You Need a SIM Card to Survive in Myanmar

Unless you are joining an organized tour to get around Myanmar, you will need a SIM card.

Internet in Myanmar is very slow. This poses a huge problem when you are booking your accommodations because surprise, surprise, the internet isn’t moving!

Shouldn’t you book your accommodations ahead of time?

That depends on the type of traveler you are. Things always change when you travel and sometimes, you want to stay in a place longer because you are enjoying it. Sometimes, you’re just not feeling it and you want to leave as soon as possible. Having the flexibility to book your accommodations on the fly can really make your travel experience much better in Myanmar.

Another reason you’d want fast internet in Myanmar is because things can go bad pretty quickly. Food poisoning is very common in Myanmar and if you end up in the hospital, you will need to contact your travel insurance company right away to help cover your medical expenses.

Buses tend to get fully booked in Myanmar during peak season and sometimes, you have no choice but to book a flight.

Where to buy your SIM card and data plan

You can purchase a 2GB data plan from the Yangon airport for as little as 7,500 Kyat ($7.5o CAD). However, this is simply not enough from my experience. If I can turn back time, I would have purchased more gigs of data. Trust me, it’s worth it.

The company I went with is Telenor which turned out to be quite decent. The really strange thing about Myanmar is that their internet is so bad. It just doesn’t move! But, for some strange reason, their mobile network has 4G capabilities which puts many fellow Southeast Asian countries (like Philippines) to shame. To put it in simple terms, their mobile internet speed is very fast.

Don’t make the same mistake as Karen and myself did and purchased only 2 GB of data. Go get that SIM card and get yourself fast internet when traveling to Myanmar!

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