 25% less than the US Dollar when changed into Myanmar Kyat. Is this correct?
Ans: No. The requirement to exchange the above specified amount upon arrival no longer exists. It is also not correct that the FEC is worth 25% less than the US Dollar. The FEC is officially equal to the US Dollar in value and so far has similar exchange rates (which sometimes slightly vary) to the local Kyat currency.
3-Q During travel in Myanmar, can we be able to use our credit cards? If so, what types of credits are commonly accepted? If not, what types of currencies should we bring?
Ans: Currently, credit cards are not generally accepted in Myanmar. We advise you to bring enough US Dollars for your travel, accommodation, shopping and dining expenses. Some travel agencies and hotels may accept but you have to check with them before you come.
4-Q How much should I bring for within country travel?
Ans: The amount of US Dollars you should bring will depend on your length of stay and which part of country you will be traveling. We advise that you consult with your travel agent with regards to this.
Please find here some indicators (excluding Hotel and Airfare, shopssping):
1. Yangon Surrounds 3D4N 300 USD.
2. Yangon Bago 4D3N 500 USD.
3. Yangon Mandalay Bagan Inle 7D6N 1000 USD.
Car Info. ***Please kindly read.
Be noted with our car information:
Three factors are responsible for the cost of car transport:
1. The 20 year old ban on imports of car has resulted in exorbitant prices for cars in Myanmar. Used car cost from US$ 30.000 – 200.000, e.g. a used car, 8 years old, that would cost around $ 10.000 in the US or Europe will cost around US$ 100.000 in Myanmar.
2. Spare parts are also very expensive.
3. The price of gasoline has risen from Kyat 180 per gallon to Kyat 2.500 in the last 5 years. Because gasoline is rationed, we have to buy additional gasoline on the black market for Kyat 5.000. The price of gasoline continues to rise.
