ClaireHL

Helloooo-

My daughters who are currently volunteering with an organization in Chiang Mai in Thailand (www.culturalcanvas.com) are planning a visit to Myanmar in the next couple of weeks and they have some money in American Express traveler's checks. This was my idea as I thinking that would be safer than carrying a lot of cash and that, in the past, they were so ubiquitous that people would be used to them. But now I am not so sure - do people use travelers checks anymore? And if so, do Burmese/Myanmar people recognize and accept them? Any of you S.E. Asia travelers out there have any experience of these or do you recommend cashing them in Chiang Mai first - i.e: exchanging them for dollars?

Thanks in advance

Claire

BillT

I suggest you have them cash them in and carry an atm card, credit card, and local currency. These checks are not any use for taxis, small cafes, small hotels, tips, local transportation and on and on and on.

Carry the cash and cards in a security wallet worn under the shirt- I have been doing this for all my trips and it works fine.

dogster

If you can find anybody in here who travels regularly in S.E. Asia and still uses travelers cheques, I'll eat my hat.

Kathie

You CANNOT use travelers checks in Burma. There are NO ATMs in Burma. Burma is a special case. Elsewhere in SE Asia, you can easily get cash from an ATM. Elsewhere in Asia you can cash travelers checks (though it can be a bit of a hassle). You cannot use credit cards in Burma.

To go to Burma, they will need US dollars... clean, unmarked US dollars. They will need one or more US$100 bills to convert to kyat, and they will need US dollars in various denominations to pay for airfare, hotels and admission fees. Kyat will be used for buying food and making other purchases. She needs to cash her travelers checks in Thailand and bring US dollars with her to Burma.

Your daughter also needs to know that she must get a visa in advance for Burma. SInce she is in Thailand, she will need to visit the Burma (Myanmar) Embassy in Bangkok to get her visa. For a brief time, there was a visa on arrival available for Burma, but that has been discontinued.

Burma is unlike any other country. If you daughter wants to go to Burma she needs to do some research - get a copy of the Lonely Planet guide and read it carefully.

jules39

Claire please read Kathie's reply about Myanmar very carefully. It is very important. Your daughter does not want to find herself in Myanmar with no cash & no way to get any. That would not be fun!

Guenmai

I haven't been to Burma, but I use them all the time in Thailand and in Singapore. I take the stack of them to my bank in Bangkok and cash them regularly. There's a small fee, but they have a slightly higher exchange rate than cash. Happy Travels!

peter_gs

I recommend using cash and/or credit card. you can leave them in a safe in every hotel, so thats not a problem anymore.

Kathie

Peter, you have missed the fact that Claire is asking about Burma. For all practical purposes, you cannot use credit cards in Burma.

For the sake of completeness, there is an exception: a few top end hotels will allow you to use a credit card which they run through Singapore or Thailand for a 10% or more surcharge. But they cannot guarantee whether they can do that on any particular day.

Guen, I was waiting for you to chime in here, as you are the only person I know who uses travelers checks! Of course, one cannot use travelers checks in Burma.

ClaireHL

Thanks everyone - of course I was aware that you don't use traveler's checks to pay for incidentals and that they would be cashed at the bank, as Guenmai said.

My younger daughter is fresh to SE Asia but her older sister has been living in Thailand for many years so knows the culture of the area very well, but her experiences of Burma consist of border/visa renewal runs so all that useful and hassle-saving info is much appreciated Kathy. Hopefully they will be able to get clean dollar bills from a Chiang Mai bank! I read some earlier threads which were helpful and learned they need to hold back $10 for exit tax - I wonder if that is gone up since last year?

Kathy, they have already applied for and are awaiting their visas - $116 a pop, yikes! And approx $260 to fly from Chiang Mai to Yangon. Hope it is cheaper being there than getting there. I hope they will get up to Bagan - seems the least expensive and time-saving way is by Bus? Also any suggestions for inexpensive hotels or pension-type accommodation in Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan? And any strong opinions on "must not miss" to do's or places to visit (in a short period for thrifty travelers so, alas, balloons are out of the question)?

Thanks again for your time and invaluable advice.

Claire

Kathie

Heavens! They paid $116 for a Burma visa? The price is $30. And $260 flights from Chiang Mai to Rangoon?

If they haven't yet paid, they should simply go to Bangkok and get their visa there in one day (it will be an extra $10 or so) and they should fly Air Asia from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and Bangkok to Rangoon. Even with the extra cost of a night or two in Bangkok it will be cheaper than what they are paying for their visas and plane tickets.

Please, please, please tell you daughters to buy a copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to Burma and to read trip reports here so they do not continue to get ripped off.

thursdaysd

"go to Bangkok and get their visa there in one day" - Kathie, your TA in Bangkok told me it's currently taking 5-7 days for a Myanmar visa - one reason I decided not to go this trip. Also, you have to apoply in person - no more TAs with a pile of other peoples' passports.

ClaireHL

Ah - Kathie - horrible feeling it's too late, oi! But I think there have been some changes recently with regard to visas, since the election in November, but I am passing on all your info and advice - also just found and have been reading your report from November 09.

Maybe I'll find some ideas about hotels there although the Strand won't be in their budget.

Thanks again - Claire

ClaireHL

Thursdaysd, how much were you quoted for a visa by the TA in Bkk? I had the impression that my daughter Zoe had to send to Bkk for their visas.

I believe the Burmese Govt is ticked off at journalists going in on tourist visas and then writing negative press and this is why it is now taking more time to get visas for extended visits; if journalists go on "media" visas, they get a guide and a pre-planned itinerary so are limited in their movements. I think they are still issuing instant visas for people renewing their Thai visas at the border for little money, but they are probably only good for a few hours.

dogster

Read this:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...readID=1994928

Kathie

thursdays, people on Thorntree are reporting being able to get a Burma visa in one day with confirmed flights into Burma. Without the confirmed flights, it's taking 3-5 days. That's applying in person. Whether it takes longer for a TA to get a visa for someone, I don't know.

Claire, the passports are being sent to Bangkok for visas as the only place in Thailand that can great Burma visas is the embassy in Bangkok. What people can get at the land border in northern Thailand is not a visa but a short entry permit for $10 or $15 (the person leaves their passport at the border).

Claire, there have been recent changes in visa procedures for Burma. The Visa on arrival available for a few months was discontinued in August, ahead of the elections. There were plenty of rumors that there would be no visas granted during the election period, but that did not happen. The issues about journalists are not new, but have been going on for years.

ClaireHL

Thanks everyone - frustrating if they have paid triple the cost at the embassy!

thursdaysd

Kathie - sigh, another lesson in why not to use a TA!

ClaireHL

Seemingly the visa cost that much as there is only one place in CM that negotiates them - otherwise she would have had to go and spend time in Bkk to go to the embassy in person, and so had to take time off work (unpaid)so a catch 22. I don't know why the visas couldn't have been gotten in the usual way by mail but, as Kathy says, Burma is "different from anyplace else." The flights are expensive but would have cost at least as much to go via Bkk by the cheapest airline I found online, minus B & B.

Kathie

thursdays, I trust Eddie to get me flights at good prices, but I don't use him for other things.

Claire, unfortunately, the agent who is getting the visas for them is really fleecing them. One of them could have flown to Bangkok and spent the day there getting the visas for less. An Air Asia flight to Bangkok is about US$50.

How long do they plan to stay in Burma? Where are they going?

WillJame

There's a general question in here (indicated by the title of the thread) and a specific one about Burma. I'm interested in the general one, as I have found TCs useful in Asia. My experience has been that if I'm working in different currencies, transiting through several countries, and need cash, I get a better rate at the airport cashing TCs than if I try to switch currencies using cash. The rates at the counters show this.
Sure there are lots of ATMs available, but the exchange rate is high and/or you're paying up to $5 per withdrawal. I don't try to use TCs with merchants or even hotels, but in countries where cash is king (and where it's safe to carry it) like Japan, I've found changing TCs for yen at the airport on arrival is the best way to get money.