Mae Sai Travel Package Tours, Thailand Tour Information Hotel Guide

MAE SAI OVERVIEW

Mae Sai is the northernmost district of Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. This border town faces Myanmar across the Mae Sai River, and is located 61 kilometres north of Chiang Rai on Highway No. 110. It is a major border crossing between Thailand and Myanmar, which Asian Highway Network AH2 (Thai highway 1 or Phahonyothin road) crossing the Mae Sai River to the town Tachileik in Myanmar. The neighboring districts are (from the east clockwise) Chiang Saen, Mae Chan and Mae Fa Luang. To the north is Myanmar, separated by the Mae Sai River. The westernmost part of the district contains several hills, the most important one is the Doi Tung with the Wat Phra That Doi Tung temple on top.

Mae Sai Town
Mae Sai is a typical small Thai town and is one of the few well known border towns between Thailand and Burma, this bustling town has profited on legal and illegal trade. Your first impression would be of the incredibly wide main street that runs essentially north-south through the town finishing at the bridge that spans the river and gives access to Burma. The border end of this street is lined by an enormous market. The wares available are many and varied with a very heavy Burmese influence - clothes, gems, you name it they have got it. One of the more interesting pursuits in town for travellers is to watch the action up river from the bridge that spans the Sai River. Throughout the day, boats ferry people and goods back and forth between Burma and Thailand. Goods including alcohol and cigarettes pass under the dull gaze of the border guards and can be had for rock bottom prices. There is one of the occasional flare-ups along the border, westerners can cross the small bridge into Tachileik, Burma on the other side of the stream. Day visa for Tachilek can (at the moment at least) easily be obtained if you have brought your passport; the cost is 250 Baht. Get the visa at the border checkpoint walk across the bridge and you are in Burma. However, there are not much to do in Tachileik except shop and you're only give a one-day visa to enter. This is not a place where you can enter into Burma for onward tourism. You return from Tachilek to Mae Sai you can continue shopping there, some of the souvenirs, especially lacquer ware, are quite pretty, others you should avoid, in particular glass tones in various colours that are sold as gemstones. Mae Sai is also a center of jade trading and if you are interested you can visit some of the workshops to see the jade in its raw state and the methods that are used to process it. Apart from Mae Sai's close proximity to Burma and the Golden Triangle there is really nothing appealing about the town. The one saving grace is the large and diverse market mentioned above. There are some well placed guesthouses overlooking Burma in which you could concentrate on doing little for a few days and from which you could explore some of the surrounds.