You have the option of either travelling by train from Yangon to Thanbyuzayat, or travelling by bus. It’s normally about 3 hours quicker to travel by bus. Another popular option is to first travel to the larger nearby town of Mawlamyine and to visit Thanbyuzayat as a day trip.
Train Times to Thanbyuzayat
There is a single direct train a day from Yangon to Thanbyuzayat.
| Train | Yangon | Thanbyuzayat | Journey |
| 35 | 20:00 | 07:46 | 11 hrs 47 m |
Bus Times to Thanbyuzayat
There are two direct bus services a day from Yangon to Thanbyuzayat which you can book online.
| Yangon | Thanbyuzayat | Company | Cost |
| 08:00 | 17:00 | Mandalar Minn Express | $8.00 USD |
| 20:00 | 05:00 | Mandalar Minn Express | $8.00 USD |
- The journey by bus from Yangon to Thanbyuzayat is scheduled to take 9 hours.
Buy Tickets to Thanbyuzayat
Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Yangon to Thanbyuzayat:
Yangon Bus Stop
Mandalar Minn Express bus services from Yangon to Thanbyuzayat depart from Aung Mingalar High Way Bus Station.
Thanbyuzayat Bus Stop
Mandalar Minn Express bus services from Yangon terminate at Thanbyuzayat Highway Bus Station.
About the Death Railway
Thanbyuzayat is best known for its association with the Death Railway, also known as Thai-Burma Railway, built by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1942 and 1943 using forced labour kept in appalling conditions and brutalised by their Japanese and Korean captors. The 415 km railway used to run from Ban Pong in Western Thailand to a rail head near to Thanbyuzayat. The section of the line in Myanmar has now been largely dismantled, with the track and sleepers removed by the UK colonial administration of then Burma and sold to the Thai Government for use in constructing their own railway lines.
Thanbyuzayat was the final stop for the infamous Death Railway from ThailandA small section of the railway line is still in place near Thanbyuzayat with a steam locomotive parked on it as a reminder of the now absent railway line that at least 100,000 people died constructing, including an estimated 8% of the Japanese and Korean soldiers supervising the workers. The majority of the workers on the Death Railway were conscripted Asian workers, but a significant proportion of the workforce and those who died were Allied Soldiers. The work on the Death Railway was carried out from two ends, one starting in Ban Pong in Thailand and the other in Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. There is a war cemetery near Thanbyuzayat where 3,626 Allied Prisoners of War (mostly British, Australian and Dutch) are buried. There is also a small Death Railway Museum in Thanbyuzayat.