🛍️ Myanmar: souvenirs
Myanmar's craft depth is extraordinary - lacquerware from Bagan, lotus silk from Inle and jade that demands care in the buying. Here is what travellers bring home from Myanmar, where the good versions live, and the export questions worth a look - alongside our 56 written places.
🛒 The classic buys
Bagan lacquerware
Bowls, boxes and trays built up in layers over bamboo - the Bagan workshops show the months-long process; fine pieces have incised gold detail.
Lotus and silk weaving
Inle Lake's weavers spin thread from lotus stems - scarves mixing lotus and silk are the lake's signature; pure lotus is rare and priced like it.
Shan paper and parasols
Mulberry-paper umbrellas and lanterns from Pindaya's workshops.
Longyi
The wrap worn by everyone - buy patterned cotton and silk lengths at Bogyoke market or any town bazaar.
Thanaka
The bark cosmetic paste in logs or powder - the daily beauty ritual to take home.
Tea and tea-leaf salad kits
Green tea from the Shan hills and fermented laphet for the national salad.
⚠️ Check before you buy
- Gems - rubies, sapphires, jade - need licensed-dealer receipts for legal export; without documentation they can be seized at either end. Check what your home country lets in for gems from Myanmar - some restrict them.
- Antiques and religious items - old Buddhas cannot leave; buy new.
- Keep receipts for anything of value.
✗ Better left behind
- Gems from informal sellers - documentation is everything here, and street stones are mostly glass anyway.
- Old Buddha images - export is illegal.
- Ivory and wildlife products - banned.
Markets shift, workshops close and open, and the best souvenir is still the one with a story you were there for. Buy from makers where you can, keep receipts for anything substantial, and when a deal feels too good, it usually is.