blackwolf
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2014
- Bikes
- Honda Sonic 125cc, 4 wheels, about to buy a 250cc dirt bike
Hi everyone,
as reported in a past thread on this forum, up until 2014 it was possible to bring a Thai car (or motorcycle) into Myanmar from Mae Sai and then drive to Kengtung and Mong Lar, heading back the same way without making any pre-arrangements. It was possible just to show up at the border. A guide may or may not have been necessary, but this could also be arranged at the time of crossing the border.
When I last went to Tachilek on a day trip in April 2014, I hired a guide to show me some of the temples around town that I hadn't visited before on my prior visits. He told me that Thai vehicles can now no longer leave Tachilek without going on a tour. He said it was because of Burmese concerns they were taking away business from local drivers. Even if the Thais might have been tourists.
I've tried to get this information confirmed, by googling in Thai and English. I came up with nothing that confirms this information directly. Thai forums like Pantip talk about how you are allowed to drive to Tachilek, which I already knew all along but that information is useless - unless you are a trader you want to know whether you can drive around the area to the countryside, not merely be allowed to travel in a 5km radius around town. Other sources mentions the need to make advance arrangements under all circumstances.
Does anyone know the current rules? If I needed to go on a tour, I'd rather see the whole country not just that eastern corridor. I wanted to make a bit of a visa run trip out of it (am on a multi entry Thai visa) but unless I can rock up and drive to Kengtung I won't bother going there and head for Laos instead.
as reported in a past thread on this forum, up until 2014 it was possible to bring a Thai car (or motorcycle) into Myanmar from Mae Sai and then drive to Kengtung and Mong Lar, heading back the same way without making any pre-arrangements. It was possible just to show up at the border. A guide may or may not have been necessary, but this could also be arranged at the time of crossing the border.
When I last went to Tachilek on a day trip in April 2014, I hired a guide to show me some of the temples around town that I hadn't visited before on my prior visits. He told me that Thai vehicles can now no longer leave Tachilek without going on a tour. He said it was because of Burmese concerns they were taking away business from local drivers. Even if the Thais might have been tourists.
I've tried to get this information confirmed, by googling in Thai and English. I came up with nothing that confirms this information directly. Thai forums like Pantip talk about how you are allowed to drive to Tachilek, which I already knew all along but that information is useless - unless you are a trader you want to know whether you can drive around the area to the countryside, not merely be allowed to travel in a 5km radius around town. Other sources mentions the need to make advance arrangements under all circumstances.
Does anyone know the current rules? If I needed to go on a tour, I'd rather see the whole country not just that eastern corridor. I wanted to make a bit of a visa run trip out of it (am on a multi entry Thai visa) but unless I can rock up and drive to Kengtung I won't bother going there and head for Laos instead.
