Accommodation/internet In Yangon

[meadish_sweetball]

Any Myanma expats or frequent visitors reading this thread?

I would really appreciate some advice on where to stay in Yangon, best accommodation in the 10 - 20 USD range, and also information about the possibility of bringing in a laptop computer into the country, and some info about Internet use in general.

According to the information I have, mobile phones are not allowed to be taken into the country, but none of my sources have mentioned that laptop computers are prohibited.

Also, I have heard that some restrictions have been lifted as regards the use of Internet and e-mail. Since I need to contact people over the Internet while in the country and check my email, the smoothest way to do so would be to bring my own computer and connect it to a phone line, or use a WLAN connection (according to other info, wireless internet is available in some places in Yangon - can anyone confirm/refute this and give any tips about where to go if available?). Also the prices for such services would be great.

Also, do they use the same phone plugs as in Thailand, or British style ones?

Many thanks in advance!

Meadish

[Dutchy]

There's no free dial up internet available in Rangoon. Imagine the people in Myanmar knowing what foreign countries think of Myanmar, we wouldn't want that to happen. You can try the big hotels. The "Traders" for instance or the one oposite the three cinemas in down town Yangon will allow you to send and receive one mail for one dollar each. You can not browse the internet.

There are plenty of hotels available, I stayed in the "white house" and didn't pay more than 10$ for it. Myanmar is an amazing country and definitly worth visiting, get a lonely planet and that'll answer all your questions. It helped me travel by bus throughout the country.

Good luck

Dutchy

PS when there try to get a copy of the "New Light of Myanmar" newspaper, interesting reports about second class football teams in Europe but not a word about burmese politics.

[mingalababya]

Hi there,

I am married to a Myanmar national and visit there, on average, once every 3 months. Internet is now available in Myanmar and there are a number of Internet cafes in Yangon. Opposite the Traders Hotel on Sule Paya Rd (sometimes called Sule Pagoda Rd) is Cyber World; another Internet cafe is located on the top floor of the Myanmar Shopping Centre on the same road, a few doors down from the Yangon fire station near Sule pagoda. Both places charge around 1,500 kyats an hour (1USD = 800 kyats) for Internet, but beware, the Internet is really slow there. A cheap place for Internet access is on Bo Aung Kyaw St, in central Yangon in the MGW building, third floor, and follow the signs to Softlink, Myanmar Genius, a computer training centre that doubles as ceyber cafe. They charge around 800 kyats an hour.

As for dialup accounts for your own laptop, I'm not sure whether tourists are able to signup for such accounts, but you can try this website for further info. Bagan Net is THE internet service provider in Myanmar .... yes ... 'THE', they only have one (as far as I know) which is owned by one of the top General's sons. Check out this website for further info about dialup accounts from Bagan Net.

http://www.bagan.net.mm/products/index.asp

Many political websites have been blocked from Burma. Hotmail and Yahoo mail has also been blocked as well as a lot of other free webbased e-mail sites. If your work place is using an e-mail system that can be accessed through the web, then I suggest you use this ...... (they have only blocked the popular web based e-mail sites) or if you're using POP mail, you can set this up yourself and it should be fine getting messages through.

As for hotels and guesthouses, one which I can recommend is May Shan Guesthouse right in the heart of Yangon. Rooms are around the $15 to $25 USD mark for singles/doubles and they have all modern ammenities. They have their own Internet and on some occassions, they have been able to by-pass the Government blockers and access Hotmail and Yahoo. Check out their website for futher info;

http://www.mayshan.com

There's also a very nice hotel on Pansodan St in Yangon called the Panorama .. this hotel is great value and rooms start at about $20 USD.

As for laptops and mobile phones, well, officially no, but people have been able to bring these into the country recently without too much dramas ..... I think the Customs officials at the airport are seeing more of these lately and have turned a blind eye to it. I've seen many business people at the airport with laptops and mobile phones and have had no problems with customs. The worse case is that the customs officers will "keep these for you" until you depart Myanmar which is the official line. Note that your mobile phone won't work in Myanmar even if you have global roaming. They have very strict controls on communications into and out of the country.

Other tips, hotels and domestic air travel is paid for in $USD and most money changers will only change $USD into their local currency, the kyat so make sure you take $USD with you. Very few places will accept credit cards and the ATMs in Myanmar only work for local ATM cards.

Also, you'll find that the locals are warm and friendly, but avoid talking about Myanmar politics in the open with them. I've had one encounter with military intelligence officers .. apparently, they're around everywhere.

Enjoy your stay in Myanmar, it's abeautiful country with beautiful people!

[meadish_sweetball]

Thanks a million to both of you!

Especially Mingalabaya - That is SO much valuable and concrete information - basically even more than I asked for. Never believed I'd be able to get that much.

I forgot to write I already have the latest edition of Lonely Planet - but that is pretty old now - it was printed in 2002 (which means the research was done in 2000 and 2001 at the very best) and since it concerns a country which was not visited very frequently at the time, I don't really expect the information in there to be up to date anymore.

Wishing you all the very best and hope to be able to return the favour some time.

Best regards,

M

[SeaVisionBurma]

mingalababya's advice is very thorough!

One suggestion I can offer - if you have a PC set up at home/office in your home country, you could try installing a remote desktop application like RealVNC (do a google on realvnc download).

This would allow you to connect through to your home computer while in Myanmar, and use the email you already have. I have been using this for some time while travelling with my laptop.

As hotmail, yahoo and the likes are all blocked in Myanmar, this may be an alternative.

Good luck.

[phazey]

Seeing as tho i work for the ISP in question, i'll throw this in.

You can't access any free email sites. Being a tourist, i'd say your only choice is to go to one of the internet-cafe's (i think there are about 20 in town, i'd recommend dagon centre). These are resonably priced.

You can bring your laptop in no problems, as long as you declare it on your customs form (something about bringing it out when you leave).

You can buy pre-paid internet access kits (similar to AIS kit) starting around Ks8500 (10 bucks). This uses a toll free number (146) so be weary if your hotel charges you for this on a time basis. Normally as i have seen, they charge a small fee for the connection (tieing up the line etc). Your milage may vary. Getting a legit email account is harder, with a wait for application approval - very rarely given to tourists.

Hope this helps, and please don't hesitate to ask more.

./P