Bus service from Bangkok to Mawlamyine, Hpaan and Yangon established

[sabaijai]

A company called Vega Travel offers bus travel from Bangkok to Mawlamyine, Hpaan and Yangon via Mae Sot/Myawaddy. Fare as far as Yangon costs THB 1500 and the trip takes 24 hours.

http://www.vegatravelbangkok.com/bus-to-myanmar.php

[craigt3365]

Whew...that's a long ride in a bus? From the border to Yangoon, is it a scenic drive? I'm sure Dramamine would be in order! 5555

[sabaijai]

I haven't done the Myawaddy to Hpa-an leg yet but the other sections are typical upcountry Myanmar travel.

[Tomtomtom69]

I haven't done the Myawaddy to Hpa-an leg yet but the other sections are typical upcountry Myanmar travel.

I've done it many times and will be doing it again next week for work.

There is a stretch of one day up, one day down road between the two towns, starting 20km west of Myawady and ending just before Kawkareik, some 40km away. This 40-odd km stretch of one way road is a narrow, single lane affair, snaking it's way up and down a mountain range, known as the Dawna Range, with lots of limestone outcrops, particularly on the western side, visible on the way down to Kawkareik and Hpa-an.

The one way road system will be replaced by a two-way paved road courtesy of a Thai company, which is said to open around April. Until then you'll have to find out whether you can leave Myawady for Hpa-an on a given day, otherwise it will be necessary to spend a night in Myawady before continuing the next day.

[Tomtomtom69]

Hmm...I wonder if this company is actually using one through bus service or if it's just a combination of two bus services, one that takes you to the Myawady border, followed by crossing the border by foot/songthaew/minivan and then catching another service to Bangkok?

These so-called cross-border services are misleading. Unless it's confirmed that the bus used crosses the border, you can assume it doesn't. Also, since there is no agreement between Thailand and Myanmar on cross-border traffic except for informal agreements that allows for vehicles from either country to enter on day trips or slightly longer trips near the border, I don't see how this bus service would be possible. There would have to be an agreement to use a Burmese registered bus one day, followed by a Thai bus the next day.

That's how it's done on the cross border Cambodian and Lao cross-border services and those countries have official agreements with Thailand on cross-border commercial vehicle movements, including transport services. Myanmar and Thailand currently do not share such an agreement.

I've never seen a single Burmese registered vehicle in Bangkok and I think we won't be seeing any for a while as it would surely turn heads if we did and signal a new era in co-operation between the two countries. I don't see it happening anytime soon though, so unless someone who's seen this "bus" or been on it can confirm it indeed crosses the border, we can assume it's just a combination of two tickets and two buses combined into one seamless transfer service, the type you often see in Cambodia, for example, with their regularly advertised Cambodia-Thailand services, which don't end up being cross-border services at all.

Edit: I should have read the article first. Just clicked on it and it confirmed my suspicions. There is no cross-border bus service. You end up buying a transfer service with separate tickets (and separate buses) on the Thai side to Mae Sot, followed by another bus from Myawady to Hpa-an or Yangon.

[sabaijai]

As noted on the website, you change buses on the Myanmar side after crossing.