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[jetzie]

Anyone knows what time does the Lotus Maesai open?

[halfhead]

jetzie, on 2009-09-10 20:03:29, said:

Anyone knows what time does the Lotus Maesai open?

The one in Meachan opens at 9.00

[Donnyboy]

what is the state of the main rd up to Mae Sai like at the moment with the reports of mudslides etc? Doing a visa run early next week. Thanks.

[sceadugenga]

I'd be amazed if the Chiang Rai/Mae Sai road was ever cut by mudslides.
Be having a run up there myself, possibly Monday so I'll report back.

[Donnyboy]

what a great visa run
left CM @ 8am, no problems and sign of any rain. Took 3 hours to Mae Sai, no waiting at either passport control, stopped in @ Charin for lunch on the return leg, traffic very light. No mud or puddles to be seen.

[sceadugenga]

Thanks for that mate, I'm off there tomorrow myself.

[Cobrabiker]

Is there a limit on the border run for a 15 days' visa? I read it some where, thought it was up to a max of 4 times back to back, just want to be sure.

[sceadugenga]

Go to the Visas subforum mate, it will be discussed there. I've seen a few comments on this elsewhere and at the moment it only seems to be happening at the Vientiane Embassy.
I was in Mae Sai yesterday but I'm not using visa exemptions so cannot help you.

[Cobrabiker]

What are the attractions at MongLa and Kengtung? Any red light district? Karaok or whatever? Never been there yet, but like to know more.

[sceadugenga]

There's a couple of guys here know the area.
My take on it is that it's pretty much hills tribes tourism country.
Bear in mind that it's not as civilised as Thailand and keep out of trouble.

[Fishenough]

jetzie, on 2009-09-03 02:50:59, said:

I'll be bring my parents to cross the borders of Maesai/Tachilek next month.
We would arrive at the Maesai bus station around 7.30am in the morning, i figured that we should get some place for a good meal and chill out till mid morning before crossing the borders.

Any suggestions so early in the morning?

Why not considering spending the night in a guest house? A couple guest houses in Chiang Rai are just great for the 200 Baht a night.

[brahmburgers]

Cobrabiker, on 2009-10-20 11:13:48, said:

What are the attractions at MongLa and Kengtung? Any red light district? Karaok or whatever? Never been there yet, but like to know more.

I visited Keng Tung several months ago. It was ok. Found a couple r.l. places, but they weren't at all farang friendly, and I tend to blend in reasonably well at such abodes.

for a guest house, I recommend; Harry's, north of town about 1.5 clicks.
They rent motorbikes. It's cheap, friendly, and has modest b'fast included. If you go there, check out how each building on the property is a different architectural type.

It's said that you can't leave town because of internal check points at the west, east and south roads of the city. Only north is open hwy. However, I was able to cruise in and out on any road I picked without hassles.

Haven't yet seen Mongala. Heard it's not so farang friendly, as it's quite Chinese oriented.

[el jefe]

brahmburgers, on 2009-11-26 10:35:46, said:

Cobrabiker, on 2009-10-20 11:13:48, said:

What are the attractions at MongLa and Kengtung? Any red light district? Karaok or whatever? Never been there yet, but like to know more.

I visited Keng Tung several months ago. It was ok. Found a couple r.l. places, but they weren't at all farang friendly, and I tend to blend in reasonably well at such abodes.

for a guest house, I recommend; Harry's, north of town about 1.5 clicks.
They rent motorbikes. It's cheap, friendly, and has modest b'fast included. If you go there, check out how each building on the property is a different architectural type.

It's said that you can't leave town because of internal check points at the west, east and south roads of the city. Only north is open hwy. However, I was able to cruise in and out on any road I picked without hassles.

Haven't yet seen Mongala. Heard it's not so farang friendly, as it's quite Chinese oriented.

Posts 194 and 196 have plenty of info on Mongla (and Kyiang Tung) but, basically, since the Chinese run casino closed, there's no reason to go.
I'm still waiting for Chief Monkey to explain, as promised, how he got around all the checkpoints and was able to visit anyplace he wanted to between Kyiangtung and Tachilek.

Edited by el jefe, 2009-11-28 15:29:27.

[brahmburgers]

el jefe, on 2009-11-28 15:27:10, said:

brahmburgers, on 2009-11-26 10:35:46, said:

Cobrabiker, on 2009-10-20 11:13:48, said:

What are the attractions at MongLa and Kengtung? Any red light district? Karaok or whatever? Never been there yet, but like to know more.

I visited Keng Tung several months ago. It was ok. Found a couple r.l. places, but they weren't at all farang friendly, and I tend to blend in reasonably well at such abodes.

for a guest house, I recommend; Harry's, north of town about 1.5 clicks.
They rent motorbikes. It's cheap, friendly, and has modest b'fast included. If you go there, check out how each building on the property is a different architectural type.

It's said that you can't leave town because of internal check points at the west, east and south roads of the city. Only north is open hwy. However, I was able to cruise in and out on any road I picked without hassles.

Haven't yet seen Mongala. Heard it's not so farang friendly, as it's quite Chinese oriented.

I'm still waiting for Chief Monkey to explain, as promised, how he got around all the checkpoints and was able to visit anyplace he wanted to between Kyiangtung and Tachilek.

Is someone calling me 'Chief Monkey'? Is El Jefe (the boss) giving me that a moniker for having slipped around internal Burmese checkpoints? Or is there someone else who does the same. It sounds rather derogatory. Is El Jefe jealous of such antics? Or perhaps he see monkeys as somehow more wiley than their destructive cousins, a.k.a. humans. Because of the moniker, I won't divulge my methods, though I will add that a week ago I crossed in to and back out of Burma without paying a satang to border guards. I'm also probably the first falang to cross over and back on the new 'friendship Bridge' which is 2 miles east of the Mae Sai bridge. Though that boast is not connected with the previous boast of going in and out of Burma without paying money (or getting any imm stamps)

BTW, any farang who wants to fly to other parts of Burma, outside of Shan State, can do so out of Tachilek. They'll need a full-fledged visa (from Burmese embassy in Bkk, etc) to do so. A border crossing visa at Tachilek won't cut the mustard.

[el jefe]

brahmburgers, on 2009-12-05 09:13:25, said:

el jefe, on 2009-11-28 15:27:10, said:

brahmburgers, on 2009-11-26 10:35:46, said:

Cobrabiker, on 2009-10-20 11:13:48, said:

What are the attractions at MongLa and Kengtung? Any red light district? Karaok or whatever? Never been there yet, but like to know more.

I visited Keng Tung several months ago. It was ok. Found a couple r.l. places, but they weren't at all farang friendly, and I tend to blend in reasonably well at such abodes.

for a guest house, I recommend; Harry's, north of town about 1.5 clicks.
They rent motorbikes. It's cheap, friendly, and has modest b'fast included. If you go there, check out how each building on the property is a different architectural type.

It's said that you can't leave town because of internal check points at the west, east and south roads of the city. Only north is open hwy. However, I was able to cruise in and out on any road I picked without hassles.

Haven't yet seen Mongala. Heard it's not so farang friendly, as it's quite Chinese oriented.

I'm still waiting for Chief Monkey to explain, as promised, how he got around all the checkpoints and was able to visit anyplace he wanted to between Kyiangtung and Tachilek.

Is someone calling me 'Chief Monkey'? Is El Jefe (the boss) giving me that a moniker for having slipped around internal Burmese checkpoints? Or is there someone else who does the same. It sounds rather derogatory. Is El Jefe jealous of such antics? Or perhaps he see monkeys as somehow more wiley than their destructive cousins, a.k.a. humans. Because of the moniker, I won't divulge my methods, though I will add that a week ago I crossed in to and back out of Burma without paying a satang to border guards. I'm also probably the first falang to cross over and back on the new 'friendship Bridge' which is 2 miles east of the Mae Sai bridge. Though that boast is not connected with the previous boast of going in and out of Burma without paying money (or getting any imm stamps)

BTW, any farang who wants to fly to other parts of Burma, outside of Shan State, can do so out of Tachilek. They'll need a full-fledged visa (from Burmese embassy in Bkk, etc) to do so. A border crossing visa at Tachilek won't cut the mustard.

Someone named "Chief Monkey" has posted several times to this thread. He promised to post info, something you are promising not to do. Your boasts are meaningless.

[chang35baht]

[my friend I]

Cobrabiker, on 2009-09-29 22:42:17, said:

Is there a limit on the border run for a 15 days' visa? I read it some where, thought it was up to a max of 4 times back to back, just want to be sure.

They will write on your passport when you are done. The amount of times seem to vary from person to person.

[brahmburgers]

el jefe, on 2009-12-05 21:37:27, said:

Someone named "Chief Monkey" has posted several times to this thread. He promised to post info, something you are promising not to do. Your boasts are meaningless.

ok, I didn't know about a poster named 'Chief Monkey.' So there's at least one other nut who does that, interesting. BTW, I never promised to do, or not do anything. Boasts are boasts. They're not meant to have meaning. If it doesn't jingle your bells, then so be it. Perhaps if I boasted I shot a 67 at Waterford yesterday, that would have meaning for you, if you're a golf nut. So happens, I don't play golf. I climb rocks instead.

[el jefe]

brahmburgers, on 2009-12-09 09:00:13, said:

ok, I didn't know about a poster named 'Chief Monkey.' So there's at least one other nut who does that, interesting. BTW, I never promised to do, or not do anything. Boasts are boasts. They're not meant to have meaning. If it doesn't jingle your bells, then so be it. Perhaps if I boasted I shot a 67 at Waterford yesterday, that would have meaning for you, if you're a golf nut. So happens, I don't play golf. I climb rocks instead.

Great. We're in total agreement then.

[anonymouse]

Just did my visa run to Mai Sai over the weekend and stayed overnight for a change, it wasn't a bad night to stay as they are holding walking street markets this December with a lot of stalls selling a good variety of food it beats sitting in a grotty hotel room with the latest Grisham anyway.
The next one is the 4th weekend in December.

[sceadugenga]

Thanks mousey, sounds like an interesting stopover.

[kandahar]

Just returned from an overnighter in Mae Sai. They have moved some desks around in the immigration office, added some chairs and have an intern or newbie working the 90 day desk. Have an old hand sitting at the desk next to her for the harder questions. Things went smooth, as usual, but the office is a little crowded with the extra furniture.

The Thai locals that previously got the forms for a crossover into Burma at the border office now have to report to the same immigration building that the expats have to go to. They closed the little office at the border that used to handle the papers for the Thais wanting to cross over for a little shopping. Maybe that is old news. I dunno. We don't cross very often. The wife was surprised and decided to forego the crossing since we had just come from the immigration office to take care of my business and she didn't want to go back there.

The Piyaporn Place Hotel in Mae Sai has dropped the English language TV movie channel and replaced it with an Indian language movie channel. They have dropped the VOA English news channel, so the only English language channel they have now is Bloomberg. Not sure what that is about. I have never seen an Indian in that hotel. Still, always a nice, clean stay. But, I always wonder if some of the other hotels offer a better selection of TV channels. Gonna have to ask one of these days. Mae Sai trips are the only time I get to watch the news on TV in English.

All in all, I think we are really lucky to have such a great immigration office in this area of the country. I read enough detrimental stories about some of the other immigration offices out there. I've never had bad service at Mae Sai nor have I ever met a surly worker in that office.

[ChouDoufu]

question about heading inland from mae sai:

i'm currently living in chiang mai, have a non-imm ed, one year extension valid
until october, and a multiple re-entry permit, also valid until october. in about
two weeks, i need to do 90-day reporting. this would involve a 20-minute
walk to immigration, spend a half hour in line, then next door to the mall to
catch a avatar in 3D. too easy. i want to bicycle up to mae sai, spend some
time in myanmar, and get a 90-day reentry stamp instead.

what's the latest on the requirement for a guide? i'd like to get the 14-day
travel permit for $10, leaving my passport at myanmarese immigration. the
plan would be to bicycle the approved route as far as mongla and return. if
a guide is still required, i'll just go over for the day, and enjoy the return ride
to chiang mai.

oh, and if they accept a US$10 bill at the border instead of 500 baht, will they
accept one showing normal circulation usage? doesn't need to be crispy,
crunchy, shiny?

[Matan]

I think I will do the Mae Sai run in a week or two, but do you need to take 20,000 baht with you? I would prefer not to have to carry around that much cash when I'm staying in a mountain village.

[villagefarang]

Matan, on 2010-01-03 05:31:35, said:

I think I will do the Mae Sai run in a week or two, but do you need to take 20,000 baht with you? I would prefer not to have to carry around that much cash when I'm staying in a mountain village.

I'm sure there are people carrying around a lot more than that. In all my years in Thailand I have never had any problem, carrying any amount of money. Just don't leave it unattended or pull it all out at once. Be discrete, but take as much as you think you need.