Phu Nam Ron Permanent Border Crossing Station — Local services in Kanchanaburi Province

Border crossing hours: 6am-6pm Thai time or 5.30am to 5.30pm Myanmar time.

If arriving from Myanmar, as I did (have been across here a number of times now) make sure you rent a car in sound mechanical condition as the road is unpaved for the last 90-100km. Although there are few really steep gradients, the sandy terrain can be challenging for 2wd vehicles with low clearance to negotiate, especially when climbing the very modest slopes. I would recommend hiring a 4wd vehicle if available, or at least a high-clearance 2wd pickup. During the rainy season you need to be flexible as there can sometimes be unexpected landslides and a 4wd is absolutely essential.

On our most recent trip, our vehicle overheated and we had to wait almost an hour before we were able to continue our journey. Later on, it started raining but fortunately not too heavily. As we got closer to the border, we asked about the border closing time, which we were told by 2 separate people is 6pm Thai time. We made it to the Myanmar post around 6.10pm Thai time (5.40pm Myanmar time). They stamped us out, but on the Thai side, despite there being another vehicle permitted to pass in front of us, we were denied and told to come back the next morning. So don't think just because Myanmar immigration stamps you out that Thai immigration will still be on duty - if you arrive at Myanmar immigration after 5.15pm Myanmar time don't even bother trying to cross as the soldiers at the Thai borderline won't let you through.

The good news is that there are now at least 2 accommodation options on the Myanmar side. A "resort" consisting of a series of chalets just a couple of hundred meters from the border crossing just recently opened (that's where we stayed) and around 2km away there is the Thai run "Tanaosri resort" (which is where I had dinner). The latter is difficult to reach without a car though. Your average tourist will not know about the existence of this place without a local's help either as it is far away from the main township, but it is the better accommodation option out of the two options in town.

Next morning Myanmar immigration only opened at 5.40am and then a dozen or more visa run vans carrying illegal Lao and Vietnamese workers were standing in line to get stamped back in to Thailand. They do this here every 30 days.

Tip: try to avoid entering Thailand between 6 and about 9am as immigration will be swamped with these visa run vans.

If coming from Htee Khee, drivers can drive you to Bangkok from the Myanmar side in the same vehicle (using Thai registered cars), or you can try to find a car or van just after customs on the Thai side. Alternatively, vans to Kanchanaburi leave every hour or so until 2 or 3pm from where you can find buses and vans to Bangkok, and minibuses to Samut Sakorn also leave every hour until about 5pm, from where taxis, buses and vans can take you into Bangkok city.

If leaving for Myanmar, you can arrange transport on the Thai side, but it is probably advisable to only get a ride to the Myanmar border post and find transport yourself once you're in Htee Khee as there are more options there and you can see the actual transport before you get in. Relying on travel agencies on the Thai side means you don't know what you will get and it could take a long time to arrange something.

UPDATE DEC 2019 new CIQ facilities on the Thai side almost finished and likely to open within the next couple of months. Once this happens, this will eliminate the 4km of "no man's land", all of which is located on Thai territory and thus make catching transportation between the two countries a little easier. Strangely, there does not appear to be any new immigration/customs facilities constructed on the Myanmar side, unless the buildings being constructed about 1km west of town, just before the checkpoint at the end of town, are in fact CIQ facilities. However, I've been told what I was seeing is the development of a small industrial estate. The "shed" will continue to operate as an immigration office on the Myanmar...

Pretty effecient border crossing, save for the annoying 4km of no man's land on the Thai side. However, as soon as Covid restrictions are lifted and the border reopens (likely on July 1, 2022 on the Thai side, but not sure about Myanmar) all formalities will move to the new immigration building located right next to the border, roughly 150m away from the borderline guarded by Thai soldiers where the paved road ends.

Once this occurs, it will be much easier to travel into/out of the country. It's not yet known whether the authorities will continue to insist you travel by car or van or whether you will be allowed to walk the short distance to the guard post and then the remaining 1km or so to the immigration office on the Burmese side.

There is no indication that Burmese immigration officers will move to the Thai building, thus it's likely they will continue working out of their makeshift hut, which can be difficult to locate unless you know where it is.

In any case, I'm sure there will be Burmese cars and vans parked at Thai immigration, which can take you to the Burmese checkpoint to get your passport stamped and beyond to Dawei.

Since the border will reopen during the rainy season and there is no indication that the 100km unpaved road has been improved during the past 2 years of closure, expect the journey to be rough and arrive early.

There are occasional landslides that can sometimes block the road for hours or even days. It is hoped this will eventually become a thing of the past, however, at this point there is no clear timeframe for when the highway might be upgraded, especially with Italian-Thai Development having been kicked off the project and the subsequent coup, which has led to an exodus of investors from Myanmar.

The Thai highways department maintains it will go ahead with an 82km expressway (motorway) from Tha Maka in Kanchanaburi province (linking up with the 96km Bang Yai-Kanchanaburi expressway currently under construction) to the border crossing in Phu Nam Ron. This expressway will feature 4 traffic lanes (2 in each direction) and a single 2025m long road tunnel through a hill shortly before the end of the project at Phu Nam Ron. Construction is provisionally expected to begin in late 2023 and take...

Ban Phu Nam Ron Thai Burma Border | Kanchanaburi The popular border crossing point across the Tenasserim Hills between Thailand and Burma, at an elevation...