Border crossing bridge to Myanmar

How to get there

By bus

By bus from Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai. Buses from Chiang Rai are very frequent (every 10-15 min), cost 40 Baht (one way) and take about 1.5 hours, while buses from Chiang Mai take about 4 hours (210 baht one way). All public buses terminate at a bus station well south of Mae Sai, so you have to continue onward to the city proper with red songthaews waiting outside (15 baht per passenger fixed fare). The blue songthaews to/from the Golden Triangle and Chiang Saen, on the other hand, leave from a stand in the city center a few hundred meters down the street from the border. The last blue songthaew that departs for Chiang Saen leaves at 14:00.

There are also day-tours taking visitors to Mae Sai, the Golden Triangle, and a couple of other places to see on the way as well. Tourist minibuses are more expensive (around 800 baht for a day tour from Chiang Mai including lunch) and, if fully loaded (but this is not always the case), are much less comfortable. However, this is still an option worth considering, if you want to combine your visa run with a sightseeing tour through Chiang Rai province.

By car

By car which can be rented in Chiang Mai and other cities. Mae Sai is 61 km from Chiang Rai on Highway No. 110.

Getting around

Mae Sai is a one-street town and the center is easily covered on foot.

What to  See

Burmese temple at Wat Phra That Wai Dao

Giant scorpion statue

There's really only one place to visit in Mae Sai, but many visitors breeze past it on their way to Myanmar.

Wat Phra That Wai Dao, (before Immigration, turn left and go through covered bazaar). Built on a small hill up a steep staircase, overlooking Mae Sai and Tachileik, this temple and its stupa are unremarkable, but there are a few interesting monuments around it. Next to the stupa is a small Burmese temple that gives a nice taste of what awaits on the other side. Towards the river is a multistoried monument to King Naresuan, a Lanna king famous for beating back several Burmese invasions and dispatching the Burmese crown prince in a duel, and if the message of this isn't clear enough, there's also a giant scorpion statue brandishing its claws towards Tachileik.

Queen of Nagas

Queen of Nagas seized by US Army at Mekhong River, Laos Military Base on June 27, 1973 with the length of 7.8 meters

What to  Do

Take a picture with the gate marking the northern-most point of Thailand

Cross the bridge into Tachileik, Myanmar (which the Thais call Tha Khi Lek ). As of April 2009, an entry permit valid for up to 14 days costs 500 baht/US$10 (be sure to bring clean US note, without any marks, stamps, etc. on it - otherwise customs officers will refuse it and, if you don't have another one, happily receive significantly higher payment in baht instead). Travelers using this option are given a paper entry permit and their passports are held at the immigration office until they return to Thailand. From here, you can travel as far as Kengtung (Thai Chiang Tung), 160 km away, but to travel to the rest of Myanmar, a visa in advance is needed. Transit travelers can arrange for a visa and can have their passport sent to their port of exit.

What to Buy
Covered bazaar leading to Wat Phra That Doi Wao

There are plenty of small shops lining both sides of the street leading to the border crossing that sell:

Cheap jewels (rubies, emerald and jade) imported from Myanmar
Cheap curio items, many of which are imported from China
Fresh cut fruit

Where to Eat

New Sombun  Mu 10 Mae Sai, Tel: 0 5373 1441 (Chinese food)
Rabiang Kaeo  Tel: 0 5373 1172-3 (Thai food)
Rim Khong  15 Mu 8 Chiang Saen-Sop Ruak Rd., Tel: 0 5365 0459-60 (Thai food)
Tai Thong  In Thai Thong Hotel, Super Highway, Tel: 0 5373 1975-6 (Thai food)

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