Southeastern Myanmar

Southeastern Myanmar is a region of Myanmar. This is an under-developed, agricultural region that was starting to develop its tourism industry before the military coup of 2021.

Cities

• 1 Bokepyin
• 2 Dawei (Tavoy), the capital of Tanintharyi Division
• 3 Hpa-an (Pa-an), the capital of Kayin State
• 4 Kawthoung (Kawthaung, Victoria Point), mainland Myanmar's southernmost point, easily reached by boat from Ranong
• 5 Kyaikkami
• 6 Kyaiktiyo - home of the famous pagoda-on-a-boulder, balancing delicately over a cliff
• 7 Mawlamyine (Moulmein), the capital of Mon State
• 8 Mottama
• 9 Myawaddy - only accessible to foreigners from Mae Sot in Tak Province, northern Thailand
• 10 Myeik (Mergui)
• 11 Payathonzu - only accessible to foreigners via Three Pagodas Pass from Kanchanaburi Province, central Thailand
• 12 Thanbyuzayat
• 13 Thaton
• 14 Ye

Other destinations

The Mergui Archipelago comprises over 800 islands in the Andaman Sea inhabited mostly by the Moken, with excellent scuba diving from December to April.

Understand

Southeastern Myanmar is made up of, from north to south, Kayin (formerly Karen) state, Mon state, and Tanintharyi (formerly Tenasserim) region. Regions and states are equivalent administritive divisions, the only difference being the population of states is predominantly Bamar (Burman), whereas regions have populations where ethnic minorities predominate.

The British gained the Tanintharyi coast and the southern part of what is now Kayin state as far back as 1826, in the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War. The British then gobbled up what is now Mon state and the rest of Kayin state following the Second Anglo-Burmese War, together with the rest of Lower Burma, in 1853.

The population of southeastern Myanmar is overwhelmingly Buddhist with small minorities of Christians and Muslims. Despite being grouped together in this article for the sake of convenience, Kayin state, Mon state, and Tanintharyi region are very different to each other. Kayin state is one of the least developed regions of Myanmar, with one of the lowest human development indices in the country.

Get in

By air

Five airports with scheduled passenger services operate in southeastern Myanmar as of 2024. These are Bokepyin, Dawei, Kawthaung, Mawlamyine, and Myeik. All have multiple flights to Yangon each week on various airlines for US$ 100-200 one way. Some airports have other routes as well, but all are domestic only.

By rail

The Tanintharyi line connects Yangon with Mawlamyine, Thanbyuzayat, Ye, and the terminus at Dawei. An extension to Myeik is planned for the distant future.

Get around

Within the region, Myanmar National Airlines flies from Dawei to Kawthoung on Monday mornings, and also has six flights per week between Myeik and Kawthoung.

See

Grandfather beach is 2 hours by car from Dawei

Tanintharyi has some of the best beaches in Myanmar.

Grandfather beach, Sin Htauk beach, and Maungmagan beach can be reached from Dawei. Maungmagan is the closest beach to the town, only half an hour away by road.

Ma Gyi beach, Ta Yoke Htauk beach, and Kyungyi beach are in the vicinity of Ye.

Myanmazing beach, on Don island, is accessible from Myeik.

Do

Many tour companies offer scuba diving liveaboard tours of the Mergui archipelago.

Stay safe

WARNING: Overseas job scams are rampant in Myanmar. People are lured in by offers of a high-paid job with little to no experience or work visa needed, then held hostage under threats of violence and forced to work in call centers, online gambling, etc. See Human trafficking for details. Chinese speakers are most frequently targeted, but others have been trapped as well. If you or somebody you know have been caught in this scam, contact your country's diplomatic mission.

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