Victoria Point of Myanmar

Hello Unregistered,

This small port at the southernmost tip of mainland Myanmar is separated from Thailand by the broad estuary of the Chan River. To the British it was Victoria Point and to the Thais it's Ko Sawng, which means Second Island. Kawthaung, the Burmese name, is probably a corruption of the latter.

The main business here is trade with Thailand, followed by fishing. Among the Burmese, Kawthaung is perhaps best known for producing some of the country's best kickboxers. Most residents are bilingual, speaking Thai and Burmese. Many people born and raised around Victoria Point, especially Muslims, also speak Pashu, a dialect that mixes Thai, Malay and Burmese. Nearby islands are inhabited by bands of nomadic Moken or sea gypsies.

At the moment Kawthaung is only accessible to foreigners by boat from Ranong, Thailand. It's probably not worth making a special trip to Ranong just to visit Victoria Point, but if you're in the area and decide to cross over, you'll find it's similar to Southern Thailand except that many more men wear the longyi (the Burmese sarong). It is now legal to travel from Kawthaung into the interior of Myanmar - eg Dawei (Tavoy) or Yangon - by plane or by ship. Road travel north of Kawthaung, however, is forbidden by the Myanmar government due to security concerns - this is an area plagued by Mon insurgency.

Boats to Kawthaung leave the Tha Saphaan Plaa in Ranong regularly from around 7 am till 6 pm for 40B per person. Take the No 2 songthaew from Ranong and when the vehicle stops to pay a toll at the entrance to the pier area, get off and walk down a soi to the right (you'll see a petrol station on your left). At the end of the soi are boats to Kawthaung. If you want you can charter a boat holding six to seven people for 400B round trip.

Once the boat is underway, there's an initial stop at Thai immigration, where your passport is stamped. Then upon arrival at the Kawthaung jetty, again before leaving the boat, there's a stop at Myanmar immigration.

At this point you must inform immigration authorities whether you're a day visitor -in which case you must pay a fee of US$5 or 500B for a day permit. If you have a valid Myanmar visa in your passport, you'll be permitted to stay up to 28 days, but are required to buy US$300 worth of foreign exchange certificates (FECs).

Yangon Airways flies an ATR-72 several times a week to Yangon for US$120. By ship it's two nights (one night each is spent in Dawei and Myeik) - 36 hours total.