• AIDS/HIV organizations and information

• &PROUD UTOPIA VERIFIED FEB 2020

  Organisers of cultural events for LGBT in Yangon. They hosted the first &PROUD Yangon LGBT Film Festival (Nov 2014).
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• 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 Benefit: LUNCH FOR TWO (set menu) at Monsoon Restaurant and Bar to value of US$15. This will buy lovely 3 course lunch.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

BAGAN

Bagan, Asia's spectacular lost city.

INLE / NYAUNG SHWE TOWNSHIP (Shan State)

• Pub Asiatico UTOPIA VERIFIED JUL 2020
  Museum Rd
  +95 945-209-6741, email

  Gay-friendly pub experience with a unique, cross-cultural design and menu ranging from authentic pizzas to fusion Asian dishes. Their gay-friendly management will be pleased to welcome you.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

MANDALAY

Click here for Mandalay hotels and accommodations.

Comments from Utopians:

"We found a new massage place in Mandalay called Luxury Spa, located on 27th St (between 78 and 79 Sts), 099-7524-1670. The manager, Aiyo Pyae Sone Paing, speaks some English. They offer a range of oil and body massages in 8 rooms, as well as outcall services at very modest prices." -- Eugene, Mar 6, 2020

• 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. UTOPIAN VERIFIED MAR 2011
  Add your review, comment, or correction

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).

Click here for Yangon hotels and accommodations.

• Ko Ko's
  9 Sayar San Rd, Bahan Township

  The first PLU cafe and bar in Myanmar. Ko Ko is a famous hair-stylist with five hair salons around Yangon.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Lion World UTOPIAN VERIFIED JUL 2017
  Corner of Anawyatar St and Shwedagon Pagoda Rd

  It is an upstairs restaurant and bar on a balcony connected to one of the overhead walkways (and to a department store above 369). It draws some local gays for a snack or beer. Gays gather at the bar. Handsome young waiters. Not much English spoken, so consider going with a local friend. Closes early.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Sarkies Bar UTOPIAN VERIFIED DEC 2016
  The Strand, 92 Strand Rd
  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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Silver Oak Cafe
  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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• 369 Disco UTOPIAN VERIFIED MAR 2012
  Shwedagon Pagoda Rd (between Mahabandoola Rd and Anawratha Rd)

  A 15 minute walk west of Sule Pagoda (the central landmark in the British colonial section of Yangon). This largely gay disco has been in operation for a number of years and seems to have fallen on lean times. The crowd is small and the show close to nothing. Entry fee includes a drink. It closes at 2am. Open on Sat and Sun (maybe more nights). Some some foreigners.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• 9th Floor Disco UTOPIAN VERIFIED JUN 2012

  Located in the Mingal Zei group of buildings, north of the old British colonial area and close to Kandawgyi Lake. Tell your taxi driver to go to JJ Disco. JJ is on 8/F and 9th Floor Disco is on 9/F. Can get jammed on Sat with hunfreds of young Burmese. Loud disco music makes conversation difficult and the lighting challenges anyone trying to identify the number of transgenders among the clubbers. Video screens continually show football. The crowd is middle-class, about 90% gay males, plus lesbian couples and some straights. The crowd's too hip to wear longyis (sarong). Basically everyone's in jeans. Entry includes a beer. A sign indicates the disco is open Thu-Sun. It closes at 4am. Few, if any, foreigners.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• fab UTOPIAN VERIFIED APR 2019

  Venue location is announced on their website each month, email. Gay-owned fab is Yangon's first monthly party for lesbians, gays and friends. Every last Sat of the month they throw a party. It's for drinking, dancing and flirting. It attracts a mixed crowd of locals, expats and visitors. Even though it's a mixed crowd, most of the LGBT will eventually attend the party. Organised by YG. Come and dance, flirt, drink and chat in a great mix of locals, expats and tourists, gays and straights. The relaxed atmosphere and great tunes from DJ Bay Tar make for a great night out. Entrance is very inexpensive and includes a free shot. FAB is non-profit: all proceedings go to the Yangon LGBT cause. The party starts at 10pm and there's often a line after 11:30pm.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• The Bodyguard Hair Salon & Healthy Massage Center (For Men) UTOPIA VERIFIED JUL 2020

  See full listing under Shops and Salons. Gay-friendly hair salon and healthy massage center for men.
  Utopia Member Benefit: 5% DISCOUNT.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• D Spa UTOPIA VERIFIED APR 2017
  682 Thitsar Rd (Ponnami Bus Stop), Ward 6, South Okkalapa Township
  092-5925-6686, email

  Gay-owned spa.
  Utopia Member Benefit: 10% DISCOUNT on all services.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Aungsan National Sports Stadium

  National team dormitories under stadium and restaurants surrounding. Soldiers, police and athletes. Take someone with you who can speak Burmese.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• 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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Inya Lake park.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• J-Donuts
  Shwe Bon Htar St at Dagon Centre

  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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Lake Kandawgi -- vicinity of Kandawgi Hotel.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Mahabandoola Park area, in evening before the park closes at 6pm. UTOPIAN VERIFIED APR 2015
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Pedestrian overpass
  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. There is also a facility at the northwest corner of this junction and people also stroll along the section of Shwedagon Pagoda Rd north of this junction.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• 50th Street Cafe Restaurant and Bar UTOPIA VERIFIED JUL 2020
  9/13 50th St (just off Merchant Rd), Botahtaung Township,
  397-060

  Lovely, gay-friendly café and bar in a restored colonial building. It has pool tables, newspapers, sand-blasted brick walls and warm wood trim. Very fashionable. Excellent Burmese food and cold beer. A well known hangout frequented by both the expat and local crowd.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Aung Thukha (Myanmar food)
  525-194

  Popular with the locals. Have a driver or friend take you there. Everyone knows where it is.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• 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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• 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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Monsoon (Myanmar, Thai, Vietnamese, and Cambodian cuisine) UTOPIAN VERIFIED NOV 2012
  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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• My Place Cafe UTOPIAN VERIFIED APR 2019
  Tamwe Township

  This local coffee shop is popular with lesbians.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• O'Thentic UTOPIA VERIFIED JUL 2020
  45 Yaw Min Gyi St, Dagon Township (corner of Boggyoke Market)
  +95 94-4952-9557

  Gay-owned French style creperie. Tues they organize "Friends Tuesday" which is popular with the gay community. Great ambience. Food is tasty and at a reasonable price. Drag queen show every 2nd and last Tues of the month. Happy Hour every night.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• The Strand Café(Myanmar and international) UTOPIAN VERIFIED NOV 2012
  92 Strand Road
  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.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• The Strand Grill(Myanmar and international)
  92 Strand Rd
  243-377

  The cities most elegant fine dining in a refined, exotic interior. Excellent service from charming staff.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• The Bodyguard Hair Salon & Healthy Massage Center (For Men) UTOPIA VERIFIED JUL 2020
  Room-A4/A5, Yadanar Mon Housing (corner of Yadanar Rd and Waizayantar Rd, just beside Aung Yadanar Specialist Clinic), Thingungyun Township
  099-7499-0197, 092-6007-4199, 097-9628-1643, email

  Gay-friendly hair salon and healthy massage center for men. Services and packages are professionally designed for the purposes of relaxation, health, beauty and recreation. Their staff are physically well trained, service orientated, humble, nice looking and certified to serve professionally. They care about quality of service, guest relations, cleanliness of their environment and peacefulness of the surroundings. They listen and try to understand and provide service solutions tailored to your needs.
  Utopia Member Benefit: 5% DISCOUNT.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• The Golden Tortoise UTOPIAN VERIFIED MAR 2012
  Aung San Market, Bogyoke Aung San Rd

  Great contemporary laquerware. Closed Mon.
  Add your review, comment, or correction

• Yangon Hair and Beauty Center (for men) UTOPIA VERIFIED JUL 2016
  G/F No. 78 Kyaik Ka San St, Tarmwe Township (near United Living Mall)
  +95 97-9388-3889, + 95 92-6383-2408, LINE: nhtp22, email

  Welcome to a gay-friendly haven, a one-stop shop for all of your grooming needs, a place where you can leave behind the stress of humdrum daily life and experience tranquility and harmony. They offer you personal time and space to revitalize your body, mind, and spirit. Their team is dedicated to serving you each and every day. Open 10am-10pm.
  Utopia Member Benefit: 10% DISCOUNT on any item.
  Add your review, comment, or correction