Another update, and my situation changes regularly!

I received a friendly email from Naypyitaw explaining that I will not be allowed to do my ham radio hobby until the state of emergency has ended, (which is unlikely to happen for some time). So no surprises there..... Because of this situation, and because I don't want to rent a lock-up unit in Bangkok for the next lifetime, I actually have donated my bulky radio transceiver to a young radio ham in the UK. I can still engage in my radio hobby, but only receiving signals, such as images from satellites.

A welcome email from a school in Mandalay! They want me to be their school Principal :) I've managed schools previously in Laos and Yangon, and it can be a 'difficult' job. But they appreciate my educational charity work in Myanmar and maybe no-one else is 'stupid' enough to take the job!! In any case, if I work as principal, then my monthly income (pension+online teaching+principal salary) will typically be at least $5,500 USD, which would allow me to soon drop 800,000 THB into my Thai bank account for a future 'retirement' visa in Thailand.

I have a Zoom interview later this week :)

51 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Another update, and my situation changes regularly!

I received a friendly email from Naypyitaw explaining that I will not be allowed to do my ham radio hobby until the state of emergency has ended, (which is unlikely to happen for some time). So no surprises there..... Because of this situation, and because I don't want to rent a lock-up unit in Bangkok for the next lifetime, I actually have donated my bulky radio transceiver to a young radio ham in the UK. I can still engage in my radio hobby, but only receiving signals, such as images from satellites.

A welcome email from a school in Mandalay! They want me to be their school Principal :) I've managed schools previously in Laos and Yangon, and it can be a 'difficult' job. But they appreciate my educational charity work in Myanmar and maybe no-one else is 'stupid' enough to take the job!! In any case, if I work as principal, then my monthly income (pension+online teaching+principal salary) will typically be at least $5,500 USD, which would allow me to soon drop 800,000 THB into my Thai bank account for a future 'retirement' visa in Thailand.

I have a Zoom interview later this week :)

Hi Simon, best of luck with your zoom interview.

Oh dear! It looks like AirAsia has recently suspended flights between Bangkok (Don Muang) and Mandalay airport :( So now I'd have to fly on MAI (expensive) or Bangkok Airways (from Swampy and even more expensive). Drat!

39 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Oh dear! It looks like AirAsia has recently suspended flights between Bangkok (Don Muang) and Mandalay airport :( So now I'd have to fly on MAI (expensive) or Bangkok Airways (from Swampy and even more expensive). Drat!

Sorry to read Simon.

For me, was considering booking a flight later this summer on Cambodia and Malay Air Asia's new flag ship service from Siem Reap/Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur (avoiding Bangkok DMK) and then on to London Gatwick (LGW) but via Bahrain! Fortunately I have now saved 379$, (283 GBP) the one way promotion fare, including baggae in hold!

2 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Sorry to read Simon.

For me, was considering booking a flight later this summer on Cambodia and Malay Air Asia's new flag ship service from Siem Reap/Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur (avoiding Bangkok DMK) and then on to London Gatwick (LGW) but via Bahrain! Fortunately I have now saved 379$, (283 GBP) the one way promotion fare, including baggae in hold!

Lol, there's an unexpected silver lining!

Today I received my annual, multi-entry retirement visa for Cambodia, with minimal admin paperwork needed. So with that sorted, I've now got my Cambodian 'base' sorted, and can arrange my trip to Myanmar, but avoiding the Water Festival (since air fares will rocket). I plan to stay in Mandalay on this first e-tourist visa trip, so I can visit the Girls' orphanage, a second orphanage and the Mandalay School for the Blind, plus drop into the school that is considering me as Principal (they must be mad!! lol). I hope to stay for about 3 weeks.

I've set up a drop-off address in Bangkok for receipt of Lazada parcels/packages, since the cost anf postal delays to Siem Reap are huge. So I can order eg - flashcards from Lazada, and pick them up as I pass through Bangkok on my way to Myanmar.

Finally I have booked a 3-week stay in the Inle Lake and Taunggyi region, leaving Siem Reap next weekend. I have various flashcards that are already waiting for me at my Lazada mailing address in Bangkok, and I'll print off A3 posters locally in Taunggyi.

Apart from the orphanages etc that I already know about, a 3-week visit will allow me to visit local KG/primary and secondary schools, since they too are no doubt short of learning/teaching resources.

I'll update (and with photos) for this trip :)

10 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Finally I have booked a 3-week stay in the Inle Lake and Taunggyi region, leaving Siem Reap next weekend. I have various flashcards that are already waiting for me at my Lazada mailing address in Bangkok, and I'll print off A3 posters locally in Taunggyi.

Apart from the orphanages etc that I already know about, a 3-week visit will allow me to visit local KG/primary and secondary schools, since they too are no doubt short of learning/teaching resources.

I'll update (and with photos) for this trip :)

Good luck with your travels and teaching Simon and stay safe and well.

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Good luck with your travels and teaching Simon and stay safe and well.

Thanks.. It is certainly more easy to travel to/from Myanmar when based in Cambodia, as opposed to the UK.

My purchase of the domestic flight from Yangon to Inle Lake (HeHo Airport) was declined by Wise because of the UK's sanctions against Myanmar - I'll have to buy that air-ticket using my Bangkok Bank account. I have previously taken the overnight bus from Yangon to Inle Lake, but it takes about 14 hours because of the many police checks on the way. Besides, my bones are getting old, so I've decided to fly. That flight was once shot at as it was coming in to land at Heho Airport, so I'll take my tin hat with me :)

Hotels are cheap in Nyaung Shwe (the small town at the head of the lake), typically under $10/night for a basic hotel. This isn't a holiday for me (although in the 3 weeks of my trip I certainly hope to do some sightseeing). Apart from the 8 or orphanages that I already support, I plan to visit as many government schools as I can, including the primary schools in some of the floating villages on the lake.

I also want to use my time to improve my Burmese language knowledge, which is pretty basic right now. I can read/pronounce Burmese OK, and get by in conversation, so long as it concerns schools, books etc etc.

I need to find a Burmese wife..... :)

Yes, Wise card doesn't work at all in Myanmar. I tried mine in each of the 5 different bank ATMs in the Yangon airport arrivals in March 2023. My Thai Kbank atm/debit card did work there. Curiously, my UK issued MBNA credit card worked in all the restaurants we tried in Yangon (at least those few that accepted cards).

1 hour ago, soi3eddie said:

Yes, Wise card doesn't work at all in Myanmar. I tried mine in each of the 5 different bank ATMs in the Yangon airport arrivals in March 2023. My Thai Kbank atm/debit card did work there. Curiously, my UK issued MBNA credit card worked in all the restaurants we tried in Yangon (at least those few that accepted cards).

In fact, (as I found out yonks ago), even trying to use ATM cards from UK banks can result in card suspension or account locking (my UK Paypal account was locked yonks ago when I tried to access it from Myanmar). I would normally take clean US dollars, plus some emergency funds in my Thai and Cambodian bank accounts.

This trip will also allow me to drop into the various schools/colleges in Taunggyi to follow up job applications :)

Getting to the Inle Lake region is a bit of a journey. That's not due to the problems in the Middle East. Rather, it's because the flight from Bangkok to Yangon departs (for some unknown reason) at 2am on Sunday morning, arriving in Yangon about 1 hour later. My flight into Bangkok from Siem Reap arrives the previous afternoon, so I have a lot of time to kill AND I also need to teach 2 online lessons. Rather than fire up Zoom at a noisy airport, and risk having not enough 'juice' for my laptop, I'll stay for the afternoon at a cheap(ish) airport hostel that I know near Swampy.

Once I arrive at Yangon, I have about 6 hours to kill before my flight to HeHo airport, which is about 1 hour from the small town of Nyaung Shwe, at the head of Inle Lake. As previously mentioned, I have neither the time nor the interest in taking the long coach journey from Yangon to Nyaung Shwe!

My hotel in Nyuang Shwe is cheap, less than $10 USD/night. They also informed me that there is mains electricity for about 3 hours per day, (a fact that I remember being similar when I was in Nyaung Shwe about 14 months ago). The hotel internet and mobile internet is fine, so long as I buy SIM data cards for 3 different mobile networks when I arrive (Atom network is krap, so I won't buy that SIM), then use 3 different mobile phones at the same time AND the hotel wi-fi also to obtain a reliable internet connection, connecting all devices to my laptop using Speedify software. I've done this before in Myanmar and that works OK.

To ensure that I can do my online lessons during these 'black-outs', I need to bring my trusty 12v/220v inverter and car battery charger with me (2 useful travel items when visiting Myanmar!). I'll buy a car battery when I arrive in town. I already have a strong LED light that clips to my laptop, and a solar-powered torch for getting about in the dark :)

Car batteries are heavy, so I'm off to the local Sakura (secondhand item) shop today in Siem Reap to buy a cheap but strong bag to carry the battery, since I might travel up to Mandalay as well. The battery has to be 'abandoned' before I return home - can't take it on a plane.

A Christian nun in Taunggyi emailed me yesterday about a new orphanage that's just opened with about 80 children, caught up in the civil war, (many people were evacuated from the town of Loikaw, south of Inle Lake). She said that they are teaching the kids English, but any teaching resources will be most welcomed. I think the local print shop in Taunggyi will be getting good business from me.

I should emphasise that 'orphanage' doesn't always mean 'orphans'. Many of the kids do have parents, but the latter are destitute, and it's better for the offspring to stay at a monastery school or Christian orphanage, where they are safe, have clothes, food and other kids etc.

My hotel also told me that nowadays the police ban foreigners from hiring motorbikes in Nyaung Shwe. That's annoying, because I don't want to be reliant on taxis to get around locally. I can rent a bicycle, and the furthest-away orphanage is about 8 miles from Nyauang Shwe - so that will be a nice ride. (I'll have to move hotels to Taunggyi when visiting the orphanages in that town).

Also, my Burmese language skills are up to asking "I want to buy a car battery because there is no electricity at my hotel. Where is the shop?" However, whether or not I can understand the reply remains to be seen.... I hope that by immersing myself for a few weeks in a (mostly) Bumese language enivonment, I can improve my language knowledge.....

5 hours ago, simon43 said:

Getting to the Inle Lake region is a bit of a journey. That's not due to the problems in the Middle East. Rather, it's because the flight from Bangkok to Yangon departs (for some unknown reason) at 2am on Sunday morning, arriving in Yangon about 1 hour later. My flight into Bangkok from Siem Reap arrives the previous afternoon, so I have a lot of time to kill AND I also need to teach 2 online lessons. Rather than fire up Zoom at a noisy airport, and risk having not enough 'juice' for my laptop, I'll stay for the afternoon at a cheap(ish) airport hostel that I know near Swampy.

Once I arrive at Yangon, I have about 6 hours to kill before my flight to HeHo airport, which is about 1 hour from the small town of Nyaung Shwe, at the head of Inle Lake. As previously mentioned, I have neither the time nor the interest in taking the long coach journey from Yangon to Nyaung Shwe!

My hotel in Nyuang Shwe is cheap, less than $10 USD/night. They also informed me that there is mains electricity for about 3 hours per day, (a fact that I remember being similar when I was in Nyaung Shwe about 14 months ago). The hotel internet and mobile internet is fine, so long as I buy SIM data cards for 3 different mobile networks when I arrive (Atom network is krap, so I won't buy that SIM), then use 3 different mobile phones at the same time AND the hotel wi-fi also to obtain a reliable internet connection, connecting all devices to my laptop using Speedify software. I've done this before in Myanmar and that works OK.

To ensure that I can do my online lessons during these 'black-outs', I need to bring my trusty 12v/220v inverter and car battery charger with me (2 useful travel items when visiting Myanmar!). I'll buy a car battery when I arrive in town. I already have a strong LED light that clips to my laptop, and a solar-powered torch for getting about in the dark :)

Car batteries are heavy, so I'm off to the local Sakura (secondhand item) shop today in Siem Reap to buy a cheap but strong bag to carry the battery, since I might travel up to Mandalay as well. The battery has to be 'abandoned' before I return home - can't take it on a plane.

A Christian nun in Taunggyi emailed me yesterday about a new orphanage that's just opened with about 80 children, caught up in the civil war, (many people were evacuated from the town of Loikaw, south of Inle Lake). She said that they are teaching the kids English, but any teaching resources will be most welcomed. I think the local print shop in Taunggyi will be getting good business from me.

I should emphasise that 'orphanage' doesn't always mean 'orphans'. Many of the kids do have parents, but the latter are destitute, and it's better for the offspring to stay at a monastery school or Christian orphanage, where they are safe, have clothes, food and other kids etc.

My hotel also told me that nowadays the police ban foreigners from hiring motorbikes in Nyaung Shwe. That's annoying, because I don't want to be reliant on taxis to get around locally. I can rent a bicycle, and the furthest-away orphanage is about 8 miles from Nyauang Shwe - so that will be a nice ride. (I'll have to move hotels to Taunggyi when visiting the orphanages in that town).

5 hours ago, simon43 said:

Getting to the Inle Lake region is a bit of a journey. That's not due to the problems in the Middle East. Rather, it's because the flight from Bangkok to Yangon departs (for some unknown reason) at 2am on Sunday morning, arriving in Yangon about 1 hour later. My flight into Bangkok from Siem Reap arrives the previous afternoon, so I have a lot of time to kill AND I also need to teach 2 online lessons. Rather than fire up Zoom at a noisy airport, and risk having not enough 'juice' for my laptop, I'll stay for the afternoon at a cheap(ish) airport hostel that I know near Swampy.

Once I arrive at Yangon, I have about 6 hours to kill before my flight to HeHo airport, which is about 1 hour from the small town of Nyaung Shwe, at the head of Inle Lake. As previously mentioned, I have neither the time nor the interest in taking the long coach journey from Yangon to Nyaung Shwe!

My hotel in Nyuang Shwe is cheap, less than $10 USD/night. They also informed me that there is mains electricity for about 3 hours per day, (a fact that I remember being similar when I was in Nyaung Shwe about 14 months ago). The hotel internet and mobile internet is fine, so long as I buy SIM data cards for 3 different mobile networks when I arrive (Atom network is krap, so I won't buy that SIM), then use 3 different mobile phones at the same time AND the hotel wi-fi also to obtain a reliable internet connection, connecting all devices to my laptop using Speedify software. I've done this before in Myanmar and that works OK.

To ensure that I can do my online lessons during these 'black-outs', I need to bring my trusty 12v/220v inverter and car battery charger with me (2 useful travel items when visiting Myanmar!). I'll buy a car battery when I arrive in town. I already have a strong LED light that clips to my laptop, and a solar-powered torch for getting about in the dark :)

Car batteries are heavy, so I'm off to the local Sakura (secondhand item) shop today in Siem Reap to buy a cheap but strong bag to carry the battery, since I might travel up to Mandalay as well. The battery has to be 'abandoned' before I return home - can't take it on a plane.

A Christian nun in Taunggyi emailed me yesterday about a new orphanage that's just opened with about 80 children, caught up in the civil war, (many people were evacuated from the town of Loikaw, south of Inle Lake). She said that they are teaching the kids English, but any teaching resources will be most welcomed. I think the local print shop in Taunggyi will be getting good business from me.

I should emphasise that 'orphanage' doesn't always mean 'orphans'. Many of the kids do have parents, but the latter are destitute, and it's better for the offspring to stay at a monastery school or Christian orphanage, where they are safe, have clothes, food and other kids etc.

My hotel also told me that nowadays the police ban foreigners from hiring motorbikes in Nyaung Shwe. That's annoying, because I don't want to be reliant on taxis to get around locally. I can rent a bicycle, and the furthest-away orphanage is about 8 miles from Nyauang Shwe - so that will be a nice ride. (I'll have to move hotels to Taunggyi when visiting the orphanages in that town).

Hi Simon,

Well I never, the Japanese Sakura Shop. After hunting around Siem Reap for almost 2 hours with my tuk-tuk driver, this was THE only place where I was able to purchase a large, strong and metal framed magnifying glass to read small print! Excellent value - all Japanese products, no Chinese!

Wishing you the best of luck. Cheers.

3 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Hi Simon,

Well I never, the Japanese Sakura Shop. After hunting around Siem Reap for almost 2 hours with my tuk-tuk driver, this was THE only place where I was able to purchase a large, strong and metal framed magnifying glass to read small print! Excellent value - all Japanese products, no Chinese!

Wishing you the best of luck. Cheers.

I found a sturdy bag in Sakura for my 'emergency power' kit! Now the problem is that flights from Yangon to Heho are booked up for a few days. So I'll stay in Yangon for 3 days, visit the monastery school over the river in Dala Township (where I taught in 2012 - I have some old photos of my young students who will now be in their 20's). I might drop into one of my old school employers, but I don't expect any job offers! (Yangon is too polluted anyway....). There is also a good educational book shop that sells bilingual story books that I used to donate - so that's worth a visit.

I would take coach travel, but this isn't possible since I teach online every evening and all the coach websites have either no seat availability, or foreigners have been banned from travelling on that route..... Such are the challenges of travel in Myanmar :)

Update - (deleted). MAI manually issued the flight ticket with many apologies for their fcuked-up website...

Just 36 hours after applying online, I received my tourist e-visa by email. (At least this demonstrates that I'm still allowed into Myanmar!)