Taunggyi to Keng Tung overland bus

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/asia-south-east-asia-mainland/myanmar/road-n-4-from-taunggyi-to-keng-tung?page=1#post_2218

I found the same information, 2 months is pretty recent indeed. On the Myanmar.gov website it said that the Tachileik border crossing is a valid point of exit. However, reaching that point of exit is not an option it seems.

I wanted to explore north Thailand (around Chaing Mai) without flying to Bangkok and go up north again but the nearest border crossing with Thailand is still a bit south of Yangon (Mae Sot). A ticket from Yangon to Bangkok is dirt cheap however so i'm in a bit of a dilemma.

thank you

Bangkok airways flies from Mandalay to Chaing Mai. There is 1 daily direct flight and 2 daily that go via Bangkok. Regardless of whether you fly direct or go via Bangkok the price is the same. Around 99 US Dollars

Yes, it seems so. To Chiang Mai from Mandalay it's 90$ and to bangkok it's 60$. I'm really travelling on a budget though. Of course, taking a flight to Chiang Mai i'll save a lot of travelling time.

The original plan was to go to Chiang Mai and get a 14 day visa. Stay in the area for 10 days and go on through Northern Laos for 2 weeks eventually crossing the Vientiane Border and entering East Thailand for another 14 day visa and then return to Bangkok from there where I have some friends. That would take me around most of Thailand and Northern Laos. Right now I don't know what to do. Flight to Chiang Mai and stick with the original plan, or save the 30$ and go to Bangkok and take the bus to Chiang Mai.

I know this is a broad question, but are there any stops between Bangkok and Chiang Mai that would warrant going to Bangkok (only to return later) and continue up north by bus?

If you fly into Kengtung you can then overland to Tachilek by bus etc to cross I to Thailand.

You could get the same bus (or indeed any bus) from Yangon to the border, cross into Mae Sot and from there get a direct bus to CM (theres at least a couple a day) or get a more frequent bus to Tak and change as theres more busses to CM from Tak, or busses up to Lampang, Lamphun etc. Shouldnt take too long.

I crossed over, spent the night in a single room then got a bus around 9/10am to CM where i was living at the time.

Last year it was reported that a border at the top of CM province would reopen allowing travel from Taunggyi to CM but this has yet to transpire:

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/943292.shtml

as above...if you are considering a flight at all then just fly from Heho to Kengtung or Taichileik then cross the border at Taichileik to Mae Sai...simple...then to Chiang Rai/Chiang Mai then to nth Laos.
Doesn't matter if you are on an E-visa, you can still exit via land...the only drawback with E-visa is having to fly IN, but you can still exit by land..

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