After something of a bureaucratic hassle getting our visas from the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Kerry and I flew to Yangon this morning. At immigration control, we discovered that Kerry is some kind of danger to the blissful harmony of Burmese society. Her passport number evidently inspired panic in their database, which required a phone call to someone, who probably had to call someone, etc… We waited and waited, with the pleasantly patient Asia Air staff, who apparently could not leave until we were processed one way or another. Nobody asked us about our plans or what we were there to do. We simply were summarily denied entry and put back on the plane to Bangkok.
Lessons: (a) The Myanmar bureaucracy makes no sense. Not a surprise. (b) We love Air Asia, who apologized to us for holding up their return flight to Thailand and kindly advised us on getting back through Thai immigration in the weird circumstance of having just left the country hours before.
Fly Air Asia! Down with the Junta!
Will Wilkinson 