Mae Sot To Myawaddy

[Tomtomtom69]

Hi,

Is the border from Mae Sot to Myawaddy, Myanmar open to Thais and foreigners at least for day trips? I was in Mae Sot recently although at the time I had no intention of crossing, I do intend on doing so later this month for business, which requires me to make contact with some people on the Burmese side.

When I was there, I noticed the border being quite busy and I counted around 20+ Burmese vehicles inside Mae Sot, which seems to indicate that the border is back open for business, probably also for foreigners not just Burmese. However, could someone confirm if this is the case as I don't want to waste my time trying to cross there if this is not yet the case.

I know that the border directly opposite Three Pagodas Pass in Kanchanaburi province, is not yet officially open for foreigners, although it will open all the way to Yangon once the AEC 2015 agreement comes into effect. Despite the current restrictions, I have crossed into Payathonzu three times recently (unofficially) but most recently as I was returning to the Thai side a Burmese soldier pointed to the border indicating that I should return immediately. Mae Sot being a large town and having a bridge to cross wouldn't allow you to cross unofficially that way unless you waded across the river, which of course would attract the attention of the authorities and would be pretty dumb, however at the Three Pagodas Pass one might not realize that just behind the market area is actually Myanmar territory.

[Dancealot]

Upon entering, passports are confiscated: Visitors are ordered to exit Myawaddy and re-enter the kingdom before 5pm. Period. (6 months ago)

If visitors oblige they will get back their passports..

This happens right here. I had to leave my passport in this building while i was sightseeing Myawaddy.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Dancealot

[Tomtomtom69]

Thanks for your prompt reply! 1 day is all I need. I may need to travel across multiple times, but that would be weeks apart so yeah despite these restrictions as long as crossing is allowed (which you have confirmed it is) then that's fine.

[Dancealot]

Bear in mind. 6 months ago. So i suggest to hold your horses and await a more recent update.

Good luckl

[CP3]

The border is opened.

[tombkk]

What Dancealot did 6 months ago, I did two months ago. Same procedure. You do not need a visa. In fact, I had a visa in my passport because I was flying to Yangon the next week, so I said "don't stamp this" and they said "no, this is an airport visa, we can't use it anyway".

Note that as a "receipt" for the passport I got a self-made plastic card saying only "No. 1", as apparently mine was the first passport they collected that day. Having no official logo or anything, I felt a bit uneasy, but I did get my passport back without problems in the evening.

Note that you can only go to Myawaddy, not further inland. Also, as Dancealot mentioned, you have to be back the same day, before close of office hours.

[tombkk]

Forgot to mention: I travelled with a number of Thai people. For them, the procedure is different. They have to stop at another little office a few hundred meters before the border, show their ID card and get a border pass. The cost was a double-digit figure in Thai Baht.

I also had to pay a fee but forgot how much it was.

[Dancealot]

What Dancealot did 6 months ago, I did two months ago. Same procedure. You do not need a visa. In fact, I had a visa in my passport because I was flying to Yangon the next week, so I said "don't stamp this" and they said "no, this is an airport visa, we can't use it anyway".

Note that as a "receipt" for the passport I got a self-made plastic card saying only "No. 1", as apparently mine was the first passport they collected that day. Having no official logo or anything, I felt a bit uneasy, but I did get my passport back without problems in the evening.

Note that you can only go to Myawaddy, not further inland. Also, as Dancealot mentioned, you have to be back the same day, before close of office hours.

What did yours look like tombkk?

[tombkk]

What Dancealot did 6 months ago, I did two months ago. Same procedure. You do not need a visa. In fact, I had a visa in my passport because I was flying to Yangon the next week, so I said "don't stamp this" and they said "no, this is an airport visa, we can't use it anyway".

Note that as a "receipt" for the passport I got a self-made plastic card saying only "No. 1", as apparently mine was the first passport they collected that day. Having no official logo or anything, I felt a bit uneasy, but I did get my passport back without problems in the evening.

Note that you can only go to Myawaddy, not further inland. Also, as Dancealot mentioned, you have to be back the same day, before close of office hours.

What did yours look like tombkk?

Exactly like that. Anybody could make one just like it in the next photocopy shop.

[Tomtomtom69]

OK so I made the crossing, two days in a row. My business requires me to import some merchandise from inside Myanmar via this crossing, so unlike most other foreigners that travel to Myawaddy, my visits are business related not visa-run related. I will travel to Myawaddy again next week. Only thing that sucks is that $10 is a big price to pay for a lousy 1 day visa (although fortunately my company is picking up the tab). I wouldn't complain if I had to pay $20 like at the Cambodian border if that allowed a proper length stay and full access to the country, but that is probably some way off in the case of Myanmar (hopefully by the time AEC 2015 comes into force, but we'll see).

I made it about 15ish km inside the country just short of the police checkpoint (which is as far as you are allowed to travel unless you have government permission to go further). Very interesting town Myawaddy is and I think the reason for the 6pm return time is a lack of hotels in Myawaddy (Myanmar immigration seemed to confirm this). I counted only about 3 smallish hotels in the whole city, which are at most 2-star and since I went through virtually every road in the city, I am quite sure about this number. This is probably the main reason why they don't allow overnight stays for foreigners (including Thais) yet, even though there are no security related reasons anymore. However, few investors are willing to build the necessary infrastructure that would allow cities like Myawaddy to receive more visitors and not just for day trips.

[Tomtomtom69]

Upon entering, passports are confiscated: Visitors are ordered to exit Myawaddy and re-enter the kingdom before 5pm. Period. (6 months ago)

If visitors oblige they will get back their passports..

This happens right here. I had to leave my passport in this building while i was sightseeing Myawaddy.

Actually, it's 6pm (5.30pm Myanmar time). That's when the border closes and the sign above the office clearly says 6pm, not 5pm. ALso, yesterday when I crossed it was about 5.30pm Thai time and today it was a little after 5pm. A number of other foreigners also crossed back around the same time as me.

Just FYI, always pay in dollars and come with exact change, i.e. either a $10 note or any combination of $1 or $5 notes in good condition (since they might not have change as dollars are not used at all in Myawaddy for anything else). I paid for my 2 entries $10 each time and this was immediately accepted by the Myanmar officials without batting an eyelid. No need to pay the overpriced 500 Baht fee. Bring dollars.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Tomtomtom69

[Dancealot]

Upon entering, passports are confiscated: Visitors are ordered to exit Myawaddy and re-enter the kingdom before 5pm. Period. (6 months ago)

If visitors oblige they will get back their passports..

This happens right here. I had to leave my passport in this building while i was sightseeing Myawaddy.

Actually, it's 6pm (5.30pm Myanmar time). That's when the border closes and the sign above the office clearly says 6pm, not 5pm. ALso, yesterday when I crossed it was about 5.30pm Thai time and today it was a little after 5pm. A number of other foreigners also crossed back around the same time as me.

Just FYI, always pay in dollars and come with exact change, i.e. either a $10 note or any combination of $1 or $5 notes in good condition (since they might not have change as dollars are not used at all in Myawaddy for anything else). I paid for my 2 entries $10 each time and this was immediately accepted by the Myanmar officials without batting an eyelid. No need to pay the overpriced 500 Baht fee. Bring dollars.

Very complete and correct!

[tombkk]

OK so I made the crossing, two days in a row. My business requires me to import some merchandise from inside Myanmar via this crossing, so unlike most other foreigners that travel to Myawaddy, my visits are business related not visa-run related. I will travel to Myawaddy again next week. Only thing that sucks is that $10 is a big price to pay for a lousy 1 day visa (although fortunately my company is picking up the tab). I wouldn't complain if I had to pay $20 like at the Cambodian border if that allowed a proper length stay and full access to the country, but that is probably some way off in the case of Myanmar (hopefully by the time AEC 2015 comes into force, but we'll see).

I made it about 15ish km inside the country just short of the police checkpoint (which is as far as you are allowed to travel unless you have government permission to go further). Very interesting town Myawaddy is and I think the reason for the 6pm return time is a lack of hotels in Myawaddy (Myanmar immigration seemed to confirm this). I counted only about 3 smallish hotels in the whole city, which are at most 2-star and since I went through virtually every road in the city, I am quite sure about this number. This is probably the main reason why they don't allow overnight stays for foreigners (including Thais) yet, even though there are no security related reasons anymore. However, few investors are willing to build the necessary infrastructure that would allow cities like Myawaddy to receive more visitors and not just for day trips.

The lack of hotels is because it is not allowed to stay overnight, not the other way around. Hotels would emerge over night if it were allowed to stay, believe me.

AEC will benefit ASEAN passport holders, not us Westeners.

I hope you are paying import duties for the merchandise you bring into Thailand. If US$ 10 is a high fee for your business, I wonder what business you are in.

Sent from my LG-P698f using Thaivisa Connect App

[Tomtomtom69]

OK so I made the crossing, two days in a row. My business requires me to import some merchandise from inside Myanmar via this crossing, so unlike most other foreigners that travel to Myawaddy, my visits are business related not visa-run related. I will travel to Myawaddy again next week. Only thing that sucks is that $10 is a big price to pay for a lousy 1 day visa (although fortunately my company is picking up the tab). I wouldn't complain if I had to pay $20 like at the Cambodian border if that allowed a proper length stay and full access to the country, but that is probably some way off in the case of Myanmar (hopefully by the time AEC 2015 comes into force, but we'll see).

I made it about 15ish km inside the country just short of the police checkpoint (which is as far as you are allowed to travel unless you have government permission to go further). Very interesting town Myawaddy is and I think the reason for the 6pm return time is a lack of hotels in Myawaddy (Myanmar immigration seemed to confirm this). I counted only about 3 smallish hotels in the whole city, which are at most 2-star and since I went through virtually every road in the city, I am quite sure about this number. This is probably the main reason why they don't allow overnight stays for foreigners (including Thais) yet, even though there are no security related reasons anymore. However, few investors are willing to build the necessary infrastructure that would allow cities like Myawaddy to receive more visitors and not just for day trips.

The lack of hotels is because it is not allowed to stay overnight, not the other way around. Hotels would emerge over night if it were allowed to stay, believe me.

AEC will benefit ASEAN passport holders, not us Westeners.

I hope you are paying import duties for the merchandise you bring into Thailand. If US$ 10 is a high fee for your business, I wonder what business you are in.

Sent from my LG-P698f using Thaivisa Connect App

AEC won't affect migrant labour as they will continue to be treated the same way as they currently are. AEC will create advantages for educated, English speaking, white collar professional foreigners from regional ASEAN countries. On the whole, nothing much will change though although Myanmar will supposedly by that time open numerous overland routes officially that will link the country for the first time from Bangkok to Yangon via an official overland route accessible to all travellers without the need to gain special permission.

Actually not necessarily (about hotels in Myawaddy). As ridiculous as it sounds, this is one of the reasons given (about not being allowed to stay overnight), but additionally the 2 or 3 hotels in Myawaddy are quite substandard and thus not "approved" for lodging just yet. However, with the proper permissions, yes you could stay at one of these hotels, though the vast majority of people that get permission in all likelihood have received permission to travel into the interior of Myanmar and are on their way there or are coming from the interior of Myanmar to Myawaddy.

There is no need to pay any import duties for the goods I am importing, although this is not the kind of forum I want to discuss these matters in especially not with strangers I don't know, suffice to say that everything is completely legal (I took across some samples yesterday in full agreement with the Myanmar authorities).

Yes, $10 is a big price to pay if that had to be paid everyday (think about it, if you cross 10 days in a row that's $100).

ANyway, I have now been granted permission to cross beyond Myawaddy and stay overnight there as I have the contacts to do so (similarly I could stay in Myawaddy overnight if I wish). I also won't have to pay the $10 fee for entry anymore provided I am accompanied by one of these contacts. I won't go into further details about this though as your average tourist won't be given such permission.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Tomtomtom69

[tombkk]

Good for you then.

Please note that at no time was I talking about migrant workers.

[Tomtomtom69]

Well my point is in Myanmar it's about who you know and not about official rules. In the ethnic states you are dealing with the local authorities not with the central government.

Hopefully one day soon they will open up the country and all of this will become history. BTW as part of the Asian single economic area, imports from regional member countries should no longer attract duties (and apparently even now they are supposed to be in the process of being eliminated but by 2015 few duties should remain). In reality currently at least, the situation is a bit fluid, but I laugh when anyone suggests paying official taxes and doing things by the book as happens in the west, as almost no one does that in Myanmar. Vehicles imported from the Thai side to Myanmar are assessed tax rates in the thousands of Baht (negotiable), not hundreds of thousands as you would expect. By the time they end up in Yangon though, yes the price does jump by several hundred thousand Baht or equivalent, but not in border cities.