Myanmar’s
Ministry of Information says the country will allow visitors to cross the
border at Tachilek, Myawady and Kawthaung from points in Thailand without having to return
through the same checkpoint.
According to local media report,
it will encourage more foreign visitors to use land checkpoints by allowing
them the freedom to enter and exit at different checkpoints.
Geographical restrictions are
still in place and travellers have to be aware there are provinces in the
country that are still off-limits. However, around 80% of the country has now
open to tourism.
The ministry said: “Visitors can
go anywhere except where there are security concerns and depart from any exit
point recognised by the government.”
The Mae Sai-Tachilek checkpoint
has the most potential for international visitors, who are touring North
Thailand and want to continue their Mekong Region holiday in Myanmar. They
will be able to use Chiang Rai as the gateway to travel to Mandalay and Bagan.
Mae Sai is around 80 km north of
Chiang Rai and visitors are allowed to cross the border, but they must return
to the same point. To ensure this, officials at Tachilek hold on to passports
until the traveller returned usually the same day or at the most two days
later. All that is about to change.
The provision should come into
force later this year, but travellers should double check at the time they get
their visa from an embassy or consulate. It will still require travellers to
have a valid visa for Myanmar.
The so-called visa-on-arrival is really a pre-arranged visa approved in advance
that is activated at a border checkpoint. There are clear differences between
pre-arranged and visa-on-arrival. One of them is the need to provide details
and a letter of invitation from an organisation in Myanmar to allow the country’s
immigration to authorise a visa that is then stamped in the passport at the
specified checkpoint of entry.
According to the bilateral
agreement between Myanmar
and Thailand
for border crossing, the official entrance and exits are Tachilek-Mae Sai,
Myawady-Mae Sot and Kawthaung-Ranong.
Department Head of Immigration
Administration and National Registration of Myawady district, Aung Win Thein,
said: “We expect the tourism industry will show good signs of improvement once
the new measure is introduced.”
It is also very likely that the
country will allow 14 days visa free entry for ASEAN citizens by 2015, when the
ASEAN Economic Community comes into play. Once free trade principles are
introduced it would be very difficult for Myanmar to justify not giving ASEAN
member nation citizens the privilege of visa free entry.
The country aims to attract 1.8
million foreign tourists by year end. The government projects 7.5 million
tourists by 2020.
Tourism in Myanmar has
showed a positive sign since 2011. Last year, 1.06 million tourists visited the
country, an increase of around 30%. The country has about 30,000
hotel rooms. Another 10,000 more rooms will be ready by the end of this year
across the country, although the main concentration of new rooms will be in Yangon initially to serve business travelers.
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