Travel and Transport Info for Tachilek & Keng Tung, Myanmar by Hobo Maps- - - Home

Click to see our Mae Sai - Tachilek Map

Bad news, the border crossing at Mae Sai - Tachilek has been closed to foreigners since July 2023. Thai nationals may cross but with restrictions on how far they may go into Myanmar.

Visiting Tachilek (Tha Khi Lek), Myanmar
- Union of Myanmar clocks are 30 minutes behind those of Thailand and they drive on the right side of the road in Myanmar. The Thai baht is the common accepted currency for use by visitors to Tachilek and there is usually no need to buy or use the Myanmar kyat. When crossing the Mae Sai River Friendship Bridge after departing Thailand immigration you immediately arrive at Myanmar immigration where you have some options.

For "visa runners" who only want to get a Myanmar stamp on their passport and immediately walk back across the bridge to get a new Thai visa all they have to do is pay $10 U.S. or 500 baht (depending on the mood of the day with immigration) - have their passport stamped in and out - and head back across the bridge. In Sept. 2017 there were no forms to fill out, no signature required and no need to bring a passport photo. Couldn't be easier.

If you want to go shopping in Tachilek, walk around for a couple hours or stay overnight then you pay the same fee but will be issued an Entry Permit card to use while in Tachilek for identification and they keep your passport at the immigration office for you to get back when you return to Thailand. Still quite easy but you are not allowed to leave the town of Tachilek which means you can only go about 5 kilometers out from the immigration checkpoint at the Friendship Bridge.

Visiting Keng Tung (Kyaing Tong) and Beyond
- Tachilek is now an official land entry point for visitors with a Myanmar visa. With a tourist visa obtained in advance of arrival, visitors can now travel to Kengtung and beyond on their own without a guide. But there is a security exception which may limit travel on your own when designated as unsafe. Travel by road west to Taunggi from Tachilek on your own is probably not allowed.

Getting Around Tachilek
- You can hire motorcycle taxis or jumbo tuk tuks for transport at the bridge or at most major intersections. The drivers usually speak a little English and if not there's often a friendly local person nearby to help with translation. The roads are nearly all paved and some streets even have names and street signs now. Walking around is fine. We haven't yet found any places that rent bicycles or motorbikes to visitors. There is now a second bridge over the Sai River between Tachilek and Mae Sai further to the east of the Friendship Bridge but it is not for use by visitors.

Suggested Walks Around Town
- The tourist shopping area is just to the right of the Tachilek side of the Friendship Bridge as you come across from Thailand and it's jam packed with shops selling all kinds of stuff at cheap prices including counterfeit and pirated goods. You can turn left instead after coming over the bridge and have a nice walk on the road along the river away from the crowds and noise but after about 1.5 km you get to a government checkpoint that tourists are probably not allowed to get past without a visa. For panoramic views from a high place you can walk up to a temple on a steep road not too far northwest of the bridge. There's a golf course and a casino shown on this map HERE. The largest temple is the Shwedegon Pagoda just below the golf course to the west.

There's a busy feeling in Tachilek and simply wandering around aimlessly is fun. Local people are friendly and the further away from the tourist areas you get the friendlier they seem.

Buses from Tachilek
- There is a long distance bus station about 4.5 km northeast from the immigration bridge. There's a govt. checkpoint just beyond the bus station and before the airport. In 2012 this bus "station" was actually just a bare lot with small bus offices around it and is located on the northeastern corner of this map HERE. In 2012 buses to Kengtung were scheduled to leave 3 times a day at 08:00, 11:00 & 12:00. Travel agents in the center of town may help more with bus transport options.

Flights from Tachilek
- There is an airport a few km northeast of Tachilek (THK airport code) that has 3 or 4 airlines offering direct flights to at least four destinations - Yangon (RGN), Mandalay (MDL), Heho (HEH) & Lashio (LSH). The flight schedules may be found at the following websites - www.yangonair.com, www.airmandalay.com, asianwingsair.com & www.airmyanmar.com.

Tachilek street scenes below: