30 days is a typical tourist visa. Many countries that don't rely on fences and Pat Buchanan to form their immigration policies allow you to renew it easily. In Thailand you can pay a fee for an extension or you can make a run for the border.
Chiang Mai is close to several borders. The two closest are with Laos and Myanmar (Burma). Every morning a few licensed tour operators pick up some ex-pats in an air-con mini-van and head in their direction.
Along the way the tour takes you to two hill tribe villages. Here you wander through peoples yards and if you like, haggle for the equivalent of $1US over hand embroidery that can take as long as seven months for one garment.
The hill tribes deal with the invasion very well. Most see tourism as the most important addition to their fragile economies. They arrange for tour operators to come while most of the town is out harvesting rice for local distributors or picking coffee beans for Nescafe. This provides a good window of time since the villagers typically work 12 hr days.
Many have also built public toilets for tourist use. Most consider the 5 baht (~25 cent) charge a welcome relief after the van ride. Others have the audacity to feel ripped off when they have to pay to shit in someone's yard.
From the hill tribes you head still north to the Mekong river where you can hop in a boat and hop across to Laos. There is no passport stamp but you can try "snake whiskey" which is a liberally named liquor. Flasks for 100B have in them two finger thick cobras. One is curled in striking pose with the other hanging limp in its mouth. The liquor itself is clear, nearly odorless and judging by the condition of the snakes in 100 degree heat shares more in common with formaldehyde than whisky.
Jump back over to Thailand stopping in the middle of the river to gawk at a luxurious casino on the Burma side allegedly built and run by the Burmese military mafia.
Back in the van, stop at an arranged buffet lunch, back in the van and to the Burmese border. Myanmar customs takes your passport and $5US. You get a voucher and 15 minutes to walk the market while your passport is prepared.
Most of the goods in the Burmese market are cheaper. Names like Suny, Nikom, Duraceld, and Nicke are available from hundreds of vendors. You can buy cheap cigarettes, DVD pornography and switchblades. Pellets for air guns are sold at nearly every stall. 15 minutes already?
Pick up the passport and try to pick off the street urchins. When they are not naked in the river they simply stand next to you, hands in prayer posture or tugging at your pants hoping for a handout. "No I am sorry son, I know you are hungry but I need to keep my change so I can haggle for souvenirs more effectively."
Back in the van and back to Chiang Mai. Your visa is extended and you have solidified in your mind the astounding gap between per capita incomes of not only a region but the world.
Our tour guide mentioned that many Buddhists will give a monk a meal along with the name of someone whom the monk will include in their prayers. I better buy him a big meal.
Chiang Mai is close to several borders. The two closest are with Laos and Myanmar (Burma). Every morning a few licensed tour operators pick up some ex-pats in an air-con mini-van and head in their direction.
Along the way the tour takes you to two hill tribe villages. Here you wander through peoples yards and if you like, haggle for the equivalent of $1US over hand embroidery that can take as long as seven months for one garment.
The hill tribes deal with the invasion very well. Most see tourism as the most important addition to their fragile economies. They arrange for tour operators to come while most of the town is out harvesting rice for local distributors or picking coffee beans for Nescafe. This provides a good window of time since the villagers typically work 12 hr days.
Many have also built public toilets for tourist use. Most consider the 5 baht (~25 cent) charge a welcome relief after the van ride. Others have the audacity to feel ripped off when they have to pay to shit in someone's yard.
From the hill tribes you head still north to the Mekong river where you can hop in a boat and hop across to Laos. There is no passport stamp but you can try "snake whiskey" which is a liberally named liquor. Flasks for 100B have in them two finger thick cobras. One is curled in striking pose with the other hanging limp in its mouth. The liquor itself is clear, nearly odorless and judging by the condition of the snakes in 100 degree heat shares more in common with formaldehyde than whisky.
Jump back over to Thailand stopping in the middle of the river to gawk at a luxurious casino on the Burma side allegedly built and run by the Burmese military mafia.
Back in the van, stop at an arranged buffet lunch, back in the van and to the Burmese border. Myanmar customs takes your passport and $5US. You get a voucher and 15 minutes to walk the market while your passport is prepared.
Most of the goods in the Burmese market are cheaper. Names like Suny, Nikom, Duraceld, and Nicke are available from hundreds of vendors. You can buy cheap cigarettes, DVD pornography and switchblades. Pellets for air guns are sold at nearly every stall. 15 minutes already?
Pick up the passport and try to pick off the street urchins. When they are not naked in the river they simply stand next to you, hands in prayer posture or tugging at your pants hoping for a handout. "No I am sorry son, I know you are hungry but I need to keep my change so I can haggle for souvenirs more effectively."
Back in the van and back to Chiang Mai. Your visa is extended and you have solidified in your mind the astounding gap between per capita incomes of not only a region but the world.
Our tour guide mentioned that many Buddhists will give a monk a meal along with the name of someone whom the monk will include in their prayers. I better buy him a big meal.
posted by mombok at 7:06 PM
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