Weekender: Now is the time to visit Yangon

The military government of Burma (Myanmar) uprooted and replanted itself in remote Naypyidaw in 2006, a move seen by many as an act of paranoia by a notoriously superstitious regime. It was a move away from the threat of Yangon, a four-million-strong metropolis bursting at its seams with stifled creativity.

Ensconced in the purpose-built jungle redoubt, the new military-backed government of Burma has removed itself from facing a repressed urban population on a daily basis and, it seems, may also have begun to relax it’s ominous, observant Big Brother presence in the lives of ordinary Burmese – and most noticeably, tourists.


“Take a look around you, do you see anyone who looks like they’ve followed you here?” a Burmese friend quietly asked me in a restaurant in downtown Yangon last month. “I don’t,” he said, his eyes scanning the room for reassurance in a very practiced way, without even slightly moving his head.

“A few months ago, you would have known – you would have seen someone watching you,” he added.

Burma is notorious for keeping its eyes on tourists and all things foreign due to an inflated fear of outside influence, and, most prescient, the fear that someone may see or hear “too much”.

The military rulers’ xenophobia was made horrifically evident in their response to Cyclone Nargis, the 2008 tropical storm that, according to Burma Campaign UK, left up to 200,000 people dead and more than one million homeless.

Not only did the generals fail to properly warn populations in at-risk areas, but they hampered relief efforts by demanding that all aid be distributed through the regime and, most notably, by denying visas to aid workers.

It used to be that someone planning to travel to Yangon could turn up at the Myanmar (Burmese) Embassy in Bangkok’s Sathorn area, walk straight up to the counter, turn in their visa application and do much the same when they came back to pick it up – or learn that you were not allowed to enter the country. This is no longer the case.

Anyone familiar with a visa run to a Thai embassy in, say, Vientiane or Kuala Lumpur, will be no stranger to the long queues now forming outside the Burmese Embassy. Journalists, former blacklisted activists – just about everyone – seems to be applying for and receiving 28-day tourist visas to a country notorious for keeping people out.

In what appears to be an official acknowledgement of the former junta’s legacy, the New Light of Myanmarnewspaper – the government’s mouthpiece – on January 3 published an editorial declaring 2011 as the year the previous “authoritarian” government ended.

Regardless of the superficiality of recent political “reforms”, it goes without saying that there is a new energy – a cautious optimism – on the streets of Yangon. Tourists are flocking to the dilapidated colonial capital in what may be record numbers.

With its turned-up sidewalks, aging colonial buildings, potholed roads and persistent power cuts, Burma’s largest city is a bustling hub of activity where Chinese meets Indian meets Burman meets almost every imaginable face of Asia on every street corner.

Yangon is alive, and always has been, but now there is hope. There have been reports of street vendors displaying portraits of “The Lady”, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi – an act that only months ago would have landed someone in prison.

Local musicians are also optimistic for the future. A surprisingly vibrant underground indie/punk rock music scene is growing in Yangon. Bands like Side Effect, who recently wrapped up an online bid to raise enough money to release their debut album, are playing shows around the city.

Although not yet offering much of a “Western” bar scene, there are a smattering of cafes and bars offering live music, like Mr. Guitar, that will allow tourists a glimpse of the city’s youth culture – an option for those who may have written the place off as an Asian backwater untouched by time.

It is undeniable that Yangon has been left behind, as anyone traveling from Bangkok will immediately notice: few streetlights, aging buildings, no chain convenience stores, no ATMs, no McDonald’s to offer the starving tourist a safe “out”.

However, not having those safe “outs” is what forces travelers to get a bit more intimate with the locals – grabbing barbecue and a beer on 19th street, or enjoying a sit-down curry platter at a roadside stall.

The charm of the city center – designed in the mid 1800s by Lt. Alexander Fraser, who also designed Singapore – is what has the biggest potential to draw tourists, but is also likely to be the first casualty of the country opening its doors.

Already a number of the British colonial buildings downtown have been razed due to the threat of collapse to make way for newer monstrosities that hardly seem any safer, just newer and much less attractive. Also, as the private banking sector develops and the country gets “online”, it’s only a matter of time before ATMs start to pop up, and then come the convenience stores and chain restaurants so ubiquitous in Bangkok and elsewhere.

As more and more people start visiting, an evolution of sorts is inevitable. With economic reforms and increased interest from the outside world, the face of Yangon will change. How much remains to be seen.

Now is the time to visit Yangon, which translates in Burmese to “end of strife”, and witness an old-world city inhabited by millions of people charged with a new sense of optimism – albeit guarded – after suffering through half a century of oppression. Yangon is on the starting blocks.

Sometimes you gotta get out of the city. Weekender is Coconuts Bangkok’s new travel feature series on destinations that can be enjoyed on a weekend trip from Bangkok.




Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on