Thailand Travel Guide -> Northern Thailand -> Chiang Rai Travel Guide -> Mae Sai

It is a matter of just 2 minutes but in these 2 minutes you enter an entirely different world. The atmosphere is remarkably different from the one in Thailand. Hire a Burmese rickshaw driver to take you around Tachilek and inspect the temples and markets. There are lots of shops that offer Burmese specialties like longyis (sarong-like skirts), Cheroots (Burmese cigars) or acquerware - unfortunately also things like tiger claws and other animal parts. Don't buy these as you will get plenty of trouble with the custom's office in your home country if you try to import them.

After 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.