• AIDS/HIV organizations and information
• Campaign for Lesbigay Rights in Burma (CLRB)
  PO Box 37 Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50202 Thailand, E-mail: myomin@cscoms.com. Aung Myo Min serves as director of this committee established in mid-1996. His guiding passion for empowering lesbigay communities manifests in confidential workshops organized with gay Burmese activists who manage to go regularly to Thailand.

MandalayTravel.com Email. Offering gay-friendly travel arrangements exclusively in Myanmar (Burma). Most tours are arranged on a private and individual basis to offer total travel freedom. See the sunset at the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, cruise on the famous Irrawaddy River, visit awesome Bagan and Mandalay, glide across serene Inle Lake, or relax on unspoiled tropical beaches. Utopia Member Discount

• Tamarind Travel
  PO Box 593 Ashmore City, Gold Coast, Australia, (61-7) 3103-2434, (61-4) 2419-5456, email. Gay and lesbian-friendly tours to Myanmar. English speaking team of travel agents and tour guides who organise individual and private tours, custom made tours, group tours, hotel and flight bookings exclusively in Myanmar. Member of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. Utopia Member Discount

BAGAN

Bagan, Asia's spectacular lost city.

MANDALAY

Click here for Mandalay hotels and accommodations.

Comments from Utopians:

"There is a young and friendly crowd hanging out around the fitness equipment by the southeast corner of the Palace wall (at 26th and 66th St to be precise), opposite Mandalay Swan and Sedona Hotels." -- ecyc02, Mar 16, 2011

Taungbyone

The Taungbyon Nat Pwe festival is held yearly at Taungbyone, about 20k north of Mandalay. It is held the last part of Aug for six days, up to and including the full moon. Thousands of people from all over Myanmar gather to celebrate the Nats (spirit mediums). Gays from all over Myanmar attend. The large majoirty of Nats in Myanmar are gay men. Also many gay devotees show up just to join in the party, as do hundreds of gays from nearby Thailand. For six days people dance, eat, and drink. The area is covered with food tables and shop stalls. Roving dance groups perform day and night. The atmosphere reflects that of Carnival in Brazil or in the Caribbean. During these days you can do what you feel, not what you have to do during the rest of the year. For this reason many males 'come out' during these six days. Foreigners wishing to attend should take a local along. Many guides or drivers are more than willing go.

Comments from Utopians:

"The Taungbyon Nat Pwe (festival) is the largest religious gathering in the country. It is not, itself, a gay event. The big stage shows every night feature regular current singers and bands, with no cross-dressing and no apparent LGBT aspects. The festival is a big country fair, with food, games, rides -- and fancy hats and toy swords for the kids. A distinctive part of the festival are dance performances by spirit mediums and other devotees of the Nats (local spirits) in the main 'palace', or a dozen or so smaller 'palaces'. Most of the spirit mediums are males and most of those are gay. The male spirit mediums will cross-dress if the Nat spirit that is to possess them is a female. If it is a male Nat spirit, they will still dress very elaborately, with make-up, eye shadow, and lustrous clothing, but they will be dressing as males, perhaps as one of the Taungbyon brothers who are the special spirits for this particular Nat Pwe. The performances by the spirit mediums are the flamboyant part of the overall festival, but they blend in with the other aspects of the very large gathering. The spirit medium performances are the special reason for the festival, but the festival is a much larger event, filled with families with kids and young heterosexual couples. Gay spirit mediums are familiar to everyone in Myanmar/Burma, just as trans figures, like kathoey in Thailand are known to everyone in Thailand. The festival is certainly gay positive. Gay mediums and their gay followers co-exist happily with other festival goers." -- Douglas Sanders.

YANGON / RANGOON -- area code (95-1)

Yangon is like no other city in Asia. It is the definitive setting for an exotic “far east” movie set; a bustling, dusty, and color-splashed city blending nostalgic influences from India, Tibet and Persia into its ancient cultural fabric. The people are simply amazing to look at. Classic colonial facades give way to diamond and gem-encrusted spires of zedis (temple stupas) around which daily life orbits.

Have high tea at the classic Strand Hotel, wander the shady markets in the afternoon and then head to the glimmering Shwedagon pagoda before sunset. Here, amidst prayer halls, spirit shrines, and monumental bronze bells, take a moment to sit and watch the crowd of families, tourists, pilgrims, school children, monks, nuns, and worshippers as they flow through the golden light.

Yangon has a population of over 5 million (that's more than 200,000 Utopians).

• BME II (mixed)
  Yangon International Hotel, Ahlone Rd. A mixed friendly crowd and the gay men just blend in with them. Some cute Burmese guys go here. Busiest on Fri and Sat nights as early as 10pm (occasional crackdowns order most clubs to close by midnight).
• Club Pioneer(mixed)
  Yuzana Garden Hotel, Alan Paya Pagoda Rd (opposite La Pyayt Wun Plaza and The Grand Plaza Park Royal Hotel). Busiest on Fri and Sat nights. Mostly a young, trendy crowd, some transgenders, and charming Burmese guys.
• Ko Ko's
  9 Sayar San Rd (near Mr. Guitar), Bahan Township. The first PLU cafe and bar in Myanmar. Ko Ko is a famous hair-stylist with five hair salons around Yangon.
• Lion World (mixed)
  Corner of Anawyatar St and Shwedagon Pagoda Rd. It is upstairs on a balcony overlooking the street. Gays gather at the bar although it is not obvious that it is a gay bar at first.
• Pioneer (mixed)
  Yuzanna Garden Hotel (opposite Sofitel Hotel). Best on Fri and Sat nights with plenty of trendy young people and usually a gay crowd. On other nights the disco is usually empty.
• Silver Oak Cafe (mixed)
  83/91 Bo Aung Kyaw St, 299-993. The front is a Ko Ko hair salon, the club is in the back. Live music club with very friendly staff. Local food and drinks. Two blocks from The Strand. Busy from 8pm onwards.
• The Strand Bar (mixed)
  92 Strand Road, Yangon, 243-377. Not gay, but the place to be on Fri nights for trendy locals, expats, and visitors alike. Cozy seating and excellent service. Great range of cocktails, wines and spirits, cigars and snacks. Happy Hour special prices. Pool table.

  Comments from Utopians:

  "Gay friendly nights every Fri at YGN Bar, 330 Ahlone Rd, Yangon International Hotel compound. Trendy, young and mixed crowd of locals and expats come together on this night. Cover charge is K$10,000 + one drink. Lots of cute, upmarket Burmese gays there with socalled 'girlfriends'. Great music and friendly crowd." -- KYAWKYAW, May 13, 2011

  "No more gay parties at 369 Club on Sun in Yangon." -- KYAWKYAW, Dec 1, 2010

• Aungsan National Sports Stadium
  National team dormitories under stadium and restaurants surrounding. Soldiers, police and athletes. Take someone with you who can speak Burmese.
• Fitness area at the Olympic swimming pool is a hangout for local gay people. Facilities are very poor (don't expect a proper shower) and equipment is ancient.
• Inya Lake park.
• J-Donuts
  Shwe Bon Htar St at Dagon Centre is cruisy in the day and early evenings 5-7pm on weekends especially. -- eye contact is crucial. Once you make contact, you'll find a friend. Beware of the hustlers but most times they just want to get to know a foreigner who will help sponsor them and help them get out of a life of tyranny and unemployment.
• Lake Kandawgi -- vicinity of Kandawgi Hotel.
• Mahabandoola Park area, at night.
• Pedestrian overpass at Thein Gyi Zay (Anawyater St and Shwedagon Paya Rd) in the evenings between 7-9pm. If you make a new friend, head to nearby Lion World Beer Garden for a drink. Young men stand here in the evening hoping to find a boyfriend.

  Comments from Utopians:

  "There is a facility at the northwest corner of this junction and people were strolling along the section of Shwedagon Pagoda Rd north of this junction." -- ecyc02, Mar 16, 2011

• Rock Heart cafe on top of the FMI center is cruisy.
• Scott's Market
  There is a small terrace with a coffee corner at the far-right end of the market -- a good place to sit and watch passersby.
• Sule Paya Rd starting about 4:20-5pm at an outside tea shop. Facing the front of Café Aroma there are two cinemas to your right (south). Next to the 2nd cinema is the tea shop with a blue awning. Every evening, but especially on the weekends.

• 365 Café (western and Asian)
  Next door to the Thamada Hotel, in front of the Rail Road Station. A 24-hour café that's a good place to grab something to eat before heading back to your hotel. Always busy and you will see the youth of the new Myanmar middle class here in numbers. You will also see Myanmar and Western gays here. Several of the waiters are gay.
• Aung Thukha (Myanmar food)
  525-194. Popular with the locals. Have a driver or friend take you there. Everyone knows where it is.
• Golden Duck
  Several branches around, including one near the jetty to cross the river that has a great view and atmosphere, plus really cute waiters who are sometimes bathing outside at the far end of the restaurant.
• Lavender (Myanmar, Korean and Taiwanese food)
  179/181 Botataung Pagoda Rd (about four blocks east of city hall). Gay friendly and later in the evening gay and lesbian couples show up.
• Monsoon (Myanmar, Thai, Vietnamese, and Cambodian cuisine)
  85-87 Theinbyu Rd, lower block, Botataung (east of city hall about six blocks), 295-224, 705-063. Expensive, but the food is good and the waiters cute. Very gay friendly.
• Ritz Café (western and Asian)
  296/1 Shwedagon Pagoda Rd, Dagon Twp., 253-680, 243-934. A short walking distance over the rail lines from downtown Yangon. It is a small quiet place for food, drink, and talk. Very gay friendly.
• Silom Village (Thai)
  Local branch of this popular Bangkok restaurant.
• The Strand Café(Myanmar and international)
  92 Strand Road, Yangon, 243-377. Their Myanamar set lunch is a great introduction to local cuisine, including seasonal specialties like a fantastic tomato salad with crunchy peanut dressing, savory butterfish curry, and delicious sweets. Their daily high tea is also a wonderful way to relax during the heat of afternoon while you absorb the ambiance of this classic colonial-era hotel.
• The Strand Grill(Myanmar and international)
  92 Strand Road, Yangon, 243-377. The cities most elegant fine dining in a refined, exotic interior. Excellent service from charming staff.