When driving across Burma will be possible?

Ozzi Jarvinen

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Hi all,

Since Ive moved to Chiang Mai I've been dreaming of a day when I can drive through Burma to India and continue to Europe. So far It has not been possible but just by reading this forum gives me hope that the direction is right.

Im not expecting anyone been able to give a date for it, but all kind of information / opinions and discussion is welcomed.

... one day...
 
Crossing Myanmar may be possible after 2016 when the Trilateral Highway opens up.

India to open super highway to Burma and Thailand - Telegraph

I read about a husband and wife team that did manage to cross Myanmar from India to Thailand but I never heard of anyone else doing it
Chiangmai Mail - Vol. III No.33 - Saturday August 14 - August 20 2004  &nbsp Sports
I guess getting into the Indian state of Assam is almost as difficult as Myanmar.

Foreigners can't buy bikes in Myanmar under their own name so maybe a carnet wouldn't be possible but I am not sure what the requirements for a carnet are.
Versys are not here but it should be possible to import one through an agent. I am afraid what the cost would be though. I just saw a Honda shadow 750 the other day in Mandalay for about $20,000.
 
Crossing Myanmar may be possible after 2016 when the Trilateral Highway opens up.

India to open super highway to Burma and Thailand - Telegraph

I read about a husband and wife team that did manage to cross Myanmar from India to Thailand but I never heard of anyone else doing it
Chiangmai Mail - Vol. III No.33 - Saturday August 14 - August 20 2004 *&nbsp Sports
I guess getting into the Indian state of Assam is almost as difficult as Myanmar.

Foreigners can't buy bikes in Myanmar under their own name so maybe a carnet wouldn't be possible but I am not sure what the requirements for a carnet are.
Versys are not here but it should be possible to import one through an agent. I am afraid what the cost would be though. I just saw a Honda shadow 750 the other day in Mandalay for about $20,000.

Thank you for the info... Ive been following the road progress, but have not been over optimistic about the Burma part of it... but i guess it could be done if India pays for it.

Yeah I think its better to leave with Thai bike and just drive cross.... as carnet can be got here and not sure how big different it makes there whether the bike is registered here or there? I guess bigger problem is white farang driving on his own =)
 
[h=1]India to open super highway to Burma and Thailand[/h][h=2]India is to open a new four lane motorway to allow traders and tourists to drive from its eastern tea state of Assam into Burma, Thailand and eventually Cambodia and Vietnam.[/h]
indiaRoad_2233106b.jpg
The new trilateral highway in India will allow traders and tourists to drive from its eastern tea state of Assam into Burma, Thailand and eventually Cambodia and Vietnam Photo: ALAMY









By Dean Nelson, New Delhi

12:57PM BST 29 May 2012

comments.gif
5 Comments



The new "trilateral highway" is aimed at creating a new economic zone ranging from Calcutta on the Bay of Bengal to Ho Chi Minh City on the South China Sea.

The first phase of the project was agreed during Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Burma this week when he and President Thein Sein set a 2016 deadline to complete a super highway linking Guwahati in Assam to Burma's border with Thailand via Mandalay and the former capital Rangoon.

According to analysts, the road is a key part of a plan to open the "Mekong-India Corridor" to link the world's second fastest growing market - India - with the new Asian Tiger economies of Indo-China.

Until now plans to open this new economic zone, which bypasses China, the world's fastest growing economy and superpower, have been hampered by international sanctions against the former military regime in Burma.

But with the gradual easing of sanctions following the series of democratic reforms unveiled by Burma's president Thein Sein since last August, the obstacles have now cleared.

[h=2]RELATED ARTICLES[/h]


For India, the new highway will open up new oil and gas opportunities off the coast of Burma, and also Vietnam, as well as easier access to Japanese products made in Thailand.
It would also bring new wealth to its poor and marginalised North-Eastern states like Manipur and Nagaland, which have been blighted by local insurgencies and heavy security.
The highway will also recall the historic ties between India and Burma which unravelled following their independence from Britain after the Second World War.
During most of the colonial period Burma was governed as a province of British India from Calcutta and later New Delhi. Aung San Suu Kyi, like other children of Burma's elite, was a pupil and university student in India.
Mohan Guruswamy of the New Delh-based Centre for Policy Alternatives, said a two lane highway connecting the Indian border to Mandalay, 375 miles away, had already been built, and the next phases will be to broaden it to a four-lane road and extend it a further 375 miles to Rangoon.
"The idea is that you can get in a car or bus and drive to Bangkok from Guwahati. Burma was the hurdle, but now it has opened up, thanks to the Americans. It marks a great opening of a new economic zone," he said.



 
Yes, Letting another country do the work is Myanmar's motto. All the dams are build by foreign countries and they still use that old railroad bridge, Gokteik Viaduct, here that was paid for by the British and build by the Americans over 110 years ago!
Thankfully in Myanmar they are able to pronounce "Foreigner" so that is what they call us white folk out here.
For a good map of the off limits areas look here:
tools4fools - overview travel map for Myanmar: a road map for Burma
This map is a little out of date but it is mostly accurate except for the roads north of and near Bhamo, those will all be closed to foreigners now because of the war. The road north of Shwebo will probably be closed now too but I am not sure. I'll try and go in the next month or so and find out.
 
Very useful map, thanks Zach

View attachment 9947


Yes, Letting another country do the work is Myanmar's motto. All the dams are build by foreign countries and they still use that old railroad bridge, Gokteik Viaduct, here that was paid for by the British and build by the Americans over 110 years ago!
Thankfully in Myanmar they are able to pronounce "Foreigner" so that is what they call us white folk out here.
For a good map of the off limits areas look here:
tools4fools - overview travel map for Myanmar: a road map for Burma
This map is a little out of date but it is mostly accurate except for the roads north of and near Bhamo, those will all be closed to foreigners now because of the war. The road north of Shwebo will probably be closed now too but I am not sure. I'll try and go in the next month or so and find out.
 
Hi all,

Since Ive moved to Chiang Mai I've been dreaming of a day when I can drive through Burma to India and continue to Europe. So far It has not been possible but just by reading this forum gives me hope that the direction is right.

Im not expecting anyone been able to give a date for it, but all kind of information / opinions and discussion is welcomed.

... one day...

I am with you. Would it not be sweet to jump on the bike at the house in Europe and drive all the way to a guest house in Thailand? Would be an epic ride.
 
Does anyone know of any further updates on taking bikes into the country ??
 
Does anyone know of any further updates on taking bikes into the country ??

Bob, for me and many others it's a dull situation right now. Lots of paperwork in advance, approximately usd $ 1, 200 -2, 000 for permits, guide & hotels. You're followed by an escort vehicle, told where you can go, it doesn't interest me in the slightest.

We have a friend that has 250 Chinese enduro bikes outside Mandalay, that seems a much more interesting option.

Never sent from an I-Phone
 
Regarding the permit(s), included in the application must be a schedule and proposed route that have to be approved. At night the group is herded into a government approved hotel.

Even with all the guides, police escorts and "protection," recently a group on one of these organized government tours found their helmets and tank bags missing in the morning after they parked their motorcycles for the night and some foolishly left their gear on their motorcycles.

Solo or independent entry, exit and travel, on any size motorcycle across Burma or within would appear to be a long way off, especially given that the government has had a taste of capitalism by entering the organized motorcycle tour "business," and their cash register has been ringing with foreigner dollars.
 
The best option right now is to use organized tours. Not sure why most of you feel that Myanmar authorities dictating where you can go....nothing is further from the truth unless you planning to visit civil war affected areas or venture into military bases. I just came back from 8 days motorcycle trip. We told Myanmar authorities in advance where we want to go and it was approved. They even told me they can escort us till Indian border if we plan to ride further into sub-continent. 6 of us went there on our own BMW's, forked out $1,600 each and had a time of our lives. But if you want to go to India make sure to obtain Carnet issued by AAM (Malaysia) if riding Thai registered bike. Here are just a few from hundreds of pics we took in Bagan, Naypyitaw, Kyaiktiyo, Bago, Pyay, Mawlamyaing etc...

natasha.jpg

549867_489350144458167_1742864244_n.jpg

62990_490939904299191_729958802_n.jpg

484894_489362044456977_865483095_n.jpg

31933_490973657629149_955225971_n.jpg
 
And here is the approval letter from relevant Myanmar ministry

75908_485335138193001_442688665_n.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom