e-Visa turns Tachileik into a gateway

CHIANG RAI More international travellers visiting Chiang Rai are likely to extend their trips to Myanmar now they can obtain an e-Visa online for travel through the Mae-Sai Tachileik checkpoint.

E-Visa entry was introduced at three land checkpoints between Thailand and Myanmar (Tachileik, Myawaddy and Kawthaung) 1 September.

The move by Myanmar’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population makes it more flexible and convenient for travellers to combine a North Thailand holiday with a visit to Myanmar’s popular tourist destinations, ending with a visit to Yangon.

The e-Visa allows a traveller to enter at any of the three overland checkpoints and exit through an international airport (Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay). They can stay for up to 28 days. The visa costs USD50 to process through an online payment by credit card.

The Mae Sai-Tachileik border checkpoint is likely to be the most popular checkpoint as Tachileik’s airport is just 8 km beyond the border and offers daily flights to Heho (Inle Lake), Lashio and Yangon.

The fare to Yangon costs USD152.

Chiang Rai is the far north gateway town sharing borders with Laos and Myanmar, but for travellers the options to explore Myanmar from Chiang Rai were restricted until recently.  In addition, the need to apply for a visa at a Myanmar embassy to cross the land border at Tachileik was time-consuming and inconvenient for most travellers.

Now Myanmar is open for travellers to explore the country overland, although there are still some areas that remain no-go zones due to military presence. However, the  ease of processing an e-Visa enables Chiang Rai to exploit its status as a gateway to Myanmar’s main destinations either overland or by air.

They can visit Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake and Yangon using scheduled airlines, some offering nonstop services.

The Mae Sai border checkpoint is 80 km from Chiang Rai town and Tachileik airport is located 8.6 km from the border on National Highway 4.

The authorities began e-Visa services for tourists entering the country through Yangon International Airport on 1 September, 2014 from a total of 100 countries and the service was extended to Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw on 9 November the same year.

The authorities also introduced an e-Visa for business visitors from 51 countries at Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw airports on 1 July 2015.

The visas grant 28 days length of stay for tourists and 70 days for business travellers. They are valid for 90 days from the date of issue.

The e-visa costs USD50 for tourists and USD70 for business travellers.

Passport holder from the following countries and Taiwan are eligible to apply Tourist e-visa:

Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Passport holder from the following countries and Taiwan are eligible to apply Business e-visa:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Norway, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Slovenia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand,  United Kingdom, United States of America and Vietnam.

sourced:ttrweekly.com