G'Day. I'll be flying to Burma in a few weeks and read in another post that you can pay the departure tax in kyat rather than US dollars. I was wondering if this means that the junta don't really get any momey from you then, as you're just giving their (internationally) worthless money back to them. Am I right? I want to absolutely minimise the amount of money the junta gets from us. Cheers!
1
anonymous
A question in reply to yours.. How are you going to pay for the Kyat?
If you pay with USD it will cost you $10.00, if you pay in Kyat, it's something like 15,000 Kyat.. which will cost you close to USD 12.00, which leaves room for one more question... By which method do you think they collect the greatest revenue?
If, however you happen to have some left over Kyat at time of departure, it’s a way of getting rid of it.
3
theodosius
What I meant was: I will change my USD on the black market. This money will go through the Burmese people before/if it eventually makes it's way to govt coffers. Isn't this a better idea in principle than handing $10 directly to the junta?
5
anonymous
Trip, you have been there after I was, I take your word for it...
Sorry for giving out incorrect info.
In January, many people including ourselves used Kyat...
They have reverted back to previous practice of demanding USD only.
Things change... hard to keep up with.
6
serotrance
I wouldn't worry too much about it. $10 is not an unusually high departure tax, and airports do cost money to maintain.
7
theodosius
Yeah, I realise airports cost money to maintain. Money is not my worry. My aim is to minimise the amount of -hard- currency the junta get off me, no matter what it is for.
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