Applying for a Myanmar tourist visa whilst in Bangkok on a tourist visa (British Passport) Possible?

[arnold40844]

As above my brother is coming to visit me this week and has a few friends in Burma that he wanted to go see. He is arriving on a Multi-Entry tourist visa from the UK. I looked in to this and it seems fairly straight forward, is this the case or will he need sponsorship, proof of funds etc. He will be travelling to Myanmar via a land border.

Thanks in advance

[theoldgit]

It is pretty straight forward, he needs to go to the Myanmar Embassy on Sathorn, join the queue and apply and pay the fee for the visa, then go back in a couple of days and collect.

No sponsorship or proof of funds was needed when I did it late last year.

I'll move this to the Myanmar Visa Forum.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Yes, very straight forward as TOG posted above.

For more detailed info, see this post here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/622187-visa-from-bkk-update/#entry6154182

If you have any more questions, please post back and let us know.

[oldsailor35]

Does this mean that i have to go to Bangkok and wait a couple of days to get a Myanmar visa. I live on Koh Samui, this makes it quite expensive

[SeaVisionBurma]

Does this mean that i have to go to Bangkok and wait a couple of days to get a Myanmar visa. I live on Koh Samui, this makes it quite expensive

Yes, unless you pay a Myanmar based travel company to pre-arrange a tourist visa on your behalf, which does carry some additional fees for the convenience.

Otherwise you need to front up to the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok and apply for a visa. A two-day turnaround costs 810 baht, however you can get it the same day (express) for 1240 baht (apply in the morning between 9-12, pick up between 3.30-4.30pm)

[Tomtomtom69]

Does this mean that i have to go to Bangkok and wait a couple of days to get a Myanmar visa. I live on Koh Samui, this makes it quite expensive

Yes, unless you pay a Myanmar based travel company to pre-arrange a tourist visa on your behalf, which does carry some additional fees for the convenience.

Otherwise you need to front up to the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok and apply for a visa. A two-day turnaround costs 810 baht, however you can get it the same day (express) for 1240 baht (apply in the morning between 9-12, pick up between 3.30-4.30pm)

To the OP:

Yes the good news is Myanmar allows any nationality to apply for a Myanmar visa of any type, and you can be on any type of Thai visa or visa exemption. In fact, the majority of applicants are actually foreign tourists on visa exemptions or tourist visas.

The only thing to be aware of as I have pointed out in another post, which strangely nobody has replied to yet, is that you should NOT list your occupation as being in the media, a cameramen, news reporter or any related or similar occupation or profession. If you do, you will probably still get a visa but it will take much longer and rush service won't be available. In such cases the very fastest service would be around 3 days (if you ask politely and they are willing to entertain your wish), but 7 days or even up to 2 weeks is possible.

So in such cases you would be better off declaring another occupation but if that's unavoidable you must be prepared to apply early as the rules are not the same as for everyone else.

[phuketrichard]

to travel overland u will need visa in advance

so u will NEED to go to Bangkok

why not fly an get VOA at Yangon airport

or use the pre approved voa from the online travel agent ( only $10 more than the VOA ) if u fly into Mandalay?

Always

occupation; Tourist

[Tomtomtom69]

to travel overland u will need visa in advance

so u will NEED to go to Bangkok

why not fly an get VOA at Yangon airport

or use the pre approved voa from the online travel agent ( only $10 more than the VOA ) if u fly into Mandalay?

Always

occupation; Tourist

Travelling overland is quite fun and of all my recent Myanmar trips, I've always gone overland. Of course in my case it would make no sense to fly - my business is in the border regions of Myanmar and I obviously need a car to transport purchased goods or samples - flying is thus not an option for me. However, even for tourism purposes, entering via Mae Sot/Myawady or Phu Nam Ron/Htee Khee or perhaps Ranong/Kawthoung if you don't mind going by ferry are good options and you can see things that few travellers do. For example, Myawady has some interesting temples such as the crocodile temple all of which are free to enter. Hpa-an, which is the capital of Kayin state and just across the Dawna range offers awesome possibilities for eco-tourism. You can climb a mountain to a hilltop temple, go inside caves, possibly go canoeing amongst limestone outcrops and just soaking in the culture. Nearly all attractions in the area are free, except for one cave I think. Then there's the famed Golden Rock. Or the sleepy seaside town of Mawlamyine (Moulmein). Apart from maybe the Golden Rock, few travellers visit these places if flying into Yangon, simply because it's easier to visit them coming from a land border and most travellers who fly into Yangon visit the usual predictable places like Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake, but never go off the beaten track.

It's very easy to get a tourist visa in Bangkok, in 1 day if necessary. Just explain you are leaving the next day and going overland and they'll give it to you. Or you can pay an agent to take the hassle away while you do other things.

In the near future, VOA should be useable at land border crossings too. Until then, it's only a minor inconvenience either going to the embassy in Bangkok yourself or using an agent.