Myanmar Border Bounce

For people looking to do a border bounce and extend their current visa, I highly recommend doing the border bounce at Phu Nam Ron.

The border bounce at Phu Nam Ron is easy and quick, but is only good for people who are extending a multiple-entry visa. You cannot get a visa at this Thai/ Myanmar border.

The first step to this border bounce is getting to Kanchanaburi.

Kanchanaburi is a city filled with natural beauty and evidence of its rich history. It also happens to be the closest city to Phu Nam Ron.

From Bangkok you can take a bus from Mo Chit to Kanchanaburi. The busses run regularly every day.

If you are in Hua Hin, there is a van station on the side of the mall. The van’s leave every hour, fifteen minutes after the hour. The last one leaves at 18:15. The bus costs 220 baht, and the ride takes about 4 hours.

Once you get to the bus stop in Kanchaburi, you’ll want to grab another bus to Phu Nam Ron. I took a picture of a sign that had the bus times listed, but our bus left at a time that wasn’t on the sign, so I’m not sure it’s 100% accurate. Either way, the busses run pretty regularly throughout the day.

The bus from Kanchanaburi to Phu Nam Ron costs 70 baht, and is a gorgeous drive through a backdrop of beautiful green mountains and valleys. The trip takes about an hour and a half.

Once you arrive at the border, you will have to get in line, and go through Thai immigration.

There is a little immigration box with some officers, hand them your passport, get it back, and then walk through.

Once on the other side, there is a small covered seating area with a coffee shop and a small booth for a tour company.

Go up to the booth window and tell them you want your passport stamped. They may ask you if you want to take a tour up to Dawei, Myanmar. Tell them no. All you have to say is “stamp” and they will know right away that you are there for a border bounce.

The tour company will charge you 910 baht. Then they take your passport, and you’ll jump in a van with some people from the tour company.

The van will take you a couple kilometers over the border into Myanmar. The driver will jump out and run into a little trailer that houses a makeshift immigration office. You’ll just stay in the van at this point.

The driver will return to the van with your passport, which should now have a newly acquired Myanmar stamp inside it.

After that, the driver will take you back to the border. At the border, you will have to walk back through Thai immigration (on the other side of the road this time), and voila! You should have the stamp and the subsequent additional days in Thailand.

To get back to Kanchanaburi, just head to the small bus station (desk with a sleepy clerk) at the end of the strip of buildings just outside the border cross-point. There may be a giant bus right out front the small site. I’m not sure how often the busses run here, but ours left at 14:30. The bus back to Kanchanaburi only costs 60 baht.

If you have some time to kill before your bus, there is a pretty cool temple right across the street. I recommend going, the steps are really cool and unlike any other I’ve seen at temples throughout Thailand.

So that’s it! It’s really easy, and the drive is beautiful as well. If you have a couple of days I recommend hanging out in Kanchanaburi.

Kanchanaburi is a cool city with a lot of historical and natural sites to explore, and there is plentiful cheap accommodation along the River Kwai.

Happy Traveling Y’all.

Justin Ruhe

XploreAsia Education Supervisor

http://www.jaiguytravels.com/