Border Crossing

Most reports siince Oct. 2006 is that a permit is now required to cross from Tachileik into Mae Sai if you've entered from Yangon or Mandalay. Hopefully you'll be able to arrange a permit via a Burmese travel agency in advance by internet/email.

Maybe these posts might help:

crossing at Mae Sai

Mae Sai to Kyaingtong and Mongla

And especially this post by Slyd:

Tachileik border

and to reach tachilek you must use an internal flight, which tends to cost more as the cheap AirAsia.com 2nd leg for return BKK-RGN. you can fly into RGN and then only see the airport on the way out. chances are 50/50 to get the actual permit and even if you have it,another lotteree if they accept it at the border (or just more greed for do-lah)

Fly in to Yangon from BKK on AirAsia...unless you have lots of time, and more money, to do it the hard way.

Went in and out in december 2006 by air. I met a couple, they went from Mandalay to Kengtung or so (not allowed by car) and the were told at the border to go back since it was NOT allowed to cross the border at that time. Things change every couple of months. I had plans to take a marvelous boattrip from Yangon to Maungmakan, Myeik and leave Myanmar via Kawthoung. But the boat-service was cancelled a week before I entered Myanmar. It was still possible to fly to Kawthoung for big money and leave the country there with $30 stick into your passport :-(

What I'm trying to say: don't count on it and take ticotim's advice, fly with Air Asia in and out (but if you have months of time and plenty of money to give it a try I would defenitely do that since I heard that the southern coast area should be extraordinary!!).