Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [344]
Tourist police (1155; 738/1 Th Intharakhiri) Has an office east of the centre of town and at the market by the Friendship Bridge.
Sights & Activities
BORDER MARKET & MYAWADI
There is an expansive covered market alongside the Mae Nam Moei on the Thai side that legally sells a mixture of workaday Burmese goods and cheap Chinese electronics.
However the real reason most come here is to cross to Myawadi in Myanmar (Burma). Immigration procedures are taken care of at the Thai immigration booth (0 5556 3000; 6.30am-6.30pm) at the Friendship Bridge, although if you have any problems there’s another immigration office in the nearby Mae Moei Shopping Bazaar. It takes a few minutes to finish all the paperwork to leave Thailand officially, and then you’re free to walk across the arched 420m Friendship Bridge.
At the other end of the bridge is the Myanmar immigration booth, where you’ll fill out permits for a one-day stay, pay a fee of US$10 or 500B and leave your passport as a deposit. Then you’re free to wander around Myawadi as long as you’re back at the bridge by 5.30pm Myanmar time (which is a half-hour behind Thai time) to pick up your passport and check out with immigration. On your return to Thailand, the Thai immigration office at the bridge will give you a new 15-day visa ( Click here).
Before going to the Friendship Bridge, ask about the border situation in Mae Sot. Sporadic relations between Myanmar and Thailand can sometimes cause the border to close for a few days. If the border is closed and your 30-day visa has run out, it is possible to get a one-day extension for free at the immigration office. For each day’s extension after that it costs 500B.
Myawadi is a fairly typical Burmese town, with a number of monasteries, schools, shops and so on. The most important temple is Shwe Muay Wan, a traditional bell-shaped chedi gilded with many kilos of gold and topped by more than 1600 precious and semiprecious gems. Another noted Buddhist temple is Myikyaungon, called Wat Don Jarakhe in Thai and named for its crocodile-shaped sanctuary. A hollow chedi at Myikyaungon contains four marble Mandalay-style Buddhas around a central pillar, while niches in the surrounding wall are filled with Buddhas in other styles, including several bronze Sukhothai-style Buddhas. Myawadi’s 1000-year-old earthen city walls, probably erected by the area’s original Mon inhabitants, can be seen along the southern side of town.
Srng·ta·ou frequently go to the border (15B, frequent departures from 6.30am to 5.30pm), 6km west of Mae Sot: ask for Rim Moei (Edge of the Moei). The last srng·ta·ou going back to Mae Sot leaves Rim Moei at 5.30pm.
HERBAL SAUNA
Wat Mani has separate herbal sauna (admission 20B; 3-7pm) facilities for men and women. The sauna is towards the back of the monastery grounds, past the monks’ gù·ì (living quarters).
COOKERY COURSE
Held at Borderline shop ( Click here), this course (0 5554 6584; borderlineshop@yahoo.com; 674/14 Th Intharakhiri; 450B per person, 3 people min; lessons 8am-1pm) teaches Shan, Burmese and Karen dishes, and includes a trip to the market, food and drink preparation, a cookbook, and sharing the results in the adjoining cafe.
Tours
Several guesthouses arrange tours of the surrounding area. The staff working at the Khrua Canadian restaurant ( Click here) keep pretty good tabs on the different tours and are a good source of information. If you’re thinking of going to Um Phang, it’s probably a good idea to book directly from there, as relatively few outfits seem to have offices in Mae Sot. Click here for other tour options out of Um Phang.
The following are the longest-running and most reliable.
Mae Sot Conservation Tour (0 5553 2818; maesotco@hotmail.com; 415/17 Th Tang Kim Chiang; 1-day tour per person 1500B) Runs educational tours to Karen villages surrounding Mae Sot.
Max One Tour (0 5554 2942; www.maxonetour.com; Mae Sot Sq, Th Intharakhiri; 3-day trek per person 5550B) This company conducts adventure-centric