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Extreme government control and political unrest led many travelers to boycott tourism within Myanmar. However, in recent years, with more open borders, opinions have started to soften.
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The people are welcoming to travelers, and eager to share their culture and history. Still, the country is highly militarised and there are intransigent problems in the west and north of the country. So before you pack your bags, understand the risks.
Terrorism in Myanmar
Terrorism in the country isn't the scourge it used to be, primarily due to the election of a (mostly) democratic government. Much of the violence pre-2015 was linked to the push for the end to military rule. However deep sectarian and ethnic differences persist with the ruling NLD party continuing with actions against the muslim Rohyinga population in Rakhine State. This conflict creatres tensions which frequently boil over into violence. There's no indication foreigners and tourists are the intended target of these acts, but they might be accidental victims because they often occur in popular, crowded locations.
The city of Yangon (Rangoon) has been the main target of terror attacks.
The last large-scale attack occurred in April 2010 when 3 bombs exploded during Buddhist New Year celebrations in Yangon, injuring 170 people.
Small-scale attacks since then include:
- Small explosions in Yangon, Taungoo and Sagaing in October 2013 in which one foreign national was injured.
- On 17th and 20th of November 2016, there were 3 small explosions at 2 supermarkets and on 24 November 2016, there were 4 small explosions outside the Immigration Office. No serious injuries were reported.
The places where terrorism is more likely to occur include:
Border crossings
The Burmese borders are particularly hazardous places for both terrorist and army activity. Landmines are also a present threat along the Myanmar side of the border, and have the potential to cause devastating injury, or worse, death.
The borders with China and Laos are particularly dangerous due to drug trafficking and rebel groups, and people are cautioned not to travel near them. The border with Bangladesh is getting more and more dangerous, as the Rohingya issue becomes a real maze.
The Burmese army and several ethnic groups, also heavily armed, have been engaged in an ongoing gun battle. Increasing tensions between armed groups in both Northern and Southern Shan States and the Burmese army have also led to a spike in violence.
Be alert, not alarmed
Terrorist acts are especially dangerous because they're difficult to predict, and therefore it's hard to prepare and protect oneself. Your best course of action is to pay close attention to the local safety warnings, and understand what’s happening in the country while you’re there.
Be aware of your surroundings at all times, and always go with your gut. If you see something suspicious and your instinct tells you to get out of there, get out of there.
Myanmar is a relatively safe destination to visit, offering travelers the opportunity to experience a truly unique and fascinating culture.
Visitors should be aware of the threats, but not dissuaded by them, given that with the arrival of democracy and more governmental stability, terror attacks aren’t as likely to happen as a few years ago.
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3 Comments
Hi there.let me fix what you say here ” The Burmese army and several ethnic groups, also heavily armed, have been engaged in an ongoing gun battle. Increasing tensions between armed groups in both Northern and Southern Shan States and the Burmese army have also led to a spike in violence.” Yes ethnic groups have their own land and Burmese army try take over everything they own. That why ethnic groups are try to protect themselves. No, ethnic group are not dangerous. I myself ethnic from Myanmar call “Karen”
I agree
Burma ethnic groups should have the right to Lufe, liberty & property
Mr. Phil Sylvester & others on the World Nomads team… I’m gonna need y’all to update this article & the others regarding Burma.
You could just add a separate text box on the top of the articles (similar to the covid note at the top of this webpage) with a date to allow for continuous changes as the situation develops in the future. That way you could leave each article as they are instead of removing anything from the archive or combing through to manually edit, & update each article in one go with the same embedded text across all articles on Burma. Just a suggestion, but I find it incredibly important to provide a disclaimer or update of sorts to alert anyone reading these articles for travel purposes that the democratic government was violently overthrown following the nation’s 2020 elections, with the military junta declaring a state of martial law stripping any rights & freedoms away from the Burmese people, the public services such as phones, internet, banking, medical care growing increasingly inaccessible, constant military occupation, civilian curfews, ruthless murders & home invasions, doctors being persecuted for providing emergency medical services, etc. Even better, you could write an article on the current state of affairs in Burma, how the questions & topics of previous articles have different answers as a result of the instability & change going on, include a thread of dated updates, & links to other sources with more information. Then you could link that new article of current updates in the disclaimer box. Even something as simple as “Update: As of 2021, Burma has fallen via coup d’état. The Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) took control of the Burmese government & re-established the Myanmar military dictatorship. As a result, the nation is in a state of civil war & martial law, suspending democracy & human rights for at least one year.” And like… link to a page about it. It’s definitely not a safe time to be traveling there right now. Just a suggestion.