Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


	S.P. Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 11/1 Soi 3 Bamrungburi Rd., T. Prasingh, A. Muang., Chiang Mai 50200 Tel. 053 - 814 455-6 Fax. 053 - 814 457 E-mail: guidelin@loxinfo.co.th

UP TO THE MAE SAI BORDER AND ACROSS TO TACHILEK
More Than Just a Visa Run

Text & Images : Tom Paine

Immigration check

Many tourists and denizens of Chiang Mai set off for Mae Sai with the singular purpose in mind - of hopping across the Thai-Burmese( Myanmar) bridge at the border, just to renew their visa. Known as the visa-run, the trip consists of bussing up to the border, getting stamped out of Thailand, then crossing the bridge to the little-explored Burmese side with a visa for the day.

That done, most of Chiang Mai's expat community turn around almost immediately and head back into Thailand, as if there's nothing much to see and do the other side, and with only scant curiosity about exploring the attractions of the border town.

But they're missing something.

The Mae Sai -Thachilek border is an important nexus of trade with almost non-stop ferrying of consumer goods imported from the Thai side. And coming the other way are Burmese gems, cigars, cosmetics, pirate music DVDs and cheap Chinese electronics.

But like many Thai border zones, smuggling is a major undercurrent of the trading boom. Narcotics, gems, and people travel this important illegal trafficking route, with many Burmese girls and women, sold to Chinese and Thai syndicates, ending up in brothels or working as sweated labour in factories.

Not that visitors to the border are likely to notice this. But the fact is that while tourists in their millions flock every year to all corners of Thailand, Burma's grim human rights record, including the use of forced labour, has made the military regime an international pariah, and deters any real take-off of Burma's vastly diverse and largely untapped tourist potential.

Those who tarry longer in Tachilek can soon become absorbed in the various attractions of this small border town, which include a sprawling open-air market, Buddhist temples, duty free shops and the opportunity to get a glimpse of Burmese culture.

As to the practicalities, upon arrival in Mae Sai you don't need any assistance in finding your way to the Burmese border. The imposing edifice of the newly-built Thai immigration and customs office at the very end of the Chiang Rai - Mae Sae main road, is impossible to miss.

Upon being stamped out of Thailand, you cross the bridge and enter Burma (or Myanmar, as the military junta prefer to call it). Roughly half-way over the bridge a small office on the right houses Burmese immigration, where you're offered a one-entry pass for $5 (B. 250) or a limited 10-day visa for $10.

As you proceed to the end of the bridge various signs welcome you to the `City of the Golden Triangle' - so-named as the corner where the borders of three countries that engaged in the opium/heroin trade meet - Burma, Laos and Thailand. Of the three, Thailand eradicated most of its opium cultivation during the 1980s, and Laos has recently been pressured by the US government to follow suit. And towards the end of the bridge, you get to see a sign proclaiming Burma's narcotics suppression campaign.

On my first visit up here, I ran into one of the few freelance guides around town with a good command of English. Nicknamed `Slim' - real name Zaw Tun - he's a native of Mamyo, a hill station north of Mandalay, and fondly recalls his modest contribution to building up the Lonely Planet travel guide business back in the 1960s. In those days, Tony Wheeler, the founder-publisher and highly successful entrepreneur, was a humble backpack explorer and writer. All the information in the first edition of Lonely Planet Burma about Mamyo apparently came from the lips of Slim (whom you might be able to contact at 12/15 Phonetun St. c/o Star Cafe in Tachilek).

He offers two services as a tour guide. First to show people around the places of interest in the border town, and secondly to arrange trips into Shan State as far as Mongla on the Chinese border.

Tachilek Market on the right side of the bridge hosts an eclectic range of Burmese, Thai, Chinese and hilltribe ethnic goods and products. First you are bound to be accosted as you walk around by individuals trying to flog dubious cartoons of 200 cigarettes, porn videos, and packs of cards based on the CIA's order of battle in the Iraq War - Saddam Hussein's face is the Ace of Spades. And there are a host of other curios and artifacts on offer, as you'll quickly find out.

With China being a major trading partner of Burma, and the Chinese frontier only 8 hours away by road at Mongla, it's no surprise to see the market bristling with cheap electronics, sound systems, MP3 players, TVs and radios, all made in China.

If like this writer you happen to be searching for a quality Sony short-wave 12-band radio to listen to the BBC World Service, you will surely be disappointed. Brand names like 'Sonny'(instead of Sony) and a host of other allegedly 12-band cheap radios only provide an erratic reception. Why the authentic Sony model is not available is a mystery, as it is also made in China under license from Sony in Japan.

There is also no shortage of Chinese shops selling silk garments, clothes, shoes, foodstuffs, liquor, and herbal medicine.

Accommodation is a bit on the scanty side, with an abandoned hotel, closed by the generals after a bomb went off nearby some years back, as a forlorn indication of what might have been. If you want to stay the night and do your trip back to Chiang Mai the following morning, you might find more on offer on the Mae Sai side. Alternatively, the Regina & Golf Club, opened about 4-5 years ago, located in San Saitai village in Tachilek, about 4 km from Chiang Rai's Mae Sai checkpoint, also has some (rather pricy) rooms. The casino, equipped with a gambling room with 50 slot machines, a restaurant, a 50-room hotel and a golf course, is jointly run by a group of Thai businessmen and politicians. It attracts about 50-100 gamblers daily.

However, there's more to Tachilek than a one-day visa-run curiosity. If you've got the time, it can also be the gateway to Kengtung and Shan State.

Recently, the Burmese authorities partially opened up the Tachilek route to tourists, so that it now provides an alternative to flying into to the capital, Rangoon. That's the good news. The bad news is your itinerary is heavily restricted and strictly enforced. In fact you are issued a one-week voucher costing $10, rather than a visa. This allows travel only to what's on the main route to Kengtung, and beyond to Mongla at the Chinese frontier. Just to make sure you don't stray far off the authorised route, Myanmar's immigration officials keep your passport until you return.

However despite all the limitations, Kengtung, built around a picturesque lake and formerly a centre of the ancient kingdom of Lanna, is well worth a visit.

It's a 4-hour drive away through the pleasant rolling hills and forests of Shan State on a surprisingly good road. Foreigners have no choice of transport. It's illegal to travel on the slow public buses. But taxis from Tachilek can be shared and it usually works out at around 1,000 baht per head for a minimum of four passengers (in this part of Burma, the Thai baht is more welcome than US dollars).

But to come back to Tachilek and the return to Thailand - don't neglect your chance to do some duty-free shopping. You'll see the official duty-free shop on the bridge almost opposite the Burmese immigration office. Among the bargain offers is wine from Bulgaria and Chile at around B.200 per bottle, and Bulgarian cognac - not perhaps a match for Courvoisier but certainly drinkable. Something to enjoy on the bus-ride back, perhaps.