Easier travel in Burma

It’s getting easier to visit Burma and the Mergui archipelago. As the country opens to tourists now must surely be the perfect time to visit, while it’s still undiscovered, before the package tourists arrive.

It is now possible to get a visa online which allows 28 days in the country. It’s not available for all nationalities and it only allows entry via Yangon airport (you can exit elsewhere). The price is US$50 which can be paid online by credit card. Visit the Ministry of Immigration and Population website here: http://evisa.moip.gov.mm/

It is also being reported (by the Democratic Voice of Burma website) that onward travel in Burma is allowed for foreign tourists entering from three Thai/Burma borders. Previously tourists entering Burma at Kawthaung in the south had to exit at the same border and were not permitted to travel inland. That restriction has been lifted so it should now be possible to enter Kawthaung, travel within Burma and exit from any other border.

In another boon for south Burma tourism domestic airline Air KBZ now offers online flight booking, so holiday planning just got a whole lot easier. KBZ flies daily from Yangon (RGN) to Kawthaung (KAW).

There is even an ATM machine in Kawthaung now, next to the Kawthaung Hotel. Progress indeed!