Myanmar shoppers crossed the No.1 Friendship Bridge from Myawady to Mae Sot, Thailand, where they joined the New Year Pe Mine Special Discount Market Festival for a festive shopping spree on December 31.

One of the travellers said that there were hundreds of Myanmar travellers queuing up to get a border pass at the Myawady Friendship Bridge and they had to wait for a long time.

“I knew that there were a lot of people on December 31. So, I planned to go to Thailand on December 30. However, I didn’t get a border crossing permit. The authorities told me that they were out of paper. On December 31, there were thousands of Myanmar people queuing up to get a border pass. I have been queuing up since the early morning,” said Ko Thura who was going to Mae Sot for shopping.

Although it costs 1,000 Ks for the Border Pass paper and 500 Ks for the allowable stamp in Myanmar, in Thailand, it costs 20 Baht for the smart card. For three cities including Mae Sot, it costs 40 Baht for touring pass. The total cost is 60 Baht (about 6,000 Ks).

It is reported that there were only tens of Thai citizen daily visiting in Myanmar, but thousands of Myanmar nationals are visiting the Mae Sot in Thailand every day.

As thousands of Myanmar citizens travel to the Mae Sot in Thailand every day, Thailand earns hundreds of thousands of Thai baht daily.

However, Myanmar citizes are occasionally treated with suspicion in Thailand, says one of the travellers.

Most of the Myanmar citizens buy various household goods at Mega Home Mall in Mae Sot. Moreover, they buy meats, shrimps, vegetables, various kinds of snacks, electronic devices and drinks at the Macro Market. 

Although Mae Sot Market and Honlon Mall where there are a lot of Myanmar sellers, are not selling as much as before, the mall which is a large shopping mall situated on Asia Union Road is very popular to attract the Myanmar citizens.