Money in Burma (ATMs, Cash Advances, etc.)

#27-
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<hr>there are some backstops to get a cash advance if needed<hr></blockquote>
Please take into consideration that the recently imposed banking boycotts in Singapore where most of these transactions are hosted, may at least in the near future make this option either more limited, totally impossible or even more expensive that it was before. I would think that it is now even more imperative to bring cash.

Some of the options we were told about had all stopped doing this just 2 weeks prior to us being there and that was in August. I won't be chancing any backstops myself, especially now.

Take all your money in US Dollar cash!
New notes without any sign of use (no tears, no scratches, no marks, and no one starting with serial number CB)
Take notes in 100 $ but also a lot of smaller notes 20$, 10$ and 5$ you will need the smaller ones to pay entrance fees to padogas, museum, national parks.
Expect to pay the hotels in dollars only, airflights in dollars, taxis in dollars or Kyats, buses in Kyats, boats in dollars, food at restaurants in kyats.
Think carefully how much you need in local currency before leaving Yangon and go to the market and exchange the needed amount, lower exchange rates outside Yangon.
If you are travelling to the west coast take a lot of small dollar notes and not so much local currency. Hotels demand paying them in dollars only, but they can't provide exchange for a 100 $, 50$ or even 20$ note.
If you exchange for example 200 US dollars you will receive 256 000 Kyats (exchange rate 1280 Kyats / $ end of July 2007). Kyats are in 1000 notes big, bulky notes on about the following size 6 inch X 4 inch the thickness will be something like 3 to 4 inches for 256 000 kyats, which is not so easy to take care of.