Burma . . . . . . 9 Kargwee/5332, 4 Garney/1636, Pa Sout/5054
“There are 3 plates in this sale,9 Kargwee/5332, 4 Garney/1636, Pa Sout/5054,that the 3 rd picture is of plates I've collected over time I've lived in Myanmar and some will be sold on eBay..”
MYANMAR (Burma)
I have been living & working in Myanmar (Burma) since 2010. There have been many changes since an election removed some of the military junta, & allowed freedoms which would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. In 2011 the new government announced a scheme to rid the country of 40 plus year old cars & trucks, (later extended to 30 plus, and 20 plus year old) and this resulted in more than 50,000 of these run down old claptraps being taken to govt. foundries and scrapped, with the owners receiving a free import permit, (worth up to $30,000/40,000 which was the requirement and price for anyone wanting to buy an imported vehicle up to this time. As more & more cars were handed in, the value came down & these permits are now (2014) worth around $3000/4,000. Cars which once had unbelievably sky high prices, are now about one & one third to one & one half the cost of cars in western countries. The foundries are run by the military, and foreigners are still not allowed anywhere near to them, but with a fair amount of cash in hand, and a helpful former army general, I have been able to get hold of a box load of old plates, although some are in bad condition , luckily some are in good condition, and also luckily I was here at the right time. The plates had to be carefully accounted for in order that they can’t be reused to get another import permit, which is why I was initially told it would be impossible for me to get hold of any plates, but luckily I was able to get that help. The vehicles are being crushed and recycled now. Sadly this means that thousands of old plates with unique Burmese letters & numbers have disappeared never to be seen again. The plates fitted to most cars, buses, trucks & taxis come mostly in two colours, white on black for all private vehicles regardless of size, and white on red for all public service vehicles, which include taxis, buses and municipal /council vehicles, also regardless of size. The only other types issued are white on blue for vehicles accepting foreign currency, (not many) and monk or temple plates which are white on yellow, and there are probably less than 100 of these on issue in the entire country. They have a special letter combination that means Bhuddha. Diplomatic plates are mostly plastic, & black on white. There are no motorcycle plates (and m/c’s are banned in Yangon, except for police and military) included in this scheme. Plates in Myanmar are either issued by the Dept. of Transport, or made at road side stalls which until very recently were entirely legal, and owners changing from private to public, or vice versa, were simply told to have their plates repainted in the appropriate colour, new plates were not issued. and vehicle owners were also encouraged to repaint their plates if faded (usually with a pot of paint and brush) by the police so they can always read the plates and fine drivers for any offence. (Or collect tea money as it’s called.) There are actually five sets of red light cameras for the entire city of Yangon, but whether they always work is debatable.
Diplomatic and overseas aid organisations have black on white plastic plates made at the roadside plate stalls There are 33 letters in the Burmese alphabet, but only about 18 have been used on plates, prior to the later series that begins with a number, then more letters are used.
If you are a member of N.P.C.C. (Number plate collectors club of Australia) you will see an article in the Jan. 2013 issue written by me on plates in Myanmar. I am member 312. (I was initially given incorrect info. regarding the number of letters used on plates and was unable to correct this before it went to publication.) Unfortunately it is not always possible to get 100% accurate information even from the Myanmar Rego authority itself.
On older plates, there is a government seal on the left side, and replaced plates have another seal on the right side, however later plates have both seals. If there is no seal on a plate then it is a fake plate.
The plates will be posted from Thailand as it is too risky to post from Myanmar. They will be sent by traceable registered post. Please allow 2 to 3 weeks delivery to Europe/USA.
This is a unique and a once in a lifetime opportunity to get hold of genuine used Burmese license plates from de-registered vehicles, from a country that was mostly closed to tourists for nearly 40 years, and which have been near impossible to get any time in the past, and the vast majority of these old plates are now going through the crusher.
I am offering free registered, traceable post from Thailand .
These plates are in average condition, they measure 36/37cm x 17cm, ( there were different makers.) Please read the above information to understand that Burmese plates are not like the well manufactured western plates, so, WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET. Some plates are over 30 years old. If you are not happy with the condition you see in the pictures, please do not bid. I am happy to send extra pictures by request, and try to answer any questions that you may have. Please also be aware that these plates have come off vehicles at a government foundry by the staff dismantling them for scrap, so not a lot of care was taken.
That said, there will not be any opportunity in the future to ever get hold of these very interesting old plates, with Burmese characters, ever again, once all the vehicles are crushed, they will be gone forever.
New plates, as of (July 2013) are being made with western numbers/letters. The prices here are not cheap, but consider, if you decided to travel here and spend time trying to find a plate yourself, would you have any luck? Before the substitution program began I did that very thing, and had no luck whatsoever, and even when it did begin, I had to find the right person to ‘help’, and this required a fair number of bribes, called ‘tea money’ here. Even then there were some problems, dealing with a former military official, who probably didn’t really understand why a foreigner would want old license plates, but did finally agree to help me. Stepping on the wrong foot, or talking to the wrong person could have seen me arrested, deported from Myanmar and blacklisted, which has happened to other visitors to this country, for very trivial reasons.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Sale Price: US $189.00