To Tachilek

[chuang]

Hi there, can Thai nationals allow to cross over the border to Tachilek for a day visit with their passports...without applying for a visit permit....thanks

[mistephenso]

Yes - although they don't even need a passport. Thais can use their ID card to go across into Tachilek for the day...

Just stop off in the Immigration centre on the left hand side (a few hundred meters before the border crossing, when heading towards Burma) and follow the crowds. Last time we went, my wife had to pay 30 baht I think!? Not sure if it has gone up since then, but we will be going tomorrow if you really need to know?

Cheers,

M

[chuang]

Yes - although they don't even need a passport. Thais can use their ID card to go across into Tachilek for the day...

Just stop off in the Immigration centre on the left hand side (a few hundred meters before the border crossing, when heading towards Burma) and follow the crowds. Last time we went, my wife had to pay 30 baht I think!? Not sure if it has gone up since then, but we will be going tomorrow if you really need to know?

Cheers,

M

Thanks...just want to avoid the Q for the pass...

[sceadugenga]

It's a lose lose situation anyway, you take 'em to Burma they shop, you leave 'em in Mae Sai they shop.

[Tomtomtom69]

Since last week Thais and foreigners can enter Myanmar with passports at Tachilek and proceed with a visa to other points inside Myanmar, no need to exit at Tachilek either.

The old system is likely to stay in place too, so if you only want to visit Tachilek, then a border pass for a Thai or a passport with a stamp and a US$10/500 Baht fee is still applicable I believe.

[mistephenso]

It's a lose lose situation anyway, you take 'em to Burma they shop, you leave 'em in Mae Sai they shop.

Well, Mr 'Shadow-Goer', if I take the better half to Burma with me, I will at least know what she is spending (she has no escape there)...!

Leaving her in Mae Sai to shop on her own is a recipe for 'wallet disaster'!

[mistephenso]

Since last week Thais and foreigners can enter Myanmar with passports at Tachilek and proceed with a visa to other points inside Myanmar, no need to exit at Tachilek either.

The old system is likely to stay in place too, so if you only want to visit Tachilek, then a border pass for a Thai or a passport with a stamp and a US$10/500 Baht fee is still applicable I believe.

OK, thanks for the info Tomtomtom69 - is it just a 'visa on arrival' if I wanted to go and tour Burma/Myanmar do you know? Or would you need to apply before bowling up to the border...?

Also, how much is this visa and where does it allow you to travel?

[my friend I]

If you get the usual visa you only get 15 days.'
You can go anywhere but there are different prices for plane tickets for locals only. Burmese pay about 3,000 baht one way to Rangoon.

[sceadugenga]

I know we've gone over this before but let me get it straight...

Visa on arrival is for 15 days?

Or is that from the embassy?

And that will take you through the Shan states?, KengTung?

As far up as Lashio?

[my friend I]

When you walk over to Burma you usually get the one day.

Tell them you are staying longer and you get 15 days. You can go anywhere and you no longer have to exit back to MaeSai.

If you go to the embassy you get a month {I think].

There are westerners flying from Rangoon to Tachiliek and exiting to Mae Sai.

[sceadugenga]

Thank you.

[Asiantravel]

When you walk over to Burma you usually get the one day.

Tell them you are staying longer and you get 15 days. You can go anywhere and you no longer have to exit back to MaeSai.

If you go to the embassy you get a month {I think].

There are westerners flying from Rangoon to Tachiliek and exiting to Mae Sai.

I am not saying I don't believe you, but this does not sound correct?

Without a visa you usually have to deposit your passport and in return they give you a brown coloured card with your photograph that you must keep with you in lieu of the passport.

Yes you can have up to 15 days with this but it was my clear understanding that you can only travel a very limited distance from the border with this card.

If you are now saying you can " go anywhere " can you please advise where you got this information and can be read in some kind of official document?

[my friend I]

^

This used to be the case but it changed about 2 months ago. The problem in Tachilek is the travel agents are unaware of these new rules and its difficult to buy a plane ticket.

Also they are still trying to have a guide included in any travel. I can't find out for sure if this is still needed officially. The guy in Mae Sai who used to do guide work was banned from doing it any more coz he was getting drunk and tourists were wandering off on their own.

The info about this is googleable.

[sceadugenga]

We need to get up a ThaiVisa.com expedition and head off into what appears to be the great unknown.

[harrry]

We need to get up a ThaiVisa.com expedition and head off into what appears to be the great unknown.

But then we may have some right answers here

[sceadugenga]

More exciting to see for yourself than read about it Harrry.

I've been talking about a trip over there for years. Maybe it will happen when the weather gets a little less wet.

[harrry]

More exciting to see for yourself than read about it Harrry.

I've been talking about a trip over there for years. Maybe it will happen when the weather gets a little less wet.

Don't I know it sceadugenga.

[CP3]

15 days pass is not VOA. And you will have to leave your passport as usual.

There ain't any VOA there. You will have to get a VISA ready before you go in from border and come out from like Ygn,Mdy,NPT or other borders.

[ARGUSEYE]

http://www.myanmartravelsandtours.com/tourist-information.htm

These are the people who call the shots on where you are allowed to go.

It clearly says about Eastern Shan State:

Only the corridor to Keng Tung and Mong Lar, and by air to Mandalay. No Taunggi.

[ARGUSEYE]

http://www.myanmartravelsandtours.com/tourist-information.htm

These are the people who call the shots on where you are allowed to go.

It clearly says about Eastern Shan State:

Only the corridor to Keng Tung and Mong Lar, and by air to Mandalay. No Taunggi.

Oh I just saw, they don't even state Mong Lar anymore!

[Tomtomtom69]

Since last week Thais and foreigners can enter Myanmar with passports at Tachilek and proceed with a visa to other points inside Myanmar, no need to exit at Tachilek either.

The old system is likely to stay in place too, so if you only want to visit Tachilek, then a border pass for a Thai or a passport with a stamp and a US$10/500 Baht fee is still applicable I believe.

OK, thanks for the info Tomtomtom69 - is it just a 'visa on arrival' if I wanted to go and tour Burma/Myanmar do you know? Or would you need to apply before bowling up to the border...?

Also, how much is this visa and where does it allow you to travel?

Visas on arrival may become available by the end of the year or next year at the 4 recently opened checkpoints, including Tachilek. However for now, if you want to tour Myanmar, you'll need a Myanmar visa in advance, obtainable from the embassy in Bangkok for 860 Baht for normal 3 day processing, more if you want to get it more quickly. Of course you can also pay a travel agent in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai to get it on your behalf for an extra fee, without needing to travel to Bangkok.

A visa in advance allows you to travel wherever you want, with the exception of restricted areas (you may thus have to fly from Kengtung to Taunggyi, but you can then travel overland all the way to exit Myanmar at Myawaddy for Mae Sot in Tak province. Thus, I wouldn't get the 14 day visa on arrival, which is only valid for eastern Shan State (assuming that system is still in place).

[Tomtomtom69]

When you walk over to Burma you usually get the one day.

Tell them you are staying longer and you get 15 days. You can go anywhere and you no longer have to exit back to MaeSai.

If you go to the embassy you get a month {I think].

There are westerners flying from Rangoon to Tachiliek and exiting to Mae Sai.

I am not saying I don't believe you, but this does not sound correct?

Without a visa you usually have to deposit your passport and in return they give you a brown coloured card with your photograph that you must keep with you in lieu of the passport.

Yes you can have up to 15 days with this but it was my clear understanding that you can only travel a very limited distance from the border with this card.

If you are now saying you can " go anywhere " can you please advise where you got this information and can be read in some kind of official document?

On this very forum there is a very useful Myanmar portal. Read it and get the right answers there.

[blorg]

Visas on arrival may become available by the end of the year or next year at the 4 recently opened checkpoints

 

Tom, are you sure about the fourth checkpoint? Which one is it? Three Pagoda Pass or Ban Phu Nam Ron near Kachanaburi? To the best of my knowledge the only border crossing points foreigners could go across, at least while getting an actual stamp, were Mae Sai, Mae Sot and Ranong.

As to Tachileik the situation is that you can enter keeping your passport and go on where you like and leave from another border IF you have a visa obtained in advance from an embassy. No visas are available at the border.

The 15-day border pass available at the border for $10/500B is still only valid for Tachileik, not the rest of Shan State. To the best of my knowledge you still need a guide, and a different pass, to go on up to Kengtung if arriving without a visa (I asked at immigration yesterday if I could go to Kengtung and told, no, only Tachileik.)