Visa Van / Visa Run from Chiang Mai Thailand, through Chiang Rai, and up to Mae Sai.

     In order to get your Thai visa renewed properly from Chiang Mai, you will most likely ride up to Chiang Rai, and then on to Mae Sai, to get your new visa stamp done in Burma. It's a good trip, I've made it about 50 times or more already, so this post will show you everything you need to know.
     Please check out the pictures.

     I talked to a local travel agency in Chiang Mai, there are hundreds of them, so there is no need at all to plan in advance. They booked a round trip mini-van ticket for 550 Bhat,  which is $16 dollars. 

      I reserved my ticket two days before my visa ran out, so I was sure to have a seat on the day I needed.
   
    Two days later, at 8:00 A.M., a silver mini-van picked me up in front of my apartment building. It was already full of travelers, and I was the last to climb aboard before we reached the super highway and made our way north for three hours to Chiang Rai. 

It is a three hour drive to Chiang Rai, along a bit of a gauntlet highway. Wear your seat-belt.
      





 

Here is the Entry Sign on you way into Burma, (Myanmar)

 

       From there, it was another hour and a half along the fast super highway, to the Thai border town on Mae Sai, on the sleepy little river next to Burma.  That makes it a 4.5 hour drive one way from Chiang Mai.  It will be a long hot day for anyone, but a trip that is necessary for so many of us who live here.

We reached the bridge by noon, as I assume most trips do.



This is a photo taken from the center of the Bridge heading into 
 Burma from Thailand.






Here is the view from the bridge, Thailand is on the right,
and Burma, (Myanmar) is on the left. Children swim naked and play in the muddy water on both sides. 

 It is a porous boarder.

You can walk across the bridge from the van drop off point, 
 get stamped out of Thailand in 15 minutes,
 get stamped into Burma for 500 Bhat, and
have about two hours to walk around the market loaded with Chinese electronics, duty free for alcohol, fake designer goods.

 


Heading back to Thailand.
Welcome Mae Sai, Thailand




     A friendly Thai customs officer stamped my passport, and welcomed me back. It was refreshing to return into Thailand, where immigration and customs equal those of a first wold nation, where they treat you with respect and dignity. It was barely three in the afternoon, and there was enough time for the Van to drive back to Chiang Mai by nightfall.

 



I took this from the van aswell, these are the mountains along the way, outside if Chiang Rai.



     You may be able to doze off on the ride back to Chiang Mai if you are lucky. It's a long day, and one that has to happen for so many foreigners every 15 days, or every 60 days for the lucky ones.     

    I took this picture from the moving Mini Van, on the way back.
We didn't get back to Chiang Mai, until 7:00 P.M.
It was an 11 Hour day.

You will only be given a 15 day Visa if you do not have an official visa already stampped in your passport. They will let you use a two or three month Tourist Visa, or re-new your Non-Immigrant "B" or "O."

It was a long day like usual, but my visa was refreshed, and I was back in the city I love.

Please check out my Thai Cooking Book,

16 Delicious Thai Dinners
Cooked in a Western Kitchen