Hi all,

Im planning a trip to chang Mai (my first visit) and i have a small problem because my visa runs out on 12th November and i would like to fly to chang mai on the 11th november. Usually i travel south from BKK to ranong to make my runs but i was woundering if it was possible to make a secure and effective run up in chang mai? Where do i need to go and how much does it usually cost etc? Appreciate any feedback thanks.

Mai Sai is the nearest

Here's one way to do it: On the 11. go to Arcade busstation and buy a ticket for a morning bus to Maesai. You'll have the option of fares from about 140 B up to about 330 B, depending on your choise of comfort. The ride will take from about 4 hours to about 6 hours again depending on your choise of comfort.

From the busstation in Maesai to the border is about 5 kilometer. You'll have a choise of vehicles and any driver will understand the word 'border'. Mother cycles will ask you 40 B and taxis will ask you 60 bath. (If you want to save money you can walk 200 meter back to the highway, you came from and flag down a bus (sorngtaew) and pay 8 .

At the border it is just a simple matter of walking back and forth and handing over your passport at the proper booths. You'll have to pay 5 USD or 250 Baht at the Myanmar side for a 1 day visa, that is valid only for Tachilek (The Myanmar border town).

You'll have to be there soon enough to return to Thailand before 5 PM, when the border closes.

DragonStar

---- Oh, by the way. When returning to Thailand, you'll be met by posters asking you to show 20.000 B in CASH (applies to both tourist and non-o visas).

So far, neither I or anyone I have heard of have ever had to show it, but ...

DragonStar

Agree with DragonStar, good description, but there was just one thing that might need mentioning:

Maybe they have changed this now, but up until a year ago you had to stop off at the Immigration on the left hand side on the way to the border crossing to get an exit stamp (approx 1.5 kms before the border crossing).

Without the exit stamp you could not pass the border checkpoint.

Is this still the case or has it changed lately?

Yes, things has changed. Believe it or not - those guys actually are capable of reducing the paper work. The last time I were there (2 weeks ago) they had even dropped the requirement that you needed two copies of your passport's data-page. Now you just jump out of the taxi and walk straight to the exit booth - amazing, isn't it?

However, that was 2 weeks ago. You'll never know if this abnormal ease gets revoked. Better get to Maesai early enough to have enough spare time for eventualities.

DragonStar