kolchuga

Akubras are OK, but nuthin' beats a made in the US of A Stetson!!

I noticed an interesting response by Burmese immigration officers while residing at Mai Sai for the month of October, 2015. I was staying in Mae Sai that month, and went over to Myanmar for the day, a couple of times. ( I'm a US passport holder, and after the Thais stamping me out of the country, ( I was a little over a couple of weeks into my 30 visa waiver allowed period, from being stamped in at Swampy ), the Burmese would not accept 500 baht from me to stamp my passport and cross over. They insisted on only ten dollars US currency. Rather than waste time denying I had any, and waiting them out, I just went ahead and paid them the ten bucks. They then gladly stamped me in and handed me my passport back. ( In the old days they used to kiss the passport, and hand you card that had your name and passport number, country of passport, etc., and you had to turn that in on your way back when exiting back to Thailand. This time, however, they just stomped me in, like at the Cambodian border, Swampy, Laos or anywhere else. BUT, what was REALLy interesting was that i had two other people with me, from the Philippines and, of course, they used Philippine passports. To my utter amazement, the burmese immigration personal said to them in english, "No charge to enter Myanmar, for our new ASEAN friends"!! So, my travel companions got in to Burma without paying any fee! ( I was wondering why they'd charge ME, too, since I thought perhaps Myanmar is signatory to the TPP, TransPacific Partnership, as is the Philippines, the US, Vietnam, Australia, etc. )? I did notice, that unless a Thai citizen has some sort of special permit, THEY had to pay to enter Myanmar too, and i don't think Thailand has decided to join, nor has been admitted to the TPP, yet, however I'm not fully up to date on all that? On coming back, no problem with the three of us getting stamped out of Burma, ( and they had quite an outage of electrical power interruption the two different days I was in Tachelik ). On re-entering the LOS, they stamped in with a new 30 day visa waiver, but gamey friends from the Philippines only a fifteen day visa free waiver.

Last month. I go across quite often and have seen others getting Day Passes without difficulty - but that might depend on who is working on any particular day - and/or what mood they have on that day

I was in Mai Sai the middle of October, 2015, ( and posted here about that just a few weeks ago, when a similar question was asked ). They didn't require any copies of my passport, nor extra photo and in fact refused to take 500 baht, for my visit to Burma. They stamped me out of Thailand, with no problem, and Burma just stamped me in after giving them the requested ten US dollar bill, and standing in front of their little camera on a stick device. On return, Burma stamped me out, and Thai immigration gave me another 30 day visa exempt entry, and I have the passport stamp to prove it. Neither did Burma retain my passport on this trip, as they used to do in days passed, when they always used to give me a card with my passport info on it, that i used to have to turn in to get my passport back at that crossing, in order to return to Thailand. As always, the ability to do anything like this, or the day pass previously mentioned, varies by who is working and who is supervising on any given day. I was rather flabbergasted, as I had two Philippinos traveling with me, and the Burma immigration officials said to them, as I was standing by, "Welcome to Myanmar, no charge for our new fellow ASEAN members", so, they got in free!?! However, on return I noticed they were given 15 days, visa exempt, ( unlike my own thirty days, since I'm a US passport holder ). My Thai friends in Mae Si told me it's kind of a hassle for them to go over, too, and they are charged, just as I was, but in baht, not US dollars. Who knows, maybe I could have gotten in for 500 baht, if I'd stalled around, and insisted I didn't have any US currency? However, i wasn't in the mood to play that game, and waste my time, as well as everyone elses.

Yes, You need a visa to enter.

http://evisa.moip.gov.mm/

Not so sure that's the case. If you're a G-7 passport holder, you can go over for the day, for either a 500 baht, or ten US dollar fee, with no visa. I did this, with absolutely no problem, twice, during the second half of October, which was less than two months ago. Some folks MIGHT be able to go over for free, with no visa. ( Reason I'm aware of this, is that part of the group I was with in Mai Sai were traveling on Philippine passports. The Burma immigration guy that had just processed me, said to them, "Oh, our friends from a fellow Asean nation, no charge fee, welcome!" And they got to go over to the Tachilik market for a day, for no cost, at all! They just got stamped out of the LOS, and into Burma for the day, then stamped out of Burma several hrs later, and then stamped back into the LOS, for another 15 days, with no expense.

When I'm already sitting in an apartment less than 300 meters from the border crossing, and I can get an additional 30 days on top of my first thirty days for no cost at all, ( except for my time to go over and look around and drink a few of those new Myanmar beers ), and the only expense is 10 US dollars to enter Burma for that second 30 day visa exempt entry, it's virtually a "no brainer"! ( By the way, you can get a VIP reclining seat with pillow and blanket,and bottled water, on an air con bus with refreshments included for 620 baht, one way, from Bangkok, to the Burma border. tho it IS an 11 hr bus ride ). Same price going back, although you COULD ride a no air con, non-VIP bus for a little less than half that, if you wanted, but why be uncomfortable)?

Someone like myself doesn't need to spend the time or money to get a visa, if you can enter on a 30 day visa waiver, and then no visa is needed for a thirty day stay. Then , you can either go to immigration and extend for the fee, OR you can do a quick out and back in for an additional 30 days on top of your first thirty days,for no fee and no time wasted filling out an application, if you're from a G7 country. The rub is, you can never be absolutely sure of immigration allowing an exit for the 2nd thirty day waiver. So, it's best to find out if you can do it just a few days prior to your first 30 days being up, and then proceed accordingly. In any case, if you manage it right, no visa is necessary then, for a good 50 to perhaps 60 day long stay.

All I know for sure, is this. I flew into Swampy from Manila on October 4th, and they gave me a 30 day visa exempt entry. I've been going to Mae Sai for years, ( I have friend who has a couple of apt. buildings there ). I got bus tix on the Siam Tours VIP coach overnight on the 7th. I stayed in one of the vacant apartments from that morning until the 21st of October, when I bused overnight back to BKK. While in Mai Sai I went to Burma for the day on Saturday, the 17th. I came back by about 5PM. No problems, as they did not hesitate to prevent my leaving from Thailand, and stamped me back in again, for 30 more days, when I came back that afternoon. I've been going there for years, and I've never been refused to cross, and then get stamped back in. However, it's only been the last couple of years, or so, they've given 30 days on re-entering, as before that they always used to give just 15 days, visa exempt, and not 30, for a land entry crossing, as opposed to 30 when flying in. However, I assume my record with immigration is sterling, as over the last 12 to fifteen years, I've had multiple entries and exits every year, with never an overstay violation or any other kind of problem. Altho I've never been asked by Thai immigration, anywhere, at any time over the years to show cash or credit cards, the Myanmar immigration has always insisted on ten US dollars, to enter, ( which is a better deal than paying them 500baht, even at current exchange rate of 35+ baht to the US dollar ). And this October's excursion went as smoothly as all the rest. However, I know people who HAVE been refused the opportunity to do this, as I have successfully done. So be forewarned, your milage may certainly vary here, and I think not only your record with immigration, but your demeanor and dress, as well as appearance, not to mention attitude, and country of your passport affects your success or failure in this to quite an extent.

Unfortunately anyone can contract Leg.Disease anywhere in the world. I was in Rapid City, South Dakota nearly twenty years ago, when they had had an outbreak there numbering in the hundreds. Quite a number of people succumbed and died. However, they had one HELL of time finding the source. After a considerable amount of time, it was eventually found that the source was a contaminated fountain of recirculating water, in a courtyard/foyer just inside the entrance to a popular restaurant, ( don't recall the name of it right now ). Anyway, the health dept. there had them shut the fountain down completely and bleach and disinfect the whole thing, and had them leave it dry and shut down. No more cases of Legionaires after that!  However, even tho the restaurant was made completely safe after they figured out the problem, business fell off so much they had to close down, and the property was eventually bulldozed. I'm not sure just what's on that spot now?

I cook often with oil, and for health benefits, as well as stability at high heat, and neutral taste, you just cannot top, nor beat, the health and taste advantages of grape seed oil, most of which comes from Italy or Greece, sometimes Turkey and France, as well as some areas of South America. I'm not sure just how difficult it may be to find in Thailand though? Sunflower oil is distant runner up, to grape seed oil, olive oil is good for some things, but NOT for high heat frying, and canola oils, ( rape seed ), are only slightly better than what palm oil offers. ( Personally, I'd never use palm oil for anything, not even lubrication. Nothing will clog an artery or heart better than palm oil!

" So many times"? Actually it's not "many times", at all! It's in twice, and back out twice, in a span of thirty to forty days, for strictly tourism. No overstay, extensions, or other complicated problems. I've done this many times before, ie., arrived in BKK, as air tix from the states are MUCH less expensive to BKK than flying to either Phnom Penh, OR Yangbon. As I pointed out, I've arrived in BKK and stayed for a week or two on the 30 day visa waiver exemption, then bus to Cambodia for week or two, then come back to Thailand, where they'd give me 15 days for re-entering on the ground.  Last year, I did the day trip from Mai Sai, to Tachileik, and on return they told me at immigration that US passport holders were now given 30 days, instead of the previous 15, when crossing back into Thailand, ( all I really need is 15 days as I won't want to spend more than two more weeks in Thailand before flying back out of BKK,  once I've spent two to three weeks in Burma on a single entry Burmese visa ). My question is, would trying re-entering the kingdom on the ground at a land crossing, constitute some sort of prohibited "back-to-back" 30 day visa exempt entry and exit, after exiting the kingdom for a few days, on a visa exempt entry, what with new rules and enforcement in effect?     

I believe I have a valid question related to the discussion here, but the circumstances will be somewhat different. I usually come to Thailand once a year, but when here I usually wind up going to Cambodia or VietNam for ten days, to two weeks, or just slightly longer. Would I have a problem, with possibly being denied entry back into the land of smiles, if I were to fly into BKK, entering on a 30 day visa waiver, then fly out to Yangon this trip, to see Burma, after spending approximately a week in BKK, returning to Thailand via land crossing at Mai Sai, about two weeks to eighteen days, after flying out of BKK? I'd be taking the train to Mandalay and spending a few days there, then flying to Kyaingtong, spending a few days in that area, then eventually busing down to Tachileik, where I'd want to reenter on the ground at Mai Sai two to three weeks later. Would that be considered a "back to back" 30 day entry, and would it be prohibited? I'd probably want to stay in Mai Sai a couple of days, bus down to Chang Rai or Chang Mai, spend a day or two there, then fly, or take the train back to BKK for a few days, then fly out of BKK within two weeks or so, after re-entering at Mai Sai.   ( I need to do it that way, as I have a single entry visa for Burma, and would need to get back to Thailand to fly back home ).