Airport ATM
 

There are TWO ATM's at the Yangon Airport near the pastry shop --both were not in service when I arrived a month ago.

Additional problem: When I changed my pristine US $100 at the Airport currency exchange, the wad of 1,000 chat bills I received in exchange was so thick that my trifold wallet would not close after I put them in.:rolleyes:

The ATM's didn't work in the airport for me either. Seemed to be connectivity issues. Money changers tried to pass off wads of thousand kyat bills to me too, but I realized if I asked for 5,000's and 10,000's when they tried to give me the pile, they'd give me a grin and give me the larger bills. Maybe they are overloaded with the thousand kyat bills.

Yes I am hearing more and more reports of the ATMs not working. Also of cards being cloned after they have been used. I still have never used one and don't plan to until I hear they are more reliable.

The 1000 Kyat note it still by far the most commonly used note here. Locals don't think twice about paying very large amounts all in 1000Kyat notes. But yes you can always ask for 5000 Kyat notes. I would actually avoid the 10,000 kyat note they are very new and most people here will not have even seen one.

I would just put the money in my backpack at the bottom of some reading materials.

I've used ATM's at KBZ bank in Yangon with a visa card - 300000 kyat maximum, 5000kyat fee.

^ An American expat in Bangkok gave me that tip before I went to Myanmar. Best advice ever. I rarely had problems exchanging money for kyat.

There was one close call. When I was at the airport to leave, the woman at the airport exit tax booth rejected all my U.S. dollar bills, until I found a crisp $100 she finally accepted. She gave me change, thankfully.

I wouldn't rely on Burmese ATMs. Relying on anything to work in Myanmar is risky. That said, I loved traveling there.

There is now also western union in Myanmar so it should be possible to send yourself some money using them.

Using ATMs
 

The ATM at Yangon Airport was not working when I arrived but I withdrew 150,000 MMK next day (19 Feb) using my Visa Debit card with no problem. My bank gave me a rate of 1323 MMK to the pound sterling which seemed good.