How Best To Bring Funds Into Burma? Usd Or Cad/Gbp/Etc?

[hermespan]

Unless things have changed we all know that the US dollar rules in Myanmar (well, I suppose Chinese Renminbi too).

But what about businessmen, speculators, investors and heck plain old tourists whose source of funds is neither USD or CNY? Everytime we change the currencies from wherever we bank, work or live (not necessariky the same places) we lose points to sticky fingers of money changers. Every foreign exchange step costs money. The *theory* of bring US cash makes sense, but not all of us are Americans, nor do we all get paid in USD or even bank in USD or in the USA.

Say an Australian, Brit or German wants to buy an apatment in Mandalay. If he changes his local currency into USD in Perth, London, Berlin he will lose a small percentage. But is the percentage lost LESS if he converted from Euro or whatever in BURMA itself? Or can he convert from his currency into Kyat and insist that the selling price be in kyat?when I was a tourist in Yangon in 1996 and 2011 I didn't compare to see if it woukd be better to bting in CAD to convert to kyat in one transaction, or whether to change CAD in Canada to USD abd put up with a double conversion (CAD -> USD -> kyat

My gut feeling is to bring USD cash, but there are numerous factors to consider...

1. laws

2. enfircement

3. best deal

4. simplicity

Sorry for typod, but normal thAIVISA does not work effectively on android, an if I use android app I can't increase font suze, so choices are tupos or blindness.

[CP3]

If you look at foreign investment in Myanmar, most of them have connection with local people and they go through black market to send in/out of Myanmar. If you'r in Ausi, it is better for you to approach to myanmar shop there to send the money over to myanmar, you give them ausi dollar, collect kyat in myanmar. Likewise for other countries. If a country without myanmar shop then I don't know

[hermespan]

If you look at foreign investment in Myanmar, most of them have connection with local people and they go through black market to send in/out of Myanmar. If you'r in Ausi, it is better for you to approach to myanmar shop there to send the money over to myanmar, you give them ausi dollar, collect kyat in myanmar. Likewise for other countries. If a country without myanmar shop then I don't know

I believe what you are speaking about is the casual/ethnic/community/'unregulated' money transfer system known in South Asia as hundi or halawa. It is not illegal everywhere so calling it 'black market' is stretching it. Perhaps you mean it is illegal in Burma? It makes total sense that it is not necessary to go through big banks and governments or even modern western companies such as Western Union ($$$). All it takes to transfer money one mile or ten thousand miles through ten borders is two email accounts and two merchants who trust each other. All the rest is Big Brother. No money actually goes anywhere in any case. All it is is ledgers accounting. Baby accounting.

This makes sense in Singapore where there are many Burmese. It is less practical in Canada. And what's more, maybe I haven't decided where and when I want to send money. I need maximum flexibility. I might buy land in Burma, then again I might find a better deal in Laos of Vietnam. It depends - wherever I can negotiate the best deal.

So, back to the original question. One has cash. Do you take USD or other hard currencies (that one has in banknotes) for maximum simplicity, speed and good FXS rate? Or does one have to choose only one of two features? I am asking this question to see if two currency conversions are worth the spread for the usability feature. No point saving exchanging CAD for USD if nobody in developing markets such as Burma wants CAD, or gives such a lousy rate that it would be better to have exchanged it back home.

A related question is whether it is better to exchange CAD (or indeed GBP etc) for kyat in Singapore or once one gets into Burma?.

If it makes a difference, I am not talking about huge amounts like $100,000, just 5-30K.