įrom our homestay in Chiang Rai we got a local tuk tuk to the Chiang Rai Bus Station.Īt the Chiang Rai bus station it is easy to find the buses heading to Mae Sai. Instead, we left the car in Chiang Rai and started our 24 hour journey from there. This is the fun part! We had rented a car in Thailand that we had for three weeks (through ) though couldn’t cross the border by car. You can read more about our time in Tachileik here. There are some temples to see in Tachileik, and options for eating Burmese food. Tachileik is renowned for cheap, counterfeit goods, of which you will be offered immediately on arrival in Myanmar. A lot of locals making the crossing in either direction are crossing the border to buy or sell goods. And you can great people in either Burmese (‘ mingalabar’) or Thai (everyone speaks Thai). Thai bhat is the de facto currency in Tacheliek. Women and men walking around in longyi (sarongs) and with their faces painted with thanaka (a natural beauty product made from grinding the bark of a tree).įor years, Tachileik was the main overland border crossing point, and so the town is large in size compared to many Asian border crossing towns.

As soon as you arrive in Mae Sai, on the Thailand side of the border, you will see Burmese culture. Tachileik is the closest town to the border in the Shan State of eastern Myanmar. About Tachileik and entering Myanmar at this border The streets of Tachileik are easy to explore on foot. But you can cross the border, and with a few tips you can be more prepared. You cannot use this border crossing to enter Myanmar and continue forward travel within the country. With this style of ‘ visa run‘ border crossing (regardless of whether or not you are actually needing to renew your Thai visa) you cannot leave the Tachileik area within Myanmar. The rules as we understood them at the time are as strict as they are subject to change.

Entering Myanmar (Tachileik border side)īased on our experience (in June 2019) it is possible to cross the border between Thailand and Myanmar as a day trip, without a visa for Myanmar.

And there is no shortage of conflicting information to read through online when you do start researching if this border crossing is possible at the time of your visit.īut, if you are in Northern Thailand and have a desire to touch your feet onto Burmese soil or are curious about food and/or culture in Myanmar and want an available glimpse (or, if you are counting countries based on passport stamps), the Mae Sai to Tachileik crossing is possible as a foreigner. However, the concept of visa runs between Thailand and Myanmar is one that is subject to change at short notice. And so in theory, popping over the border into Myanmar for the day in order to be stamped in and out of Thailand is reasonably straightforward. Location-wise, the close(ish) proximity of Mae Sai to Chiang Mai (the largest city in Northern Thailand) makes the border crossing a convenient visa run for travellers in Thailand. Crossing overland at Mae Sai border is a popular border run from Thailand as you can enter into Myanmar without a visa if you are entering back into Thailand on the same day.

The Tachileik border crossing is located near Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand, some 250km north of Chiang Mai.

Sai thai