You have friends coming in who want to cross into Myanmar at Mae Sai and want you to go with them - but you have a long term visa and don't want to loose months by getting just one month's extension on returning into Thailand.

This is how you go about it:

Bring with you a photo copy of the vital parts of your passport (visa and arrival, TM, card). Thai immigration will then retain your passport and duly process the copy. You pay B 100 and proceed to the Myanmar immigration where you pay the usual B 250 and leave your passport copy with them. This you retrieve on going back, and then you of course pick your passport up where you left it on the Thai side.

Very decent of Thai immigration to tell me this, I think, as I was prepared to "loose" more than a month by crossing with my friends.

That's alot to go through for fake marlboros, and sqny polystations.

Good info to know though. Thanks.

cv

Expensive, but a re-entry permit obviates any problem with the term of your long stay extention.