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 Traveller's Tales: Doing business in Myanmar
Take note of the helpful information on business travel near in Myanmar. You may read about their business tips and guides. Find out the local business customs and guide on business travel. Also, you might want to read our
Bagan city guide,
Inle Lake city guide,
Mandalay city guide,
and Yangon(Rangoon) city guide.
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| V C quinn |
13 February 2005 |
Stayed at Traders Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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This maybe relatively new info: we entered Myanmar during the Chinese New Year (Rooster) without being required to exchange their worthless Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) with USD! We are avid Lonely Planet readers and I also have some acquaintances who go there quite often and as far as we have expected and were told before going there, all tourists are expected to buy FECs. So it was something good. However, we also found out that since about late fall 2004, Myanmar has forbidden any transactions using any credit cards. If you are going to Myanmar in near future, bring enough cash since you won't be able to get cash anywhere. We are very grateful that our hotel was booked thru asiahotels.com at a prepaid basis...otherwise, we would have less disposable money to spend while vacationing there.
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| R Martin |
24 January 2005 |
Stayed at Hotel Nikko Royal Lake Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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For travelers with the spirit of adventure, Myanmar is a very interesting destination. If you love places like India, you will love Myanmar. The people are friendly and welcoming; the Temples and Pagodas are amazing, and the food...well the food isn't so good. But food aside, Myanmar has a high WOW factor. If you go, you can't miss the Temples of Bagon. Bagon is about as spectacular as Angkor Wat...it is quite stunning and relaxing. I traveled to Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagon. Yangon was great for sightseeing and shopping. Mandalay is overrated and deserves only two days. I didn't run into anyone who liked it. Bagon, like I said earlier, is not to be missed.
Bring only US cash as they don't accept credit cards anywhere in the country, even in five star hotels. There are no ATM's in Myanmar either...which means that you need to plan ahead with your cash management. One hundred dollar bills will get you the best exchange rates while smaller bills will net you up to 7% less in exchange. Almost everywhere people will come up to you and say "change money"? If you try to cash traveler's checks, banks only accept a select few and even then, they will take a 20% commission on cashing them. Bottom line...bring Dollars. Euro's are almost impossible to exchange.
Internet service in Myanmar is a joke. Remember back to your 14.4 modem? Myanmar is slower than that! It took me 38 minutes to send one email. Also, the govenrment blocks MSN Hotmail and Yahoo mail so you will need to pay for a service that latches onto the government's server (draw your own conclusions on the reasons for this). I fortunately use a lesser known web-based mail and it wasn't blocked at all but because it was so slow, I hardly ever used it. Traveling throughout Myanmar can be trying at times but you will be well rewarded for your efforts.
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| O Alt |
30 September 2004 |
Stayed at Inle Lake View Resort - Inle Lake, Myanmar.
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Inle Lake is worth a visit, the craft houses are very interesting. Be sure to take enough film, up could use a roll of film alone in just one market. And bring sun block too, the sun is strong at this elevation. The only place in Myanmar where you can access Hotmail and Yahoo email accounts is at the InleBlooms Coffee Shop in town. You can read your mail, but must send thru another website that the coffee shop owner has set up.
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| S Fujioka |
06 May 2004 |
Stayed at Traders Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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In Myanmar, hotels cannot change money (USD-Manmar Kyat) for guests.
So you have to have many 1 dollar bills.
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| K Pommer |
12 February 2003 |
Stayed at Summit Parkview Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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You can change money at the offical back market rate in most hotels. They confirm it in the custom form. Rate changed from 1100 k to 900 k for 1$.
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| M Jonet |
03 June 2002 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Myanmar people are very friendly and I had a great time in that country, specially in Bagan. But since it is not yet totally developped if you think about going to that country, the best would be to pass by an agency who will organise a local guide for you. I have the chance to have some local friend and it was really cool but language is really an issue. if you are using credit card, only VISA is accepted and you have to verify more than twice to be sure the hotel accept the card otherwise they will charge you an extra 10%. Take lots of extra cash with you because there again if you want to cash out some money from your credit card only very few limited places will do it for a 20% charge....
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| J Grey |
09 May 2002 |
Stayed at Mandalay Swan Hotel - Mandalay, Myanmar.
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Mandalay seems to be a little world all of its own. Exchange rates are lower there and things are a bit more expensive. However the people are lovely. A very friendly trishaw driver found us on our first day and we left ourselves in his charge from then on. Without him we would never have sat in the office of the headmaster of a monks' training school discussing the syllabus nor have been served ultra sweet tea and cake at a wedding before having our photos taken with the bride and groom. If you have the chance do go and see the Moustache Brothers, forget the dinner and shows that the hotels put on , this is the real thing.
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| B Parr |
01 May 2002 |
Stayed at Kandawgyi Palace Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Trip was semi-business, as the purposes were to 1) explore Yangon, 2) make contacts for niche antiques business, and 3) purchase antique textiles. Lots of interesting sites to visit from an historical and cultural perspective. English readily spoken. Good restaurants, and food; both Western, and SE Asian.
Used a recommended driver -- very happy with results. Only used driver in Yangon and environs. But, know he will drive to other cities in-country. Had good ideas, and knows the city well. Suggest you somehow link him into drivers you recommend in Myanmar.
Contact Details:
SHWE Private Travel Service
Contact: Mr.Shwe Toe
English Licensed Tour Guide & Driver
Tel: 95-1-570219
Fax: 95-1-540077 or 544662
Email: aspidin@mptmail.net.mm
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