Burma

[vickersvc10]

Next month I will be visiting Rangoon in Burma (aka Yangon/Myanmar). I know there are no ATMs there and credit card usage is almost unknown. Does anyone have advice on the best way to take money?

[Phil Conners]

Not Pattaya-related. Moved.

[Boater]

take USD

[Lakegeneve]

take USD

Make that crisp, new USD!

Burmese businesses are very particularly about the quality of the US notes they receive eps. for larger denominations.

[rak sa_ngop]

You could pay for your hotel room in advance in Thailand. The Burmese travel agent on Pan Road (walk up Pan road from Silom road towards the Myanmar embassy, and it's on the left) can make bookings in budget hotels e.g. The Thamada hotel was 25 USD last year including a good breakfast. This will mean you won't need to carry so much USD. Of course if you stay in one of the many luxury hotels you can usually pay with a credit card.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Amex traveller's checks still exist AFAIK, but you'd might need to go to an official bank to cash them - I doubt the exchange rate would be too favorable. Although in Cambodia the Foreign Correspondents Club used to cash them for me, so there might be an equivalent, would be much safer than carrying lots of cash.

If you're going to be there for a while I'd advise finding out if one of the larger Thai banks has a presence there, and ask them if you can wire transfer money to yourself for pickup there in cash USD.

[frankthetank]

I was there in 2005.

My cousin, who lives in Yangon, told me to bring USD, but not $100 bills.

If you know a local, they can get you the best exchange, back then nearly 1000Kt (kyat-pronounced chat), to the $1.

The oficial rate is somewhat lower, against the dollar, not sure, but the £ was 6.5Kt to £1 and at the airport was 300Kt to the £1.

I hope this helps.

BTW. Airport to centre by taxi cost approx 4000Kt.

[Shurup]

I was there in 2005.

My cousin, who lives in Yangon, told me to bring USD, but not $100 bills.

If you know a local, they can get you the best exchange, back then nearly 1000Kt (kyat-pronounced chat), to the $1.

The oficial rate is somewhat lower, against the dollar, not sure, but the £ was 6.5Kt to £1 and at the airport was 300Kt to the £1.

I hope this helps.

BTW. Airport to centre by taxi cost approx 4000Kt.

That's quite a difference in rates that you quoted. 6.5Kt to £1 and 300Kt to the £1

[rak sa_ngop]

I was there in 2005.

My cousin, who lives in Yangon, told me to bring USD, but not $100 bills.

If you know a local, they can get you the best exchange, back then nearly 1000Kt (kyat-pronounced chat), to the $1.

The oficial rate is somewhat lower, against the dollar, not sure, but the £ was 6.5Kt to £1 and at the airport was 300Kt to the £1.

I hope this helps.

BTW. Airport to centre by taxi cost approx 4000Kt.

Do not change any money at the airport. Last year the taxi into the city cost 7 USD and change from a 10 USD was offered either in USD or kyat (1000 kyat to 1 USD)

[frankthetank]

I was there in 2005.

My cousin, who lives in Yangon, told me to bring USD, but not $100 bills.

If you know a local, they can get you the best exchange, back then nearly 1000Kt (kyat-pronounced chat), to the $1.

The oficial rate is somewhat lower, against the dollar, not sure, but the £ was 6.5Kt to £1 and at the airport was 300Kt to the £1.

I hope this helps.

BTW. Airport to centre by taxi cost approx 4000Kt.

That's quite a difference in rates that you quoted. 6.5Kt to £1 and 300Kt to the £1

It certainly is!

6.5Kt to £1 GBP, is the government bank exchange rate.

300Kt to £1 GBP, is the exchange rate at the government bureau de change at the airport.

1000Kt to $1 USD, is the rate you will get on the street. I do not think they like £ GBP too much.

I hope this makes it a bit clearer, even if very hard to believe!

[Fletcher]

Todays rate is about Ks880 per USD. Its been in a 820-920 range for the last few months.

Bring only USD100 bills (not travelers cheques) bills must be clean, without a crease, make sure issue year is after 1996, and no CB series numbers. Anyone of those will get you a lower rate in Yangon

If you are buying your USD in bkk, i recommend Super Rich, opp. Central world, tell them its for Myanmar, and you won't have any problems.

There are no ATMs, and no Credit Card facilities in Myanmar at the moment.

You could bring some THB as a backup, but rate is lower in Yangon than at border areas.

Enjoy it !

[sabaijai]

I was there in 2005.

My cousin, who lives in Yangon, told me to bring USD, but not $100 bills.

If you know a local, they can get you the best exchange, back then nearly 1000Kt (kyat-pronounced chat), to the $1.

The oficial rate is somewhat lower, against the dollar, not sure, but the £ was 6.5Kt to £1 and at the airport was 300Kt to the £1.

I hope this helps.

BTW. Airport to centre by taxi cost approx 4000Kt.

That's quite a difference in rates that you quoted. 6.5Kt to £1 and 300Kt to the £1

It certainly is!

6.5Kt to £1 GBP, is the government bank exchange rate.

300Kt to £1 GBP, is the exchange rate at the government bureau de change at the airport.

1000Kt to $1 USD, is the rate you will get on the street. I do not think they like £ GBP too much.

I hope this makes it a bit clearer, even if very hard to believe!

There is no longer an 'official' bank exchange rate, since you can't change money at banks in Myanmar. All exchange transactions occur following a floating free market rate.

[frankthetank]

I was there in 2005.

My cousin, who lives in Yangon, told me to bring USD, but not $100 bills.

If you know a local, they can get you the best exchange, back then nearly 1000Kt (kyat-pronounced chat), to the $1.

The oficial rate is somewhat lower, against the dollar, not sure, but the £ was 6.5Kt to £1 and at the airport was 300Kt to the £1.

I hope this helps.

BTW. Airport to centre by taxi cost approx 4000Kt.

That's quite a difference in rates that you quoted. 6.5Kt to £1 and 300Kt to the £1

It certainly is!

6.5Kt to £1 GBP, is the government bank exchange rate.

300Kt to £1 GBP, is the exchange rate at the government bureau de change at the airport.

1000Kt to $1 USD, is the rate you will get on the street. I do not think they like £ GBP too much.

I hope this makes it a bit clearer, even if very hard to believe!

There is no longer an 'official' bank exchange rate, since you can't change money at banks in Myanmar. All exchange transactions occur following a floating free market rate.

Thanks for that, it has been sometime since I was there.

[Fletcher]

I was there in 2005.

My cousin, who lives in Yangon, told me to bring USD, but not $100 bills.

If you know a local, they can get you the best exchange, back then nearly 1000Kt (kyat-pronounced chat), to the $1.

The oficial rate is somewhat lower, against the dollar, not sure, but the £ was 6.5Kt to £1 and at the airport was 300Kt to the £1.

I hope this helps.

BTW. Airport to centre by taxi cost approx 4000Kt.

That's quite a difference in rates that you quoted. 6.5Kt to £1 and 300Kt to the £1

It certainly is!

6.5Kt to £1 GBP, is the government bank exchange rate.

300Kt to £1 GBP, is the exchange rate at the government bureau de change at the airport.

1000Kt to $1 USD, is the rate you will get on the street. I do not think they like £ GBP too much.

I hope this makes it a bit clearer, even if very hard to believe!

There is no longer an 'official' bank exchange rate, since you can't change money at banks in Myanmar. All exchange transactions occur following a floating free market rate.

Not true. The 1USD=6.5Ks rate does still exist, but only for accountancy purposes. There are other official rates too e.g. a trading rate of 1USD = 450Ks. If you changed money at the airport this is the rate you would get. Fortunately the MFTB/MICB counter is rarely, if ever open. The floating free market rate you refer to is actually a black market rate i.e. it is not legal. Whats more, Myanmar people are not legally allowed to hold foreign currency.

This is not to say you shouldn't use the black market, in reality you have no choice. But be aware that money changing is an illegal enterprise before publicly waving USD bills in front of someone.

As stated in my earlier post, the ONLY note you should bring is USD100 bills, and this has been the case since I arrived in Myanmar in the late 1990's.

[anothertorres]

once you've broken a $100, what do you do with the change? i don't quite understand this "only bring $100 bills". can you elaborate?

[rak sa_ngop]

once you've broken a $100, what do you do with the change? i don't quite understand this "only bring $100 bills". can you elaborate?

Bring 100 USD notes to get the best rates. Bring a few smaller notes to cover the last few days of your visit. You will also need smaller USD notes for entrance fees to parks and museums, temples etc so a range of crisp new notes is recommended.

When I lived in Yangon a number of years ago, I was told that certain high ranking (military) officials were given the privelege of buying USD ostensibly for overseas trips at the official bank rate. So they could buy US dollars for about 8 kyat to the dollar and then change back at black market rates of 300 kyat to the dollar (1998). This explains the rationale behind the official exchange rates.