Hot! Paypal No Longer Blocking Access From Myanmar

[simon43]

I just walked over to Traders Hotel to try to make a TOR connection to Paypal. No joy, so I tried a direct connection, (which is normally rejected by Paypal with the message that I'm trying to connect from a sanctioned country).

I got a connection! I checked my IP address using one of the online services and it identifies me as being in Myanmar. That means that Paypal knows that I'm logged in from Myanmar, but has not refused my connection

I was able to use my Paypal account to send some funds to a US address.

Oh joy!! My blood pressure levels will fall - I can sleep at night now - Life is truly wonderful

But ... Google Adwords is still blocked

Simon

[tombkk]

Good to hear!

[Fgis]

Hope they don't lock your account later !

[Adryan]

I hope they don't lock your account to.

PayPal sucks really much at this time!

Be careful.

[Gerald14]

I agree with Adryan, stay away far away from Paypal

[simon43]

Hope they don't lock your account later !

You misunderstand. I have previously tried to access Paypal many times via direct connection from Myanmar, and have always got the 'you are trying to access Paypal from a sanctioned country' message.

Since the sanctions were lifted many months ago, I contacted Paypal about this message and they explained that they knew the sanctions were lifted, but that they were not ready to offer service in Myanmar, (and presumably they were too lazy to adjust the content of their error message).

They never suspended my Paypal account for attempting to connect from Myanmar.

So the fact that I can now connect directly, (and I've just logged in successfully from my school computer), means that Paypal has changed their policy re Myanmar, even though no public announcement has been made.

Simon

[falang07]

And you are sad that they block Google AdWords for you? I must use plugins to block ads myself. For me, this is a positive thing that might not last long already.

[simon43]

And you are sad that they block Google AdWords for you? I must use

plugins to block ads myself. For me, this is a positive thing that might

not last long already.

Ah, I need to clarify what I mean. I'm not talking about a 'consumer' of Google Adwords. I am a business user of Google Adwords, and I pay Google to promote my Phuket hotels on Google searches. I have to log into my Adwords account and manage my adverts and payments. That log-in is blocked by Google when they realise that my IP address is in Myanmar.

I've logged into Paypal from several different locations in Yangon over the past day and it is not blocked. Since Paypal is owned by Ebay, one might assume that I could now access my Ebay account from Myanmar, but I just checked and I got the usual error message about trying to access from a sanctioned country....

Simon

[Fgis]

Thank you to keep us updated. How long will you stay in Myanmar ? Building a new hotel there ? Food is good, girls cute ?

Thanks for info :-)

[SeaVisionBurma]

We're not the only ones who have had issues with Paypal.

There's a community message board in Yangon used by local expats, and the Paypal issue has been a hot topic there over the past year or two.

There have been new posts recently from members saying that they are now also able to access Paypal in Myanmar.

This is very good news indeed. I lost access to my Paypal account for almost 6 months last year after trying to access it in Yangon.

I had a lot of correspondence with Paypal regarding this issue. I pointed out several times the changes in Myanmar, and urged them to change their policy regarding access within Myanmar. I am guessing others may have done the same.

As for the ebay issue - yes they own Paypal, but they run it as a separate entity. Perhaps we need to start lobbying them to also change their policies regarding operating an ebay account from within Myanmar. I think this may be harder - as they will perhaps be more wary of the unknown perception of Myanmar from the rest of the world in terms of people having seller accounts here. (eg there are certain other countries which are banned from ebay activity due to instances of fraudulent listings and practises from those countries). Ebay may be worried that Myanmar is still too much of an unknown to suddenly allow free access and selling from within the country.

Hope this makes sense

[simon43]

How long will you stay in Myanmar ? Building a new hotel there ? Food is good, girls cute ?

a) I'm just leaving for a new job in Laos

I would like to, but no time and no money

c) No

d) Very, very occasionally

[thaicbr]

How long will you stay in Myanmar ? Building a new hotel there ? Food is good, girls cute ?

a) I'm just leaving for a new job in Laos

I would like to, but no time and no money

c) No

d) Very, very occasionally

Simon. You do get around a bit. Where in Laos are you going?

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

[simon43]

Simon. You do get around a bit. Where in Laos are you going?

It looks like I will be the Principal at the new international school in Luang Prabang.

BTW, after 18 months in Myanmar, I 'm leaving because I have been unable to persuade the government to issue me with a radio amateur licence for use in Yangon! This is an important hobby for me. I had a couple of good job offers from my existing employer and from other international schools in Yangon, but without the ham licence I wasn't going to stay any longer. Unfortunately, there were no decent job offers back 'home' in Phuket.

Lao PDR is quite happy to issue me with my ham licence

Simon

[blackion]

Simon, you are an interesting fellow. Are you now in Lao?

May I suggest you to use kproxy if you will ever face problems of connecting to anything? They have a free server and also a payable one. I guess it's faster than TOR.

[blackion]

Simon, you are an interesting fellow. Are you now in Lao?

May I suggest you to use kproxy if you will ever face problems of connecting to anything? They have a free server and also a payable one. I guess it's faster than TOR.

[JimsKnight]

I thought you were in Phuket?!

[simon43]

I thought you were in Phuket?!

Indeed I am - now (Oct 13th...)

My Laos job was an interim position. They needed someone with school management experience, building project experience (new campus build), and who can speak Lao language (yes I can!). The new campus is now open, so I returned to Phuket.

I would like to return to Myanmar again (amazingly, the government started to issue radio ham licences just after I left...), but I've just started yet anoither mini-hotel project in Phuket. So I'm grounded for the forseeable future.

Simon

[simon43]

So I'm grounded for the forseeable future.

Update 13/12/2014

Nope - that was a complete lie! I'm returning to work in Yangon from January 2014 - working again as a Homeroom teacher at one of the international schools. (My building project went faster than I expected!)

Simon

[blackion]

Simon, have you got FB or some way of contacting you? Please PM me.