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[Lite Beer]

Holiday makers flock to Thai-Burmese border in Chiang Rai

CHIANG RAI, 31 July 2015 (NNT) – The Asanha Puja and Buddhist Lent holiday has stimulated economic activity in the border province of Chiang Rai.

The Mae Sai- Tha Khilek border point in Mae Sai District is packed with vehicles, shoppers and tourists crossing the border to Myanmar. The border market is always a popular destination for visitors looking for affordable products imported from nearby countries.

Aside from inexpensive goods, what has made the Mae Sai- Tha Khilek border crossing a must-see spot for vacationers is the scenery of Myanmar and Thailand which gives it an exotic feel.

It is expected that the border trade during the long holiday will generate at least 10 million baht in turnover.

-- NNT 2015-07-31

[Tomtomtom69]

It would be good if Myanmar could get it's act together and open up the country more. Although one can now travel to Myanmar by land crossing Mae Sai to Tachilek, in order to travel further into the interior of the country, a flight must be taken from either Tachilek, or Kengtung, 160km north. This is because of restricted road route 4, which up until recently was full of bandits. I asked around and indications are that the bandits are now gone, yet the road still can't be traversed without a permit by foreigners?

And while you could drive your Thai car up to Mong La on the Chinese border without pre-approval a few years back, now the whiney Burmese car drivers have succeeded in preventing that too, because you won't be allowed to leave Tachilek with your Thai car unless you go on a tour.

So much for ASEAN integration. The Thai border town of Mae Sai is still "the end of the road" so to speak, because you can't really drive any further than this. It's as if nothing has changed over the last 15 years since I've been going there, except that security is now better on the Burmese side.

The Mae Sai-Tachilek checkpoint is NOT a must-see for vacationers. It's a visa-run point for expat foreigners who live in Thailand and a place to go shopping for Chinese-made rubbish for both Thais and expat foreigners. Thais generally have no interest of going further inside Myanmar than the border market. Again, no different to anytime in the past.

[Bardeh]

I really can't see people making the trip to Mae Sai / Tachilek for the shopping. It seems to me that the same cheap Chinese knockoffs are for sale on both sides of the border at pretty much the exact same price.

[sceadugenga]

It's amazing how many people go there, on weekends there are double decker buses lined up with shoppers.

The Burmese side has all the pirate stuff... DVDs, clothes etc plus tobacco products and various pills.

[Bardeh]

I have to go today to activate my next visa entry. Fingers crossed the rain will keep people away, I don't fancy standing in a queue in this weather!

[Bardeh]

It was pretty quiet yesterday, there was no queue and I was done in less than ten minutes.

I do have a question, though, about the beggars that sit on the bridge with their children. How is it that those kids are ALWAYS asleep? Do they give them sedatives or something? It's extremely depressing to see them every time I go

[sceadugenga]

Boredom?

Sometimes there's quite a few there and other days you don't see one.

Maybe the beggars rent them from the parents for the day, I remember there was woman who begged under the SkyTrain station on lower Sukhumvit Road who seemed to have a different pair everyday.