Visa Run To Mae Sai?

[Ormgard]

Anybody going to Mae Sai in the coming week, April 24 or 26-28?

Alternatively, where can I find minibus which goes there and heads back once the formalities are completed? If you take the VIP bus there and back, you have to hang about in Mae Sai för three hours, which I would like to avoid.

[jackr]

Fastest and cheap way is to rent a Honda 400, if you know what you're doing.

[Ajarn]

From another forum...

"I bhought my ticket at the same place where i used to go by the safary tour mini bus but now they also have the mini bus just go straight to Mae Sai and then back to CM.

Not really sure about the name ..maybe something PM..just before 7/11 or Minimart near Tha Phe Gate( before you make a left to Ratchadamneun Rd to AUA).Still 600 bath/person.

Hope its help.." (sic)

[MichaelShort]

Well mate,

Personally I always rent a car since I think the mini-bus drivers cant drive, at least some of them. It is same with the big buses.

I feel it's much safer to drive myself, but still of course that doesnt guarantee anything. Now also the petrol start to be really expensive. Maybe the cheapest way is to rent a big bike.

Unfortunately I just come back from Mae Sai I should had posted my trip maybe since I go every month.

Cheers

Michael

[el jefe]

imho, the VIP bus from the Arcade station is the way to go. It's big, roomy and comfortable -- 8 rows of reclining seats and only 3 across. It's much more comfortable than the typical mini-van. Bring a book or take a nap. How to kill the 3 hours? Have lunch in Tachilek. Go shopping for fake cigarettes, fake sunglasses, and playing cards.

[cdnvic]

How to kill the 3 hours? Have lunch in Tachilek.

30min eating, 2.5hrs getting shots for your gastrointeritis

Do your immune system a favour and eat in Mae Sai. Heard too many incidents of dodgy food on the other side. A friend of ours who lives there told us semi-jokingly that the rats in Tachilek sneak over to Mae Sai at night because they're afraid to eat there too.

Aside from smokes, most things are cheaper on the Thai side, as thats where much of the stock being sold on the burmese side comes from. The shopkeepers also tend to be a bit more honest in the Thai markets.

cv

[Ajarn]

Aside from smokes, most things are cheaper on the Thai side, as thats where much of the stock being sold on the burmese side comes from. The shopkeepers also tend to be a bit more honest in the Thai markets.

Cheaper? Then why do Mae Sai people shop in Tachilek? I can't think of one thing that's cheaper on the Thai side... And most items sold in Tachilek do not come from Thailand, but from Burma and China, as far as I can see. And I can see no reason to suggest Thai shopkeepers are more honest than Burmese shopkeepers. How much shopping do you do in either place?

[Ormgard]

From another forum...

"I bhought my ticket at the same place where i used to go by the safary tour mini bus but now they also have the mini bus just go straight to Mae Sai and then back to CM.

Not really sure about the name ..maybe something PM..just before 7/11 or Minimart near Tha Phe Gate( before you make a left to Ratchadamneun Rd to AUA).Still 600 bath/person.

Hope its help.." (sic)

Thanks, Ajarn - but on which road, do you think?? And which side of Tha Phe Gate? Oh, I see, on the inner side of the canal?

I hear that electronic and computer goods are much cheaper on the Tachilek side - but you've got to know what you're doing. Also interesting DVDs are supposedly found in a couple of shops a block north of the market. Walk to the round-about and turn right.

[Ajarn]

From another forum...

"I bhought my ticket at the same place where i used to go by the safary tour mini bus but now they also have the mini bus just go straight to Mae Sai and then back to CM.

Not really sure about the name ..maybe something PM..just before 7/11 or Minimart near Tha Phe Gate( before you make a left to Ratchadamneun Rd to AUA).Still 600 bath/person.

Hope its help.." (sic)

Thanks, Ajarn - but on which road, do you think?? And which side of Tha Phe Gate? Oh, I see, on the inner side of the canal?

I hear that electronic and computer goods are much cheaper on the Tachilek side - but you've got to know what you're doing. Also interesting DVDs are supposedly found in a couple of shops a block north of the market. Walk to the round-about and turn right.

On Moon Muang, between the Beer Bar center and the Montri

[Maejo Man]

Unfortunately I just come back from Mae Sai I should had posted my trip maybe since I go every month.

Cheers

Michael

Likewise, and I did post that I was doing a day trip for some shopping. One forum member took me up on the offer, and we had a very pleasant trip.

I will post prior to my next trip..MM

[jackr]

From another forum...

"I bhought my ticket at the same place where i used to go by the safary tour mini bus but now they also have the mini bus just go straight to Mae Sai and then back to CM.

Not really sure about the name ..maybe something PM..just before 7/11 or Minimart near Tha Phe Gate( before you make a left to Ratchadamneun Rd to AUA).Still 600 bath/person.

Hope its help.." (sic)

Also interesting DVDs are supposedly found in a couple of shops a block north of the market.

For a country that frowns on that type of material, I'd feel slightly apprehensive walking back in with it

[Ajarn]

From another forum...

"I bhought my ticket at the same place where i used to go by the safary tour mini bus but now they also have the mini bus just go straight to Mae Sai and then back to CM.

Not really sure about the name ..maybe something PM..just before 7/11 or Minimart near Tha Phe Gate( before you make a left to Ratchadamneun Rd to AUA).Still 600 bath/person.

Hope its help.." (sic)

Also interesting DVDs are supposedly found in a couple of shops a block north of the market.

For a country that frowns on that type of material, I'd feel slightly apprehensive walking back in with it

Yeah, one might think that, but I have seen a farang offer some up to customs, only to have them politely handed back... And I've read a few similar stories here...

But, all that can change in an instant, can't it?

[Griffin]

It's a pleasent day all round. You can kill an hour or so taking a three wheel motor bike around the temples and wats just outside of town.

As for dvds, I have never had a problem. My record was 30ish all stuffed into my back pack.

I think the smokes may be fake, so they could be nasty chemical ridden sticks of dooooom!.....hang on a minute. You get my point!

The only sign that the border staff are doing anything is when they ask you to show 10k.

[jackr]

From another forum...

"I bhought my ticket at the same place where i used to go by the safary tour mini bus but now they also have the mini bus just go straight to Mae Sai and then back to CM.

Not really sure about the name ..maybe something PM..just before 7/11 or Minimart near Tha Phe Gate( before you make a left to Ratchadamneun Rd to AUA).Still 600 bath/person.

Hope its help.." (sic)

Also interesting DVDs are supposedly found in a couple of shops a block north of the market.

For a country that frowns on that type of material, I'd feel slightly apprehensive walking back in with it

Yeah, one might think that, but I have seen a farang offer some up to customs, only to have them politely handed back... And I've read a few similar stories here...

But, all that can change in an instant, can't it?

Wouldn't surprise me.

Talking about the food problem on the other side, I've eaten at the busy restaurant on the river on the Thai side before now and that was awful. There's one or two guesthouses 100m or so parallel to and going against the river on the Thai side, just past the market stalls - John's or Joe's or something, had really good grub.

[el jefe]

Rabieng Kaew (150 meters heading south from the bridge, on the right) has the best food in Mae Sai, imho. However, I've only been there for dinner and I'm not sure they're open for lunch. I've never had a bad lunch in Tachilek, but unfortunately don't know the names of any of the places I've tried. None of them are within 1/2 km of the bridge.

[Ormgard]

Rabieng Kaew (150 meters heading south from the bridge, on the right) has the best food in Mae Sai, imho. However, I've only been there for dinner and I'm not sure they're open for lunch. I've never had a bad lunch in Tachilek, but unfortunately don't know the names of any of the places I've tried. None of them are within 1/2 km of the bridge.

Do you mean Rabieng Kaew is on the right side of Th. Phahonyothin, the main street, heading south,

i e with your back to the bridge? I never saw anything on that side that close to the bridge except shops.