Is Pyay safe?
Myanmar · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Pyay is a city in Myanmar, home to about 190k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,690 of 6,168, with a safety score of 57.2 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency Ambulance 192 · Fire 191 · Police 199
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Myanmar, updated 2026-05-07.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country16 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Myanmar as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- town of Thandwe14 deaths · 1 event
- Nat Taung Maw Village Thandwe Township9 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Pyay, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Chin State
- Kachin State
- Kayah State
- Kayin Sate
- Mon State
- Rakhine State
- Sagaing and Magway regions
- Tanintharyi Region, excluding Myeik township, and the archipelago and townships south of Tanintharyi township
- Shan State North
- North Mandalay Region; the townships north of Mandalay City and Pyin Oo Lwin
- East of the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway in Bago region
- Shan State South and East
- Mandalay Region
- Tanintharyi Region south of Tanintharyi township
- the rest of Bago region
- the townships of Kyangin, Myanaung, Ingapu, Lemyethna, Yegyi, Thabaung and Pathein in Ayeyarwady region
Named in the official UK travel advice for Myanmar (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Pyay.
How safe is Pyay really?
No published homicide figure exists for Pyay itself, so the national rate stands in: Myanmar recorded 3.9 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Myanmar is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 30.7), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.
Pyay also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 86 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 84 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were town of Thandwe (14 deaths), Nat Taung Maw Village Thandwe Township (9 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Myanmar at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-05-07). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 16 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Myanmar
Terrorism in Myanmar · Political and conflict situation · Police and military checkpoints · Protecting your belongings · Scams · Unexploded weapons · Mobile phones and internet · Detention and arrest · Religious customs · Illegal drugs · Taking photos and using drones · LGBT+ travellers · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · Road travel · +4 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Myanmar — country-level, not specific to Pyay. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 3.9 /100knational rate, 2022
- Conflict deaths
- 86within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 30.7country, 2017
- Human development
- HDI 0.609country, 2023
- Income
- $5,890/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 190kurban centre · 8,256/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 20.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 30/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 26/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 16/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 6.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.44Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 35.1 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 60%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.8 doctors /1k1.1 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 15 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Myanmar
- Flood
- 8.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 8.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 8.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Myanmar as a whole, not Pyay specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Myanmar (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Myanmar; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Pyay that gives 57.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Pyay compared with Taungup
| Measure | Pyay | Taungup | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 57.2 | 54.5 | +2.7 — better for Pyay |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 3.9 /100k | 3.9 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 86 | 236 | −150 — better for Pyay |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Myanmar, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Taungup →
Nearby cities
- Taungup 54.5
- Letpadan 56.8
- Taungoo 53.0
- Hinthada 58.1
- Pyinmana 53.5
- Magway 57.7
- Danu Phyu 57.1
- Taik Kyi 56.8
See Pyay on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →