Visa Run - Chiang Mai To Mai Sai - Nov 5Th, 2010

[vacationman]

Hey just wanted to give everyone a HEADS UP.

We just did a Visa Run from Chiang Mai to Mai Sai on Friday, November 5th, 2010.

The Immigration Office In Burma RUSFED to Accept $10.00 USA Bank Notes.

They stated they will only take 500 Baht from now on...

Sooo make sure you have a NEW 500 baht note with you.

And YES before we get 100 people asking... YES the $10.00 bank notes

were BRAND NEW directly from our bank in America Never Used.

Guess they got smart and decided to add an additional $6 - $7.00

each time someone comes through...

Not many Farang at Border... a LOT of THAI and Asian Tourists.

They even had like a NIGHT Market on the streets beginning at

the Border out about 1 or 2 km from the Border.

[BlueSmurf]

Same 3 months ago but I said that was what it said on the notice so they took it but maybe not anymore....

[anonymouse]

They even had like a NIGHT Market on the streets beginning at

the Border out about 1 or 2 km from the Border

They had this around Christmas time last year it actually made being in Mai Sai overnight a reasonably pleasant experience, some good food on display.

I think it was on the weekend for a few weeks. Worth timing a visa run for a weekend if your planning on staying overnight.

[trainman34014]

In my experience they haven't been accepting Dollars since April this year but some people still seem to have got away with it.....or they say they have. The three times I've been this year they have been quite pissy with people trying to pay with dollar bills and.......the old sign has been taken down.

[PETDCAT]

I went on Friday also and gave them a crisp US $20.00 and they gave me $10.00 back.Not trying to cause an argument,just saying my experience on the same day.But on the other hand I have a friend that went to Laos on the same day and was refused a visa at the Embassy.Too many in His passport already.

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

Went to Mae Sai, October 1, and October 15. In both case US $10 bills were accepted without question.

There's been discussion of this on the TV main visa forum, also, recently.

Perhaps it's our charm ?

best, ~o:37;

[a99az]

I can understand that, the Dollars worthless anyway.

[millwall_fan]

I go up to Tachilek every couple of months for a new stamp and a little flutter. It seems to be very hit and miss. Depends on the senior official on the day. You can understand their position: US$10 is only worth around 290 baht anf there's tea money involved. Generally and it is a generalisation, if you are very polite and plead that you don't have many baht, they will let you pay with dollars. Any sign of irritation on your behalf and its baht only - but that that's the case with so many things here in Asia as most of you know!

As to the visa in Lao that petdcat mentioned - presumably you are talking about a 60 day tourist visa. Many Asian embassies are now, it seems, taking the view that there is a limit to the amount of time you can be a bone fide tourist for. After that you need to get a non immigrant visa back in your own country, Like it or not, that's what they want you to do.

[realthaideal]

I think the point being made here is that.... we should not declare anything on or off based on one personal experience. If your thread had properly followed your title and you issued a statement about a posting/ alert you saw to all who enter Burma at Mae Sai/ Tachilek that $10 bills are no longer accepted, that would be great. I would keep that in mind for the future.

I'm sorry that your experience was that they just weren't into your $10 bill. My experience just two weeks ago was that there's no problem at all. Thankfully they found us charming and acceptable that day.

Please, in the future post along the lines of 'They Wouldn't Accept MY $10 Bill' as this would be more accurate/ truthful. No need to spread hysteria.

[Thighlander]

I went two weeks ago; and they took my 2008 USD 10. They negged me a couple of years ago because it had about a one mm stray mark on it. It was an older, grumpy guy that negged me. This time, there were three or four in the office, and they were more cheerful than usual (not saying much). I didn't mention anything about all the fake goods or the mass murder of civilians.

[IanForbes]

I just give them a thousand baht and tell them to keep the change. I've never been refused yet.

I'm not going to dicker over an amount I would happily give to a friend or a ladies drink at a bar.

[el jefe]

I just give them a thousand baht and tell them to keep the change. I've never been refused yet.

I'm not going to dicker over an amount I would happily give to a friend or a ladies drink at a bar.

But I do dicker over the amount that goes to the Burmese govt and some of their most well-off staff. I don't consider them friends.

When I was last in Tachilek, in April of this year, they wanted 500B. I told them I was going shopping and they took the $10 bill I was holding.

[sarahsbloke]

It's a SCAM

Only ever have dollars in your wallet, act stupid, wave $10, eventually they take it.

They take 500bht, then they change it to 10$ (for 300bht), then they pocket 200bht, get the idea!

[mrkon]

my recent experience was on Nov 3rd - they grabbed $10 bill, no questions asked.

[MrBrad]

When I was there in mid-October I handed the officer at the first desk 2 US$5 notes that were far from being in mint condition; I had baht with me too, just in case. He straightened out a few wrinkles on the bills, and sent me on my way to the next desk for my photo. Maybe I was just lucky. But wrinkled 5s as well as 10s and 20s have been accepted as payment for the Burma visa recently. Your mileage might vary.

[Thailand]

I can understand that, the Dollars worthless anyway.

Not at all!

[uptheos]

Seems like the best thing to do is present a pristine $10 bill and see if it's accepted - if not pay the baht. No use saying you only have dollars, just in case you are refused and then the whole journey is a waste of time!