Kawthaung
Kawthoung (also Kawthaung; previously Victoria Point) is at the southern tip of Myanmar, on the border with Thailand.
Understand
Get in
By plane
Myanmar National Airlines has daily flights, and Asian Wing Airways has 3 flights per week, from Yangon. Myanma Airways flights (typically once a week) to Mawlamyine. Flights to Bokepyin and Myeik may also be available.
Flights may be cancelled with little or no advance notice, due to lack of bookings, the weather, or any number of other unpredictable circumstances.
30 min Kawthoung to Myeik flight approx US$77 (Jan 2014). Not much to see from the plane due to air pollution. Skies are clear after rainy season, in Oct-Nov.
By boat
The boat service to Myeik was shut down at the end of 2016. It is allowed for foreigners to continue via the land route.
By bus
The bus station is 3 km out off the center, at the main road.
- Myeik – The bus and minivan connection are now open to foreigners. Different companies offer minivan transportation (one is opposite of the clock tower). The bus passes through the town of Bokepyin. At 12:00, 15:00, 17:00 and probably in the morning. To Myeik it takes 10-12 hr, depending on the road conditions (in the beginning of 2017 there were many construction sites).
- Dawei – The bus leaves Dawei at 10:00 and 17:00, and costs 30,000 kyat.
By bicycle
The road from Myeik to Kawthoung is very challenging even though it is completely paved. It is a constant up and down with extreme gradients (often greater than 10%). Besides a guest house in Bokepyin and a hotel in Tanintharyi there is no accommodation available along the way. The only options are monasteries or wild camping, which is officially forbidden in Myanmar.
From Thailand
Chartered boat from the docks at Ranong (Thailand) is a common way to enter Kawthoung, used by travellers from Thailand looking to extend their visa-free stays in Thailand. Travel agents in Ranong can arrange this for around 400 baht per person including transport to the dock, but not including visa fees, for which pristine, unmarked Thai baht or US dollars should be used. Even a slightly marked or torn note will be rejected and change is not usually given at the customs hut on the Kawthoung side.
Get around
The most common way to get around town are motorcycle taxis. They are 200 kyat per person for short distances. It is about 2,000 kyat to the airport which is about 10 km away.
See
Do
Andaman Club Resort Hotel, on Thahtay Kyun Island about half an hour trip by boat from Kawthaung or Ranong, is famous for casino gambling, the only casino in Myanmar on the Andaman side.
Not far from the town, there is Kayin Kwa Island and others such as Myauk Ni and Salone Islands, a part of the Mergui Archipelago. They are a good places for diving. Nearby Kawthoung has a small waterfall and there are hot springs at Maliwun Village, 40 km north of town. It can be reached within half an hour by car over a good paved road.
Buy
You can use baht everywhere in the town area. Still they don't always have change and the prices paid with baht are a little bit more expensive. There are several places to change money. For example some of the IP Star Shops do it. The rate is about 3,500 kyat for 100 baht. Local banks have ATMs that accept Visa and MasterCard withdrawals.
Eat
There are lots of restaurants in town.The cheapest one is 400 kyats for a bowl of noodles.
Drink
Myanmar Beer is good. You can get a glass of it for about 20 baht. There are also fresh fruit juices (such as banana, mango, apple, papaya, etc.).
Sleep
You are only allowed to stay in three hotels. They are the Honey Bear Hotel for 800 baht, a guesthouse for 400 baht, and another place that is even more expensive.
The guesthouse is quiet and has a nice rooftop. Still the facilities are very basic. Toilets are outside the room. They have electricity and running water intermittently.
Go next
Myanmar (south to north):
Thailand:
- Ranong – by longtail boat