ASEAN Visa waiver

[RaoulDuke]

Just thought I would share some information that I had to learn the hard way. Apparently, there is a restriction on the ASEAN Visa waiver that requires entry and exit to be from the same port, or perhaps by the same mode of transport???? My husband entered RGN by plane from BKK (Philippines passport). 10 days later, he was not allowed to leave the country by boat from Kawthaung to Ranong. This required us to scramble and book the only remaining flight out of Kawthaung and back to Yangon for the day. I also bookied an evening flight for him from Yangon to Bangkok, but I had to throw that ticket away because his flight to Yangon was delayed by 2 hours. To add insult to injury, I ended up missing the prebooked afternoon train from Chumphon to Bangkok after running all over Kawthaung trying to arrange a last minute flight.  The $30 we saved by not getting a Myanmar Visa on his USA passport was completely wiped out by the $250 spent on three last minute flights (including the one that he missed).

He ended up getting stranded at a hostel in Yangon that night, while I was waiting for him in my lovely room in the Millenium Hilton.

 

The moral of the story is that ASEAN is still really screwed up and an ASEAN passport is still completely worthless.  I had read that there were restrictions on Thai passports for Myanmar, which makes sense since they have a long land border. I have no idea why they have restrictions on other ASEAN countries, and I saw no mention of any such restrictions on the Myanmar websites or any other VISA websites.

Edited October 27, 2016 by RaoulDuke

[jimster]

Sorry to hear your story, I was expecting to read something like this sooner or later and you'll see why by reading further. I have a good friend who works at Myawady immigration. He is one of the chief immigration officers there.

 

This is what he told me:

 

As of 1 Sep 2016 when the Myanmar e-visa was introduced, the government quietly changed the conditions for visa waivers that are applicable to some ASEAN nationals. First of all, visa free entry by land from Thailand is no longer allowed. All ASEAN nationals must obtain a visa sticker or e-visa to enter Myanmar by land. At no time were Thai nationals ever covered by visa free entry by land as the Thai government has only been willing to agree to a visa waiver for Myanmar citizens for air based entry. ASEAN nationals were allowed this privilege however for about a year until the rules changed on Sep 1, 2016.

 

Thai nationals can enter by land using just a border pass with restrictions on how far they can travel and must return through the same border crossing. Only if they are in possession of a Myanmar visa will they be allowed to travel throughout the country and leave through a different border crossing. However, they won't be allowed to enter or exit through a local border crossing (such as Dan Singkorn or the Three Pagodas Pass) using a passport and visa as these checkpoints aren't international. They must use one of the 4 Thai-Myanmar international land border checkpoints or one of the three international airports.

 

Filipino, Vietnamese, Lao, Singaporean and other ASEAN nationals eligible for a 14-day Myanmar visa exemption must not only enter by air ONLY but they must also EXIT by air as your experience proves. It is not permissible to enter one way by air and exit by land. Also, a visa exempt national MUST be in possession of a return air ticket, hence trying to leave by land would theoretically not make sense as you're supposed to have a flight out in order to be allowed to board your Myanmar-bound flight in the first place.

 

All entries from India and China, which require a permit also require the traveler to exit the same way they came, unless traveling by car in transit to a third country, which costs a lot of money and requires 2 guides, advance permission and a host of other requirements.

 

Hope this helps.