Dawei is a sleepy, seaside town with its considerable importance as a port. It includes in the Tanintharyi Division known to the outside world as Tenasserim which has a long history of trade with India and the Middle East. Dawei is now generally permitted to visit. It is accessible by air and road. The most interesting site of Dawei is 74m long, 21m high huge reclining Buddha located at the edge of town.
MYEIK (Mergui)
Myeik, 248km farther south of Dawei, (known as Mergui in colonial times and pronounce as Beik in Myanmar spoken form) perched on a peninsula that just out into the Andaman Sea. Due to its location Myeik has developed as an important port for over 500 years. Rubber, coconuts and marine products are major source of Myeik. Another famous product is the swiftlet bird’s nest very much favoured by Chinese throughout Asia. Among the European traders who settled here in the past, probably the most notorious was Samuel White who threw his weight around as harbormaster of Tenasserim division to rob whatever visiting ships and to tax the locals for every shilling he could squeeze.
KAWTHAUNG : Kawthaung (also spelt Kawthoung) is a small port town at the southernmost trip of Myanmar (about 2000km from the northern trip). It is only separated from Thailand by the Pakchan River. It was known to the colonial British as Victoria Point. It is an important trade town with Thailand and other businesses are fishing, rubber and cashews.