Fads in the town - Internet Cyber Culture in Myanmar

There are now many new internet cafes opened recently in Yangon as well as in Mandalay. When I first used internet three years ago, it used to cost 1500 to 2000 kyats an hour, and all I got was a very slow internet connection, sometimes as low as 0.5 kbps! And I had to took a bus about half an hour to get to the nearest internet cafe.

Now, I just walked to the internet cafe near my house, and I get a decent connection speed at a price as low as 300 kyats. Most of the internet cafes in Yangon charges 400 kyats an hour. I can even download and upload video files from the internet cafes.

In Mandalay too, the price is more or less the same with many youngstars using the internet for many long hours.

However, the trend is only in Yangon and Mandalay. In most other cities, the price charged by the internet cafes are still high, as high as 1500 kyats in Kalay and 2000 kyats in Hakha. And the connection speed is not as fast as in Yangon and Mandalay.

Another thing is that, although many young people use internet, they use it mainly for chatting and voice mail. Most of them do not look at other educational or news website, and most do not know how to make a decent search. For them, internet is just chatting and voice mailing.

Anyway, because of the low price and ready availability of internet cafes, more and more people have now access to internet and I believe that is a good thing all Myanmar citizens.

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