Will Myanmar eventually switch back to right hand drive like American Samoa did?

[SeaVisionBurma]

Driving Myanmar interesting. Doesn't really matter what side your steering wheel is on.

So what is stopping the current rulers from switching back to the left? Surely there should be a large Burmese diaspora in the UK to influence such matters?

Burmese influence from the UK? Really?

Highly doubtful that this would have the slightest chance of making any influence towards changing what side of the road they drive on in Myanmar. Not quite sure how you made this leap...

[badshah]

My wife and I have driven from Bangkok to Singapore and return which was easy since all 3 countries are right hand drive. I believe Myanmar has a border with India as well as Bangladesh - both RHD countries. Given Myanmar's interest in supporting tourism, they might agree to allow tourists to drive through to Thailand

Which is in Myanmar's long-term interests to switch back to driving on the left. India and Thailand, trade with both countries, can be extremely lucrative for Myanmar so making it easier to facilitate trade between the two will help them out in the long run.

[badshah]

Driving Myanmar interesting. Doesn't really matter what side your steering wheel is on.

So what is stopping the current rulers from switching back to the left? Surely there should be a large Burmese diaspora in the UK to influence such matters?

Burmese influence from the UK? Really?

Highly doubtful that this would have the slightest chance of making any influence towards changing what side of the road they drive on in Myanmar. Not quite sure how you made this leap...

Do Anglo-Burmese not hold any sway still in the country?

Okay how about increased trade between Thailand and India? Surely that would help influence the possibility to switch back to the left?

[SeaVisionBurma]

Do Anglo-Burmese not hold any sway still in the country?

Did they before? The country was under strict military rule from the 60's until very recently, I don't think any political or legislative decisions were made on account of pressure from Burmese in the UK. Certainly not in traffic regulations

Okay how about increased trade between Thailand and India? Surely that would help influence the possibility to switch back to the left?

In a perfect world perhaps - but Myanmar is the largest contiguous country in SE Asia, and it would be a nightmare now to try and change which side of the road they drive on just to keep in with their neighbours. Hasn't affected them in the last few decades, why should they change now?

And the flipside to this is one you haven't addressed. You say that due to increased trade between Thailand and India that Myanmar should switch the side of the road they drive on. Surely the other point of view is valid - Thailand and India should change to driving on the right side of the road instead.

[badshah]

Do Anglo-Burmese not hold any sway still in the country?

Did they before? The country was under strict military rule from the 60's until very recently, I don't think any political or legislative decisions were made on account of pressure from Burmese in the UK. Certainly not in traffic regulations

Okay how about increased trade between Thailand and India? Surely that would help influence the possibility to switch back to the left?

In a perfect world perhaps - but Myanmar is the largest contiguous country in SE Asia, and it would be a nightmare now to try and change which side of the road they drive on just to keep in with their neighbours. Hasn't affected them in the last few decades, why should they change now?

And the flipside to this is one you haven't addressed. You say that due to increased trade between Thailand and India that Myanmar should switch the side of the road they drive on. Surely the other point of view is valid - Thailand and India should change to driving on the right side of the road instead.

Majority of the cars on the roads there are right-hand-drive and highly doubt it will decrease since Japanese imports will always be cheaper and more sought after than brand new vehicles that happen to be LHD. Also, the right of way in many cities over there still are made for the left side of the road so a mere reversion won't have any affect on the country.

And why should Thailand and India change? Both countries have far more developed road infrastructure and economy than Myanmar does, and far more cars.

This isn't like the Russian Far East even though they too have majority of RHD cars in traffic. Unlike the Russian Far East, Myanmar's road infrastructure still is made for driving on the left, so to reiterate switching back to the left wouldn't cost them much to begin with and will end up reaping huge dividends in increased trade between India and Thailand.

[ratcatcher]

Every day in Europe thousands of RH drive vehicles from the UK manage to negotiate European mainland roads without many incidents.

Trucks from the UK travel all the way to Turkey. Just what seems to be the problem here? A competent driver can drive on either side of the road, just watch the Thais.

With the hundreds of millions of vehicles in India, I hardly see them changing over to LH drive to suit Myanmar.

[Timebandit]

Really interesting to see the bridge/lane system for trading sides from China to HKG.

[phazey]

<snip> A local told me that a General got hit by a scooter a number of years ago so he arbitrarily banned them from the city centre - not sure if that's true or not.

Not quite, the accepted reason at the time was the sons of the Yangon elite were running around in gangs on motorbikes when they should have been in bed early or doing their chores, up to shenanigans at all hours of the night.

Or something like that.

I do remember it happening pretty much overnight back in late 1999? (others will be able to correct me on this)

'99 you're right, The BikerMice.

[gregk0543]

Maybe they will start speaking Thai and Hindi as well?

The Hong Kong / China point and the UK / Europe one says what will happen. They will just leave it as it is.

Like I said above the policy at the moment is that all new cars sold have to be LHD.

Remember that up till 2 or 3 years ago you could not even import a car into Myanmar. Then we traded old cars for a permit for a secondhand one from anywhere RHD or LHD. Now you can buy a new one at the dealers but it must be LHD so no plan to change.

Luckily motorbikes which are the largest vehicle number in Myanmar are ambidextrous. Rumours are they will be returned to Yangon sooner than changing the side of road.

So when Aung San Su Kyi becomes president it might happen. But she is not likely to be.

There are far more urgent priorities for the govt. at this time and place.

[wilcopops]

My wife and I have driven from Bangkok to Singapore and return which was easy since all 3 countries are right hand drive. I believe Myanmar has a border with India as well as Bangladesh - both RHD countries. Given Myanmar's interest in supporting tourism, they might agree to allow tourists to drive through to Thailand. Pakistan to India might be trickier given their poor relations. However, buses are now running, so it might be possible.

Our trip through Malaysia to Singapore was easy from an administrative view point - very little red tape. And the driving itself was breeze until we got to Singapore, got lost because our GPS didn't have Singapore maps, and had to hire a taxi to take us to our hotel! Great fun all the way. Want to do it again while I still a can - I'm 77 and made the trip when I was 70. Cheers

Have driven to Malaysia (Penang and would love to make it to Singapore. So you had no trouble taking your car into Singapore?

It would be both nice and logical if Myanmar followed suit.

[wilcopops]

Maybe they will start speaking Thai and Hindi as well?

The Hong Kong / China point and the UK / Europe one says what will happen. They will just leave it as it is.

Like I said above the policy at the moment is that all new cars sold have to be LHD.

Remember that up till 2 or 3 years ago you could not even import a car into Myanmar. Then we traded old cars for a permit for a secondhand one from anywhere RHD or LHD. Now you can buy a new one at the dealers but it must be LHD so no plan to change.

Luckily motorbikes which are the largest vehicle number in Myanmar are ambidextrous. Rumours are they will be returned to Yangon sooner than changing the side of road.

So when Aung San Su Kyi becomes president it might happen. But she is not likely to be.

There are far more urgent priorities for the govt. at this time and place.

Although motorbikes are likely to remain the single largest gropup for sometime, it is also fair to expect the numbers of cars in Myanmar to grow exponentially and as the majority at present are RHD, then one would logically think that would be the way to go.

It is very frustrating living in S.E. Asia to see countries with so much promise taking utterly illogical steps. This of course is not restricted to motoring but so many important aspects in running a successful country are completely ignored, usually at the whim of some ego-centric, self-opinionated Generals who won't listen to their better informed people. Lets face it, they're the ones with the guns......

Edited August 22, 2014 by wilcopops

[paulchiangmai]

Think about the cost implications of changing all the road signs over.

Have a Nice Day.

Wouldn't cost much in Thailand, pretty well count all the signs on one hand.

[wilcopops]

may be also Germany france, Russia, America, whole europe switch to the left, that some british do not have problems in driving,

why Myamar should switch? better is thailand switch, anyway they use both sides , so no diffrent,

and btw there is no cheap import in Asia, cars from thailand cost 2 -3 times more than in Europe, in some cases f used cars the cost 10 times more

than on EU market

Don't think you've thought this through have you?

firstly why not just compare the traffic in Thailand (road systems, vehicles etc etc) to the situation in Myanmar....OK?

[lvr181]

When in Rome do as the Romans do!

[wilcopops]

When in Rome do as the Romans do!

go on then....how is that relevant?

[gregk0543]

Maybe they will start speaking Thai and Hindi as well?

The Hong Kong / China point and the UK / Europe one says what will happen. They will just leave it as it is.

Like I said above the policy at the moment is that all new cars sold have to be LHD.

Remember that up till 2 or 3 years ago you could not even import a car into Myanmar. Then we traded old cars for a permit for a secondhand one from anywhere RHD or LHD. Now you can buy a new one at the dealers but it must be LHD so no plan to change.

Luckily motorbikes which are the largest vehicle number in Myanmar are ambidextrous. Rumours are they will be returned to Yangon sooner than changing the side of road.

So when Aung San Su Kyi becomes president it might happen. But she is not likely to be.

There are far more urgent priorities for the govt. at this time and place.

Although motorbikes are likely to remain the single largest gropup for sometime, it is also fair to expect the numbers of cars in Myanmar to grow exponentially and as the majority at present are RHD, then one would logically think that would be the way to go.

It is very frustrating living in S.E. Asia to see countries with so much promise taking utterly illogical steps. This of course is not restricted to motoring but so many important aspects in running a successful country are completely ignored, usually at the whim of some ego-centric, self-opinionated Generals who won't listen to their better informed people. Lets face it, they're the ones with the guns......

Yes it is frustrating the ways humans are illogical. Just like seeing UK and Europe driving on different sides of the road, but reality is that we all speak different languages, and have different cultures and which side of the road you drive on is not a big deal. If the UK and Europe cant get along and sort is out do we call in the UN or just cope with it?

The illogical step in Myanmar was taken in 1970 and we are stuck with it. But really believe me you can drive a LHD or RHD car on either side of the road and it makes not much difference. (Except the headlights of the the RHD cars are all aimed in the wrong direction to blind the drivers coming the other way, but that is another rave for another time). I have a friend with a LHD Ford Mustang in BKK for instance. (They only come that way.) So I drive LHD and RHD in Myanmar you get used to it. (Hardest thing is not turning on the wipers when you want to indicate which is a problem in all euro versus jap cars irrespective of LHD or RHD).

I rode Bultaco motocross bikes when I was young with gear select foot lever on the right. I have ridden motorbikes with race shift reversed one up five down and standard one down five up. You can adjust within a short time. Doesnt mean you dont go down a gear when you want to go up and highside when you forget which bike you are on. I watched someone do that in front of me once on a racetrack. Expensive mistake as he threw himself and his Yamaha R1 down the track.

See the beauty of the human condition is that we can adjust to any circumstances!

But back to your main point. People with power makes decisions that affect us all and sometimes they do it looking at you down the barrel of a gun as a dictator or sometimes claiming a mandate from the people. It is always puzzling to see how this process takes place and how they make the wrong decision. How many Govt. contracts are awarded on price alone and then fail to realise the contracted outcome and lose the peoples money and yet this never changes? How many of us make decisions everyday that effect the environment of the future and future of humanity detrimentally without batting an eyelid. The list goes on and on.

But to be honest and having watched Burma slide for 34 years to the state it is now and now Myanmar coming out of that completely negative period and see those same Generals start making sensible decisions it is amazing. Things can change for the better. So what is the difference in only 5 years? Your right they seemed to start to listen to what people were grumbling under their breath, behind their backs, within their own ranks or from behind bars in prison.

If you rule a country by fear and for the sake of ruling at any cost. It will cost the country. As much as you listen to your people you will prosper. Seems like that to me.

LHD on new cars and the reduction in prices now mean in 30 years we will all be driving Teslas

[badshah]

^Uh Teslas are also available in RHD too.

And you could import converted RHD Mustangs from Australia and New Zealand too.

But yeah I still hold out hope that Myanmar will revert back to driving on the left side of the road, especially since majority of the cars are still RHD!!!

[animatic]

They have driven on the right for 44 years, but clearly someone makes a lot of money selling RHD cars there, not caring if it is logical or not.

There are many LHD cars there, but out numbered by RHD. I saw few cars typical of Thailand models, particularly the proliferation of Probox station wagon taxis.no clue where they come from.

[wilcopops]

Maybe they will start speaking Thai and Hindi as well?

The Hong Kong / China point and the UK / Europe one says what will happen. They will just leave it as it is.

Like I said above the policy at the moment is that all new cars sold have to be LHD.

Remember that up till 2 or 3 years ago you could not even import a car into Myanmar. Then we traded old cars for a permit for a secondhand one from anywhere RHD or LHD. Now you can buy a new one at the dealers but it must be LHD so no plan to change.

Luckily motorbikes which are the largest vehicle number in Myanmar are ambidextrous. Rumours are they will be returned to Yangon sooner than changing the side of road.

So when Aung San Su Kyi becomes president it might happen. But she is not likely to be.

There are far more urgent priorities for the govt. at this time and place.

Although motorbikes are likely to remain the single largest gropup for sometime, it is also fair to expect the numbers of cars in Myanmar to grow exponentially and as the majority at present are RHD, then one would logically think that would be the way to go.

It is very frustrating living in S.E. Asia to see countries with so much promise taking utterly illogical steps. This of course is not restricted to motoring but so many important aspects in running a successful country are completely ignored, usually at the whim of some ego-centric, self-opinionated Generals who won't listen to their better informed people. Lets face it, they're the ones with the guns......

Yes it is frustrating the ways humans are illogical. Just like seeing UK and Europe driving on different sides of the road, but reality is that we all speak different languages, and have different cultures and which side of the road you drive on is not a big deal. If the UK and Europe cant get along and sort is out do we call in the UN or just cope with it?

The illogical step in Myanmar was taken in 1970 and we are stuck with it. But really believe me you can drive a LHD or RHD car on either side of the road and it makes not much difference. (Except the headlights of the the RHD cars are all aimed in the wrong direction to blind the drivers coming the other way, but that is another rave for another time). I have a friend with a LHD Ford Mustang in BKK for instance. (They only come that way.) So I drive LHD and RHD in Myanmar you get used to it. (Hardest thing is not turning on the wipers when you want to indicate which is a problem in all euro versus jap cars irrespective of LHD or RHD).

I rode Bultaco motocross bikes when I was young with gear select foot lever on the right. I have ridden motorbikes with race shift reversed one up five down and standard one down five up. You can adjust within a short time. Doesnt mean you dont go down a gear when you want to go up and highside when you forget which bike you are on. I watched someone do that in front of me once on a racetrack. Expensive mistake as he threw himself and his Yamaha R1 down the track.

See the beauty of the human condition is that we can adjust to any circumstances!

But back to your main point. People with power makes decisions that affect us all and sometimes they do it looking at you down the barrel of a gun as a dictator or sometimes claiming a mandate from the people. It is always puzzling to see how this process takes place and how they make the wrong decision. How many Govt. contracts are awarded on price alone and then fail to realise the contracted outcome and lose the peoples money and yet this never changes? How many of us make decisions everyday that effect the environment of the future and future of humanity detrimentally without batting an eyelid. The list goes on and on.

But to be honest and having watched Burma slide for 34 years to the state it is now and now Myanmar coming out of that completely negative period and see those same Generals start making sensible decisions it is amazing. Things can change for the better. So what is the difference in only 5 years? Your right they seemed to start to listen to what people were grumbling under their breath, behind their backs, within their own ranks or from behind bars in prison.

If you rule a country by fear and for the sake of ruling at any cost. It will cost the country. As much as you listen to your people you will prosper. Seems like that to me.

LHD on new cars and the reduction in prices now mean in 30 years we will all be driving Teslas

"The illogical step in Myanmar was taken in 1970 and we are stuck with it."- not logical or pertinent.

[gregk0543]

They have driven on the right for 44 years, but clearly someone makes a lot of money selling RHD cars there, not caring if it is logical or not.

There are many LHD cars there, but out numbered by RHD. I saw few cars typical of Thailand models, particularly the proliferation of Probox station wagon taxis.no clue where they come from.

All the RHD cars are direct second hand models from Japan. The probox is a very cheap car second hand in Japan.

[gregk0543]

I have to also mention a little history about the Japanese secondhand cars. When I got to Myanmar in 1980 there was hardly any salon cars in the country. There were old 1950s cars with petrol rationing of 5 gallons per month. The first car I ever rode in Yangon was a Chevrolet Taxi Cuban style which had no synchromesh and someone got out to push at traffic lights to get it rolling to pull second gear. And lots and lots of willey's jeeps and GMC trucks from WW2.

General Ne Win had a Landrover Defender which someone I know acquired at auction from the army in 2010 for $60,000 US before import restrictions were lifted.

Then until 1990's it was only merchant seaman and others who worked overseas who had the right to import one car a year.

They mostly bought them secondhand in Singapore and obviously RHD. They used to import utilities as they only had 100% import duties, instead of sedans which were 300%. In this period the Toyota Hilux became a workhorse vehicle of choice and the Nissan sunny ute was the vehicle of the upperclass elite. The govt also assembled Mazda jeeps and other Mazda cars which where all LHD and were govt. cars. I rode in a Mazda 626 once belonging to a State Councillor. The merchant seaman imports was the only way for them to get there money back into the country to bypass the 7 kyat to the dollar exchange rate. The cars where bought straight off the docks as they arrived for the real current exchange rate anything up to 150 kyat to the dollar.

Then after the 1988 uprising and end of the Socialist one party age and the beginning of Martial Law that went till 2010. 22 years of Martial Law. During that period around 1990 the govt. allowed imports till I think 1995 before they were stopped till 2011. At that time the Toyota Corrolla station wagon was the big mover direct secondhand from Japan. I knew a guy who brought in 2 and flipped them and bought and sold until he had within a year or two about 1000 cars sitting in a yard outside Yangon. I think he now is the principle of Max Myanmar. Then all imports stopped for a long long time. Those cars held their value and increased in value over time to around $20,000 per vehicle. We also got a whole heap of old singapore taxis past their permit period in Singapore at that time. So this was a time of non depreciating car values which lasted so long Myanmar people thought that was normal.

If you came to Myanmar during that era you would have seen all these old bombs and never would you know their true value. They would be worth less than $500 where I am from, but in Myanmar $20000 or more.

Then the Govt. in 2010 let in a couple of thousand secondhand cars leak through the border from Thailand direct from Japan. That led to a whole pile of used cars in Mae Sot and Myawaddi. Then they stopped that. The used cars left over got drowned in a flood of the Moei river and where dissasembled and sold as used parts as they could not be imported by that route.

Then they changed their mind and we got the big exchange program. Give your car to the govt for a permit to import a new one.

Permit was worth $15000. The imports where restricted to used cars older than 2006 and then within a year they changed that to 2010. Each time they changed these rules and taxes and duties the people who had already brought in cars lost money.

200,000 cars where exchanged like this. All these cars have to be imported by Sea. Giving the govt. the handle on the tax and corruption and enforcement which they never can do on the Thai burmese border.

So now we have two systems buy a new car from a dealer all LHD or buy a secondhand one from Japan RHD. Proboxs etc now with all taxes paid under $10000.

Then you have some other exemptions during this period for UMEHL and other big shots who seemed to pay no taxes.

In 2010 if you saw a new Prado or Landcruiser it could cost $200,000 US. Now they would be less than half that.

So now you only have to work out when the motorbikes disappeared from Yangon? That was before the move to Naypyidaw and was reasoned as a security fear because of the possibility of a suicide bomber taking out the big boys as they travelled around Yangon. Once they moved the govt to Naypyidaw the law got left behind. They introduced the same rule in Naypyidaw but relaxed it because that place is so big and so vast no workers could get to work. Oh they forgot a public transport system there! Whoops.

Then since 2010 the capital that was left behind to decay Yangon has slowly been rebuilt pothole by pothole till you have some roads now that you can drive on without destroying your suspension on. Of course it is always worth looking under the fence of U Teza's house in Inya rd to see the line of Lambo's and Ferraris and super low cars that you could not drive out of his driveway without doing serious damage to the undercarraige. Now we have traffic jams so bad it is almost grid lock just like Thailand before they put in the Overhead freeways in 1995.

So looking and experiencing the haphazard nature of Myanmar policy. Changing the side of the road to drive on is not on the agenda. No matter how many cars are RHD or how sensible it seems. It makes sense. I have thought of it myself, but LHD of new cars is the policy and they will stick with that for a while.

The motorcycles will come back to Yangon because there is no way to create a public transport system to suffice and no other way to relieve the stress on the bus system in the immediate future. Thats the rumour.

[wilcopops]

I agree it's unlikely but I think it is the most logical way to go.

I also feel that countries like Thailand and India should point this out.

[badshah]

Maybe start a grassroots effort to push to have them change to have traffic go on the left? Gotta start somewhere.

[Naam]

Driving Myanmar interesting. Doesn't really matter what side your steering wheel is on.

So what is stopping the current rulers from switching back to the left? Surely there should be a large Burmese diaspora in the UK to influence such matters?

[Naam]

why any country (except some insignificant island) would want to switch driving from the right to the wrong (left) side is beyond my grasp

an overview of countries with right and wrong side traffic:

[badshah]

^Trade with India and Thailand should be lucrative enough for the Burmese.

[Naam]

^Trade with India and Thailand should be lucrative enough for the Burmese.

so you think trade does not yet exist?

[animatic]

Gregk0543

Thanks for the excellent recap of the utterly schizophrenic mismanagement of Myanmar's auto situation.

I was there 6 years back, and twice this year and there was a lot of change, but it only made the bizarre past decisions more obvious.

[wilcopops]

why any country (except some insignificant island) would want to switch driving from the right to the wrong (left) side is beyond my grasp

an overview of countries with right and wrong side traffic:

OK - beyond your grasp - end of. (you might take a look at where Burma is on that map though)

Edited August 25, 2014 by wilcopops

[Naam]

why any country (except some insignificant island) would want to switch driving from the right to the wrong (left) side is beyond my grasp

an overview of countries with right and wrong side traffic:

OK - beyond your grasp - end of. (you might take a look at where Burma is on that map though)

and why should i take a look pray tell? the map shows clearly that in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) traffic moves on the right and not on the wrong side.